Is it harder to win the Rhodes scholarship as a 3-year undergrad?

[screwitlah]

<p>Just asking: Rhodes scholarship is a damn long shot, but I’d love to spend a year or two at Oxford. Please don’t laugh =/</p>

<p>I wanna graduate from college in 3 years. Would graduating in 3 years rather than 4 make it harder to win a Rhodes scholarship? Maybe due to having 1 less year to do ECs? </p>

<p>Are there 3 year undergrads who became Rhodes scholars?</p>

[skp]

<p>I’m interested in doing the same thing: applying for Rhodes after three years. However, I think that 3 years won’t give us enough time to accomplish the fantastic ECs of most Rhodes scholars. That’s why I’m probably doing four years.</p>

[newmassdad]

<p>Most (probably all?) Rhodes scholars do not start out college planning to win the Rhodes. They start college wanting to excel, and their excellence leads them to the Rhodes. </p>

<p>Because of this, there is no one path to winning. I’d encourage you to read the long bios you can find online.</p>

<p>This one is my favorite:

Aaron M. Polhamus, Bellingham, is a senior at Stanford where he majors in public policy.
He spent his first two college years at Western Washington University, where he worked in
construction and commercial fishing in between quarters. He is writing his thesis on Peruvian
microfinance and interned at the United States Department of the Treasury on U.S./Latin
America economic relations. He has been very active in community service, ranging from
homeless outreach to food banks and youth mentoring. He is also a leader of Chi Alpha
Christian Fellowship and a classical guitarist. Aaron has particular interests in poverty and
development. At Oxford, he plans to do the M.Phil. in development studies.

</p>

<p>The full story with Aaron is even more interesting (yes, better than the fishing boat) since he started college at a community college before transferring to Western Washington University and then to Stanford.</p>

<p>So two, three, four years of college is not the question. The questions are: 1. can you do well enough from the start and 2. can you find something of interest in helping humankind that will strike your fancy and lead you to go all out for that goal? This passion cannot be faked.</p>

[newyorka]

<p>I think it’s pretty important to be an athlete to get a Rhodes, and most athletes want the full 4 years.</p>

[llpitch]

<p>*Most (probably all?) Rhodes scholars do not start out college planning to win the Rhodes. They start college wanting to excel, and their excellence leads them to the Rhodes. *</p>

[screwitlah]

<p>

Most (probably all?) Rhodes scholars do not start out college planning to win the Rhodes. They start college wanting to excel, and their excellence leads them to the Rhodes.

</p>

<p>It sounds very idealistic, but nobody knows for sure whether or nor they did plan or fake their passions. if people could plan their way to Harvard, I don’t see why they can’t do the same for Rhodes or any other scholarship for that matter.</p>

<p>

I think it’s pretty important to be an athlete to get a Rhodes, and most athletes want the full 4 years.

</p>

<p>I don’t want to be an athlete.</p>

[siliconvalleymom]

<p>If your real goal is to spend time at Oxford, it is far easier to be an exchange student to Oxford during your undergraduate years than it is to be a Rhodes Scholar.</p>

[MidwestMom2Kids_1]

<p>

Rhodes’ legacy specified four standards by which applicants were to be judged:

• literary and scholastic attainments;
• energy to use one’s talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;
• truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
• moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.

</p>

<p>…especially if you don’t want to be an athlete.</p>

<p>You have to show physical “vigor.”</p>

[ee33ee]

<p>lmao ooh that’s harsh</p>

<p>screwit, aren’t there easier paths to oxford? I know youre at princeton, so couldn’t you like… apply as a student?</p>

[screwitlah]

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/500531-rhodes-scholars.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/500531-rhodes-scholars.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>i thought i needed sports too at first. but according to Bourne in that thread those criteria are outdated - they just want to see passion for ECs, sports or no sports. And if you look at any list of recent Rhodes scholars you’ll find many of them without sports.</p>

<p>I want to get a degree at oxford IF i eventually decide to be a lawyer… to be more precise, 2-year BA in jurisprudence. I’m an international from a LL.B nation, not a J.D. nation :)</p>

[newmassdad]

<p>US Rhodes are for US citizens only.</p>

<p>This discussion is pretty lame anyway. You folks are pretty clueless regarding what Rhodes is really about. You might re-read the quote above and note the words “take an interest in one’s fellow beings.” and “unselfishness”. The latter, for example, eliminates a lot of Investment Banking types. </p>

