Executive Secretary

Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation

Wouldn’t you like to

• have two years of study at the University of Oxford, one of the world’s renowned educational institutions
• have exceptional personal growth brought on by the great opportunity and challenges of studying in a different educational and social milieu;
• become friends with future world leaders
• have some life-changing and enriching experiences
• gain fresh perspectives and enhance your critical thinking and analytic abilities
• travel internationally
• be further recognized for your potential
• gain access to rare opportunities in the future, and
• give pride to your undergraduate institution?

The Rhodes Scholarship provides these possibilities to 32 US citizens each year. If you meet the eligibility requirements [see the last page], I hope you will apply for this scholarship.

Even if you try for and are not selected for this sought after award, you should find the application process well-worth the effort. You will get a much better sense of who you are, what you want to be, and how best to continue your studies. At a Rhodes interview, you will meet some wonderful fellow contestants who might in time become allies in your efforts to make the world a better place.

The competition will likely require 50-100+ hours of your time to prepare a strong, insightful 1000-word personal statement and list of activities. Each of the 5-8 recommenders will spend 4-8 hours preparing an effective letter on your behalf.

Before starting:

Determine whether study at Oxford is consistent with your interests and ambitions. Do you really want to spend two years at Oxford pursuing academic and cultural interests that might have little immediate relevance to your career goals? Would it be more advantageous to spend the time in another country, or in some part of the US?

Recognize that the rain falls often -- literally and figuratively -- at Oxford. Complaints by Truman Scholars include: The opportunities for meaningful public service in England are limited. The pedagogy is often frustrating. Some faculty members may seem to display little interest in your education. Some societal attitudes are disappointing if not distasteful. Winters are dark and gloomy. While Truman Scholars generally have challenging and occasionally unhappy times in Oxford, virtually all of them grow enormously and gain further definition to their lives as a result of the Rhodes experience.

Understand that primary benefits are likely to be new friendships, travel and personal growth and not necessarily academic preparation for your career objectives. Most Truman Scholars return to the US for further graduate education following their Rhodes. Truman Scholars make wonderful friends, though typically they are not English. They send me post cards from exotic places.

Plan to begin during the summer. A good personal statement takes a great deal reflection and time to prepare. Campus deadlines can be as much as a month before the early to mid-October deadlines for submitting the applications.

You will need an outstanding personal statement to receive a Rhodes interview in a populous state. Through your personal statement, you must convince the state selection committee that you are a potential Rhodes Scholar deserving of an interview. The personal statement is a critical factor in determining your success in the Rhodes competition.

Writing an effective personal statement is difficult. These notes should help you -- but count on a great deal of thought, effort, feedback from a campus mentor, rewriting and editing to produce an outstanding personal statement. Once you have prepared an effective personal statement, it will likely appear simple and effortless.

William Zinsser from

On Writing Well.

Recognize that readers of your Rhodes application -- the people who decide whether you advance to the interview – have a lot of experience. Veteran Rhodes Committee members from large states have read hundreds of Rhodes personal statement. Don’t try to guess what they want to read. Don’t try to outsmart them nor impress them. Just write honestly, simply and clearly about yourself and your aspirations.

Understand your motivations for applying and include them. Think about why you want to study in Oxford and why it will help you become a better person and leader. Your field of study does not have to be a continuation of your undergraduate major(s) nor the first two years of obtaining a terminal degree.

Get a mentor/critic to help you with the personal statement. Many schools have a designated staff person to help students with graduate fellowships or Rhodes Scholarships. If not, try to find someone who will work closely with you.

Understand the goals of the personal statement. The main goals are to secure an invitation to the interview and to present some lines of questioning. An outstanding personal statement won’t win the scholarship for you ... but a poorly prepared one will likely deny you the chance to interview for the scholarship.

Think strategically about yourself and your candidacy. Ask yourself: "What are the most important characteristics and values, goals and ambitions, life experiences and service activities that define who I am?" Then decide which of these you wish to emphasize in your Rhodes personal statement. Don’t try to cover every aspect.

While you might not have had any traumatic experiences nor come from a financially challenged family environment, you have still likely had experiences that are interesting to relate and that have been formative in your development as a future leader.

Read good personal statements to see how effective and revealing they can be. Most of the references have exemplary personal statements. Your advisor may have some from previous participants.

Decide on a story line for your personal statement. In telling your story, use your responses to bring out some dimensions that are not obvious from reading your list of activities. Reveal why you are committed to making a difference in the world. Tell the story in an interesting, compelling and perhaps amusing way. It must be authentic.

Maintain focus. Don’t try to share every interest, every societal concern, every accomplishment, every ambition, every passion.

Jane Curlin, Ph.D.

University of Tulsa Truman Faculty Rep

Show what makes you tick. Reveal your career goals and the source of the motivations for your ambitions. Show how you are already well along the path for success.

