THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIP 2017 CANADA INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Transcription

1 THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIP 2017 CANADA Updated May 2016 INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES For election for 2017 only (This Memorandum cancels those issued for previous years) This document assumes that you have read and are familiar with the basic admission criteria for the Rhodes Scholarships, available on the main Rhodes website. For detailed conditions of tenure, view the document at Please note that this application is for entry to Oxford in October Deferral of the Scholarship is not permitted. 1. Closing date Applications close at midnight on Friday, 14 October 2016 (PST). Earlier application is requested. Late submissions will not be considered. 2. Provinces and regions Scholarships are allotted in Canada as follows: Three Scholarships to - The Prairie Region (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) Two Scholarships each to - Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Region (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) One Scholarship each to - British Columbia and Newfoundland Candidates may compete in a province or region prescribed under either (a) or (b) below: a. The province in which you are ordinarily resident. If you are ordinarily resident in Nunavut, the Yukon or Northwest Territories, you may apply in a province under (b) or, if there is no such province, in the Prairie Region (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta). If ordinarily resident in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, you may apply in a province under (b) or, alternatively, in the Maritime Region. b. Any province in which you have attended a university that has granted or will be granting you a degree, provided that if you are ordinarily resident outside Newfoundland, you may not make an application in that province. Summer courses do not qualify as attendance at a university. If you are in doubt about the appropriate province or region in which to apply, you may contact the General Secretary who will decide on the basis of available evidence. Page 1

2 3. Eligibility criteria All candidates must: a. be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident (students who are attending a Canadian university on a visa are not eligible to apply); b. be domiciled in Canada; c. have reached your 19 th birthday and not have passed your 25 th birthday at 01 October in the year of commencement at Oxford University; you must have been born after 30 September 1992 and on or before 1 October, 1998; d. have received an undergraduate degree before taking up the Scholarship. 4. Application procedure All candidates must: a. apply online by the closing date listed above: Applications will open from early June 2016; ed applications or those on CD or memory stick will not be accepted. b. must apply to one of the provinces or regions of Canada (see (2) above); c. Selection Committees will invite candidates they wish to see to a personal interview. No candidate will be selected without a personal interview. Interviews will be held across Canada on 19 November. All candidates are required to pay their own expenses for travel to attend interviews 5. Information to be submitted with the application As part of the of the online application process, you must provide personal contact details and upload the following documents as specified. All documents must be in English or English translations must be provided. Please ensure that you retain any originals or authorised copies of documents you upload, since your Selection Committee will require them of all candidates invited for interview. 1. A copy of your official birth certificate. In the case of candidates born outside of Canada, evidence of being domiciled in Canada will be required. 2. A written Statement from the President or Acting President of your College or University endorsing your candidacy for the Scholarship. Some universities have screening procedures and you should enquire as to their existence and any applicable time limits. The President s letter should be sent directly by the University to the Secretary of the Regional Selection Committee. Contact details are listed on the last page of this Memorandum. (NOTE: The Faculty of Graduate Studies, UVIC will request this letter on your behalf if you are nominated by the UVIC Rhodes Selection Committee) NOTE: All candidates currently attending a University must participate in their institution s screening process and earn the endorsement of their University President. Please contact the awards office on campus for details on this process, which occurs in advance of the Scholarship s mid-october deadline. The online application process for the Rhodes Scholarship requires an Page 2

3 authorisation code, available through the Fellowships and Awards Office at Canadian universities. All candidates currently attending a University outside Canada should contact the Secretary of the Selection Committee for the province or region in which they wish to compete to secure authorisation to file an online application. Contact details for Regional Secretaries are listed on the final page of this Memorandum. 3. An official transcript certified by the Registrar or other responsible official of your College or University of the courses of study you have taken together with the grades (showing, if possible, the number of students and your rank in each year of your course). 4. A factual list of principal activities and honours while in College or University (including scholarships, prizes, awards, offices held, athletic record and extra-curricular interests and activities) with dates. 5. A statement of your general interests and activities, your proposed course of study at Oxford and your present intentions as to your future career. This statement should not exceed 1,000 words in length. Selection committees will place special emphasis on it and it will be sent to Oxford Colleges to which successful candidates apply for admission. Your personal statement is a very important part of your application. To see current Scholars speaking about the personal statement: The personal statement must be your own work and wholly truthful. In submitting this statement, candidates will need to attest to the following: I attest that this personal statement is my own work and is wholly truthful. Neither it nor any earlier draft has been edited by anyone other than me, nor has anyone else reviewed it to provide me with suggestions to improve it. I understand that any such editing or review would disqualify my application. 6. Photograph: A head and shoulder photograph of yourself. Your photograph will not be visible to selectors until after candidates have been invited for interview. 7. References: The names and contact details of six referees who will provide information regarding the applicant s qualifications. Professional or institutional affiliation, mailing address, address, and telephone number must be included for all referees. At least four of these referees should be persons under whom you have studied at University. The remaining two referees should be people who know you well and can speak to your character and the broader non-academic interests Rhodes set out in his Will. Please see the instructions to referees later in this Memorandum. NOTE: Once a candidate has registered referee details in their online application, the online system will auto-generate an to your referees to advise them how to submit their letters of appraisal online. Reference letters must be received no later than October Submission before the deadline for applicants is requested. To prepare referees for the arrival of an requesting a reference, candidates should print out and give their referees the instructions regarding letters of appraisal provided in this Memorandum as soon as possible. Candidates may make one application only in any one application year. Page 3

