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With a munificent benefaction from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
the Gates Cambridge Trust established the Gates Cambridge Scholarship
for scholars of outstanding academic merit and leadership potential.
The Scholarship supports scholars from every country of the world,
other than the United Kingdom, who are committed to serving their communities
and who gain admission to the University of Cambridge
to pursue courses of study as follows:
-
second Bachelor degree as an affiliated student (a two-year program)
-
one-year postgraduate courses
-
research leading to the degree of PhD
October 2001
marked the first year of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. About
150 awards are made annually, with one-third from the US (approximately
40-50 per year).
Key features
of the scholarships:
-
They are tenable only for graduates to study at the University of Cambridge.
-
Applicants must have the highest academic qualifications and excellent potential for graduate work (generally at least a 3.7 G.P.A. in the major).
-
In addition, they must show awareness of ways in which the benefits of their higher education can be put to the service of society at large. The Gates Cambridge Trust considers that this requirement can be met by contributions in any walk of life.
-
Applicants need a good academic reason for wanting to study at Cambridge beyond simply rounding off their university education with a period of study abroad.
The Gates Cambridge
Scholarship is also distinctive in that the first substantive decision
on the award is made by Cambridge University and not the Gates
Cambridge Trust. Students apply for admission to Cambridge by the
normal route, and the Gates Cambridge Trust considers the award
of a scholarship only if the students are recommended by their
Cambridge department (for graduate programs) or college (for a
second BA).
Therefore, students
should first decide if they want to go to Cambridge for post-graduate
study (Research) and then consider
the Gates Cambridge Scholarship as a means to attend if they are
accepted (Apply). For an overview of the
Gates selection process see Compete.
Unlike
the Fulbright, Marshall, Mitchell or Rhodes, the Gates Cambridge
Scholarship does not require a letter of endorsement from Yale. Consequently,
IEFP does not administer this fellowship, although we are happy
to advise students interested in Cambridge and the Gates competition.
Students interested in the Gates should contact Kate Dailinger, IEFP UK Fellowship Adviser. To schedule an appointment,
call 203-432-8685.
Information in these pages is drawn from correspondence with Dr. Gordon Johnson, Provost of Gates Cambridge Trust, and from an article by Peter H. Hansen, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, written for the National Association of Fellowship Advisers.
This page last updated on February 18, 2008.