Should I apply for the Goldwater Scholarship?

Aphotic
Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:46:18 +0000

I’d say go for it! Looking at your information now, you could certainly make for a competitive applicant.

As far as lacking independent research, in the physical sciences, it’s extremely rare that an undergraduate will conduct research that is entirely their own. This is just for the simple reason that scientific research is quite costly, and undergraduates lack the expertise to successfully apply for funding.

As a sophomore, you will be at a slight disadvantage in that you haven’t been in school for three years, but you’ve already got a full year of research under your belt which is great. If you apply this year and don’t make it, you at least have an extremely solid foundation from which you can apply again next year.

If you end up not receiving the scholarship, focus on trying to get a publication out of your research and attend as many national and state conferences that you reasonably can. Goldwater is all about funding scholars who show great potential to make a difference as a PhD in their field, so show them how much you can do now.

For reference, I’m a materials science major from UW-Eau Claire (small/medium state university). I applied for Goldwater my junior year (last year) and had 3 years of research experience, a publication, and had presented at 7 conferences (one of which was a national). My GPA was a 3.98 (4.0 major) and I was captain of the triclub and had one other leadership position.