<p>So again, a key part of winning a Rhodes is to not really want it. To give you an example, one winner I know did not even start the process until the summer after her junior year. Her college termed her a “late starter”. But she did show a passion for helping others. </p>

<p>Just look at the odds of winning: 900 or so applicants that have been endorsed by their colleges and have successfully pulled together all the application materials (so the real starting pool is several X larger). From these, 200 or so finalists are invited for interviews by 16 districts with 12-14 per district. From the finalist pool, 2 per district are selected as winners - 32 out of 900 or so.</p>

<p>You do the math.</p>

[screwitlah]

<p>If US Rhodes are for US citizens only, does that mean that students from eligible countries studying at US colleges only compete with the students from their own countries?</p>

<p>[Scholarships</a> for International Study, University of Illinois](<a href=“http://www.ips.uiuc.edu/scholarship/scholarshiplist_administered.shtml]Scholarships”>http://www.ips.uiuc.edu/scholarship/scholarshiplist_administered.shtml)

One to three years of study leading to a degree at Oxford University, England. Seniors, graduate/professional students, and graduates are eligible to apply. Must be under the age of 24 and a U.S. citizen or citizen of Bermuda, Canada, Commonwealth Caribbean, Jamaica, Kenya, Singapore, Zambia, or Zimbabwe. Non-U.S. citizens are eligible to apply from their home country on the basis of degrees from U.S. universities and have earlier deadlines.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/FS/rhodes.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/FS/rhodes.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

Rhodes scholarships are available to citizens of 20 countries besides the U.S. in separate competitions. At present, several constituencies regard their citizens who study at universities in the U.S. as eligible to apply for their own competition. Citizens of Canada, Bermuda, Jamaica, the Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, Singapore, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are eligible to apply to the Rhodes competitions for these countries on the basis of degrees from American universities.

</p>

<p>Also:

The criteria are interpreted broadly. Academic attainment of a very high standard is essential but not sufficient. Rhodes wanted scholars who were not “mere bookworms” but combined intellectual talents with a concern for others. While it was once the case that most Rhodes Scholars were athletes, the second standard is now interpreted as the vigor that will enable someone to make an effective contribution to the world around them. The third criterion is intangible, but they are looking for a rooted passion and commitment. The fourth item is demonstrated by taking an interest in others and does not presuppose an interest in politics as a career. Not all strong candidates are “campus politicians” or “student leaders,” though some are. Work in theoretical physics could be an example of “fighting the world’s fight,” another of Rhodes’ aspirations for Rhodes Scholars.

</p>

<p>^^ seems like there’s still some hope for non-athletes :)</p>

<p>newmassdad, you seem very adamant that Rhodes scholarships should not be given to people who want it or plan for it. but what’s the problem? it’s not as if such people cheat or lie, or do not undergo the same stringent selection process as everyone else. could it be that you or someone you know were Rhodes scholars?</p>

[newmassdad]

<p>SWL, I could care less to whom the Rhodes Trust gives scholarships. I am just sharing with you observations made by myself and others.</p>

<p>I was not, and will not, be a Rhodes Scholar. Heck, I barely made it through undergrad. :)</p>

<p>I do personally know several Rhodes Scholars and have had extensive discussions with people involved in the process. </p>

<p>Maybe a better way of explaining what I meant (rather than “to not really want it” which is perhaps too negative!) is to say that your best approach is to do well and follow your muses. Doing an activity merely to build a resume for this competition may not serve you very well. </p>

<p>To put it another way, what ECs you do are less important than what you get out of an activity. For example, many Rhodes Scholars these days have spent time in less developed countries. This alone is not unusual, as you can buy for a few thousand a safe, controlled “experience” to just about anywhere. What the Rhodes folks look for is something beyond that. What exactly, I can’t say.</p>

<p>Others have done projects at social advocacy organizations.</p>

<p>The one true generalization is that Rhodes looks for folks who will make a difference for humanity. Just read your last quote above. They are not joking.</p>

[White_Rabbit]

<p>I know of a Rhodes Scholar and a Marshall Scholar,both of whom went to my high school in the past few years. One was a tennis player, the other a star in theater. They were both individuals who weren’t in school for prestige or fame. Both justed really loved learning. The Rhodes Scholar is now a Mathematics Professor and the Marshall Scholar is still at Cambridge studying black holes.</p>

<p>These aren’t awards that are given to pre-professionals.</p>