4 6. Selection procedure a. If you have dual citizenship, you may apply to one constituency only, and to one state/province/district within that constituency; b. Financial need does not give a special claim to a Rhodes Scholarship. c. Selection for the Rhodes Scholarship is made without regard to marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social background, disability, caste or other irrelevant distinction. d. The Rhodes Scholarship for which you are applying is for entry to Oxford in October 2017 and may not be deferred. e. The Rhodes Scholarship is confirmed only upon successful admission to the University of Oxford. f. The decision of the Selection Committee is final. 7. Procedure after Selection a. Please note that successful applicants will need to apply to the University of Oxford very soon after selection. Full details will be given upon selection and Rhodes House, Oxford will assist you in that process. b. The full application of successful candidates will be forwarded to Rhodes House, Oxford, where the Scholarship references will be used as appropriate in support of your subsequent application to Oxford. c. Applicants for a second undergraduate degree with senior status will need to submit a paper application, provided on selection, which must reach Oxford by Friday, 2 December Candidates must therefore make a quick submission immediately following selection. d. Successful candidates will be encouraged to disclose, in confidence, any medical condition or special needs which may require academic or personal support in Oxford. This disclosure is entirely voluntary and is requested only to enable Rhodes House to provide suitable support in Oxford and to make the transition to Oxford as smooth as possible. Page 4

5 RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS Information for Referees Instructions to the applicant: Please print this form and distribute it to your referees. Please ensure that the name and address of the Secretary of the Selection Committee in the Region to which application is made is correctly supplied in the space at the bottom. Name of applicant The person whose name is given above is an applicant for a Rhodes Scholarship. The Selection Committee will be grateful if you will provide a frank statement regarding this applicant s qualifications. Proven intellectual and academic attainment of a high standard is the first quality required of applicants, but they will also be required to show integrity of character, sympathy for and protection of the weak, the ability to lead and the energy to use their talents to the full. Mr. Rhodes believed that the last of these qualities was best tested through participation and success in sports. Sporting prowess, however, is not an essential if applicants demonstrate in other ways the physical vigour which will enable Rhodes Scholars to make an effective contribution to the world around them. Mr. Rhodes clearly expected this in expressing the hope that a Rhodes Scholar would come to esteem the performance of public duties as his highest aim. It is not expected that you will be able to speak from first-hand knowledge of the candidate s qualifications under all those heads. If you are primarily acquainted with the candidate through an academic relationship you are requested to concentrate particularly on intellectual quality and potential (bearing in mind that your reference will be used for admission procedures at Oxford University) although your assessment of the other qualities will be very welcome to the Committee. If, on the other hand, you are better acquainted with the candidate through non-academic interests, you are requested to concentrate on assessment of character in the knowledge that the Committee is looking for persons who show promise of outstanding achievement in later life. Please do not hesitate to speak of the candidate s limitations as well as their qualities. A critical appraisal will add to, rather than detract from, the force of your letter, since Committees naturally tend to be dubious of recommendations which imply that a candidate has no limitations whatever. Student applications for the Scholarship are due online by October 14, The Selection Committee will begin preliminary evaluation of the credentials of applicants on or about October 20. Your assistance will be especially valuable if your comments can be made available to the Committee by that date. All letters must therefore be received by October 14, As soon as the candidate has registered the contact details of referees with their application in our online system, you will receive an auto-generated from the Rhodes Trust with instructions about how to file your letters of appraisal online. Thank you for your assistance. Selection Committees deeply appreciate your rich insights in helping us in our assessment of candidates for the Scholarship. Region Name of Secretary Address Page 5

6 CONTACT DETAILS FOR REGIONAL SELECTION COMMITTEES Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba British Columbia Newfoundland Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and PEI Ontario Québec F. W. JOHNSON, Q.C. Gerrard Rath Johnson Hamilton Street, Regina, SK S4P 3N6 (306) Fax: (306) KATE BALLEM CHASE GLENN JANES Research & Development Corporation Argyle Building 68 Portugal Cove Road St. John's, NL A1B 2L9 (709) Fax: (709) JOSIE MARKS Stewart McKelvey Suite 601, Blue Cross Centre 644 Main Street PO Box Moncton NB E1C 9NR; (506) (revised April 2016) (revised April 2016) BRIAN ROLFES McKinsey & Co., 110 Charles Street West Toronto ON M5S 1K9 (416) RICHARD PAN Power Corporation of Canada 751 Victoria Square Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2J3 (514) GENERAL SECRETARY FOR THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS IN CANADA: ANDREW WILKINSON, Q.C. Page 6