Use no more than 1-2 paragraphs to present the educational program you plan to undertake yet still build a good case for it. Make clear what you want to study, why you would be an excellent student in this field, and how it will benefit you in the long run. This does not need to be a continuation of your undergraduate major nor the terminal degree you will seek.

Have some fun and lightness in your personal statement … unless, of course, you are a total sour-puss. If you have a keen wit or a quirky or unusual hobby, share it.

Explain "understandable" gaps or weaknesses. If you had a serious illness or unusually heavy family obligations that temporarily affected your grades or limited your participation in various activities, share it. Just don’t use a "sob story" in an attempt to advance your candidacy.

You need outstanding letters of recommendation to advance. The Rhodes calls for five to eight letters. Four of them must be from academics.

Your recommenders should:

Know you very well. This can be from having you in two or more classes, working together closely for an extended period, having selected you for some prestigious award, etc.;

Have credibility with the Rhodes selectors. This can come through their affiliations, noteworthy achievements, or having been recipients of these awards in the past;

Put you in a favorable context. They should be able to compare you favorably with other Rhodes recipients or with high achieving persons that the Rhodes selectors would be proud to claim as their own; and

Have the time to write a strong letter for you. Be sure to ask the person something like the following: "Do you have the time and do you feel you know me well enough to write a strong letter on my behalf for the Rhodes Scholarship?".

• Explain activities and awards unique to your campus or community. Don’t count on the readers to be familiar with them.
• List in order -- either inverse chronological order or by order of importance to you.
• Highlight major activities -- possibly by devoting the most space to them so that the reader gets a visual clue to its importance.
• Don’t clutter with ones where you spent a day or so or which may appear trivial.
• Don’t overstate activities.
• If you are truly athletic, mention it. Otherwise, don’t talk about exercise and physical fitness.

• Write a compelling opening sentence.

• Make the first sentence of each paragraph engaging.

• Have a consistent story line that focuses on your unique aspects.

• Be positive. Be up-beat

• Write simply.

• Rely on nouns and active verbs -- not adjectives and adverbs and passive verbs -- to carry the story.

• Make it interesting.

• Have lightness, color and possibly something amusing or humorous.

• Be honest.

• Take risks.

• Make it easy to read -- both in terms of writing and appearance.

• Have perfect spelling, punctuation and grammar.

• Adhere strictly to the 1000 word limit ... and this includes little words like "a", "to", "and."

• Edit, edit, edit.

• Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

• Use words or concepts which you do not fully understand.

• Employ qualifiers or imprecise words such as: very, quite, rather, little, many, really, somewhat, a bit, far, some, often, interesting.

• Insert famous quotations -- it’s like name-dropping. If you feel you must have a quotation, select an obscure one.

• Be cute, flippant, profane, nor glib.

• Utilize abbreviations, jargon nor slang.

• Overstate accomplishments.

• Use leadership examples from high school.

• Write flowery language nor provide cluttered imagery.

• Include gimmicks, puns, slang, fractured English, nor made-up words.

• If you must write about them, use the following cautiously: how much your family or religion means to you; how difficult or unjust your life has been; how smart, capable or compassionate you are; how much you got out of a short trip abroad; how much you learned from a government internship.

Donald Asher, Graduate Admissions Essays -- What works, What Doesn’t Work, and Why. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 1991.

Harry Bauld, On Writing the College Application Essay, Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1987.

Phil and Carol Carpenter, Marketing Yourself to the Top Business Schools, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1995.

Jane Curlin, Getting Creative with the Truman Personal Statement, http://www.truman.gov/perssta2.htm

George Ehrenhaft, Writing a Successful College Application Essay. Barron’s Educational Series, Hauppage, NY, 1993.

Christopher J. Georges and Gigi E. Georges, 100 Successful College Application Essays. Mentor Books, New York, 1991.

Howard Green and Robert Minton, Scaling the Ivy Wall. Little, Brown, Boston, 1987.

Michael James Mason, How To Write a Winning College Application Essay, 2nd Edition. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, Ca., 1994.

Sarah Myers McGinty, Writing Your College Application Essay, College Entrance Examination Board, New York, 1991.

Helen W. Power and Robert DiAntonio, The Admissions Essay. Carol Publishing Group, New York, 1995.

Richard J. Stelzer, How to Write A Winning Personal Statement for Graduate and Professional School. Peterson’s Guides, Princeton, N.J., 1993.

Mark Alan Stewart, Perfect Personal Statements. Macmillan General Reference, New York, 1996.

Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, Want to Make a Difference? GO for the Truman. Washington, DC, 1996.

William Strunk and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 3rd edition. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1987.

William Zinsser, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing NonFiction, fifth ed., Harper Perennial, New York, 1994.