By Victoria Ayodele
Duke University
November 2, 2024
What is the Gates Scholarship? Aside from the scholarship money, what are the additional perks of the scholarship?
The Gates Scholarship is a highly competitive scholarship sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide full-ride scholarships for 300-750 exceptional seniors from low-income households. Aside from a last-dollar scholarship, scholars are invited to develop leadership skills, obtain internships, and create like-minded connections at the Gates Scholarship Summer Institute after graduating high school.
Why did you choose to apply to Gates?
As one of six siblings and having one working parent, I knew securing a full-ride scholarship would greatly benefit my family’s financial situation and allow me to feel confident attending out-of-state, private institutions. At the end of my junior year, my counselor nominated me because she believed I met the Gates Scholarship requirements. While the <1% acceptance rate discouraged me, hearing about past Gates Scholarship semifinalists and winners encouraged me. Sometimes, having one person who believes in you can make the greatest difference, and I am so glad my counselor (as well as my Matriculate Advising Fellow) told me to apply.
What advice would you give to a student who is applying?
By the time you apply for the Gates Scholarship, you will be heading into your senior year. For such a selective program, academics, extracurricular commitments, writing a strong essay, and recommendations will all be pivotal in obtaining this scholarship. Focus on these areas before heading into your senior year, and allow teacher recommendations to explain any points of weakness in your application. The Gates Scholarship greatly prefers students in the top 10% of their class, with faculty who think highly of them and see students very positively in and beyond the classroom. These students explain their achievements amidst adversities faced within their circumstances and how they’ve taken action and will continue doing so in the future. Having well-explained essays and awareness of how your background influences your impacts prepares you for a good conversation during the interview.
Before applying, I knew to concentrate on conveying my story well through my essays and having valuable professional recommendations to corroborate or provide a unique, distinct insight into my behavior, environment, commitments, accomplishments, and mindset.
How did you complete all of the Gates steps on time?
Along with applying to 35+ scholarships, I applied to the Gates Scholarship on time by creating an organized table of scholarships and grants I would make a favorable candidate for, and included their dates and deadlines for applying. Viewing this table multiple times weekly and starting on each phase of the application as soon as possible allowed me more time to refine and look over my materials before submitting them. By the semifinalist round, I did not stress as much about writing multiple essays because I had written similar prompts for other scholarships and college applications and understood the content I would write for each essay. After school, I would set some time aside to draft or finalize each essay and have college advisors make edits.
What resources helped you to complete the Gates application?
My Matriculate Advising Fellow was so helpful in obtaining this scholarship. As a previous Gates Scholar, she helped me refine my writing to not simply answer the prompts but provide fuller answers to allow the selection committee a stronger understanding of my background and my accomplishments within context. Additionally, I had several college students and college access programs view my essays before submitting them. The essay editing process was the most crucial part of my application success because having others view your essays provides a third-person perspective into the tone and sound of your writing, which you may be blinded to. Every driver has a blind spot, and having other passengers remind me of them allowed me to maximize how I told my story with my writing style.
How did Matriculate help you with this?
I am very thankful for my Matriculate Advising Fellow because she instilled more confidence within me through her experience as a previous scholar and made quick and understandable suggestions for each essay I submitted. She even acted as my interviewer a few days before my finalist interview.
Anything else?
Standing out as the top 0.3-0.4% of applicants for the Gates Scholarship is intimidating. As someone who thought they didn’t stand a chance initially, I want you to know a full-ride scholarship is possible. Challenging? – yes – nonetheless, very possible! Even if you don’t have nearby advisors or a counselor to believe in you, I believe you can secure financial freedom. Good luck!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Victoria Ayodele
Victoria is from Atlanta, Georgia and is a High School Fellow Recruitment Ambassador at Matriculate. Before this role, she was a High School Fellow going through the college application process with her Advising Fellow. Amidst this role, she studies nutrition and neurology at Duke University on the pre-medical route. In her free time, she loves being part of Duke’s dance team, gymnastics, and traveling to new places.