The Rhodes Trust has moved to a worldwide online application process this year. Applicants from the United States should refer to the guidance provided herein and on The Rhodes Trust website, www.rhodestrust.org, including the United States Memorandum of Regulations and Notes of Guidance for U. S. applicants. A more detailed Notes of Guidance document, with screenshots and instructional narrative for use by U.S. applicants and campus representatives, may also be found at the link below. Both sites include links to the online application.

The United States Memorandum of Regulations contains a list of the U.S. district secretaries for the 2009 competition, their contact information, and their respective jurisdictions. There has been some redistricting this year, including a split in California due to the increasing number of applications received in recent years. Please take special note. Applicants applying from California-North in District 15 or California-South in District 16 will still be recognized as having applied from the state of California for purposes of the Rhodes Scholarship.

For those for whom Oxford University requires fees in a fourth year for the completion of a doctorate, and when no other external funding is available, the Trustees, at their discretion and when progress is deemed satisfactory, will provide University and college fees for that fourth year, but not a maintenance stipend. However, the Trustees will not provide fourth-year fees in either the Division of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences or the Division of Medical Sciences as Scholars may enter directly to work for a doctorate in these divisions in three years. Scholars applying for a master's degree in one of these two science divisions should not, therefore, expect to be able to use the scholarship to go on to a doctorate. The Oxford MBA and Master in Financial Economics (MFE) remain available to Rhodes Scholars in their second year only.

The application deadline for U.S. applicants is Monday, October 5, 2009. It is expected that all applications will be submitted online, and any application received after October 5 will not be accepted. Institutional endorsements and letters of reference should be received no later than Tuesday, October 13, 2009, also through the online process.

Elections will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21, 2009, in cities representative of the 16 United States districts. Candidates will be notified as early as possible regarding invitations to interviews, and in no case less than one week prior to the competition, and must pay their own expenses in appearing before Committees of Selection. Thirty-two U.S. winners will be announced at the conclusion of the interviews on November 21.

A brochure, Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarships, and a document of frequently asked questions is also available at this site. For questions not addressed herein, or for specific concerns, please direct your inquiry to admin@rhodesscholar.org. Campus representatives may also use this email address to advise the American Secretary's office of updates in contact information.

The Rhodes Trustees reserve the right to make changes in degree eligibility, funding, and other aspects of the Scholarship program at any time.

Download United States Notes of Guidance with Application Screenshots and Instructional Narrative for use by 2009 Applicants and Campus Representatives