Gates Cambridge scholarships offer students an immense benefit to study without having to spend money by themselves. Run through the aid from Bill and Melinda Gates, the scholarship program has a worth of total $210. Two third of the scholarship quota is normally set aside for Ph.D. students. During the international round, students from across the globe can apply for the full cost.
Applications dates and deadlines
| Applications open | Yes – You can submit applications now |
| Application deadline | Dependent on your course – either 3 December 2019 or 3 January 2020 |
| Departmental ranking | December – February |
| Trust shortlisting | Early March |
| Shortlisted candidates invited to interview | Early March |
| Interviews | 23 & 24 March 2020 (Cambridge, UK) |
| Scholarships offered | Late March |
| Scholarships accepted | 48 hours after the offer |
Number of available seats
There are in total 80 seats for fully-funded scholarships, 25 are for US citizens and 55 for non-UK citizens.
On which criteria are the applications assessed?
If you are interested to apply for this opportunity, there are a number of factors which are considered in order to offer theses scholarships which are as follows:
- outstanding intellectual ability
- leadership potential
- a commitment to improving the lives of others
- a good fit between the applicant’s qualifications and aspirations and the postgraduate program at Cambridge for which they are applying
Eligibility
There are many eligibility factors, which are counted towards accepting an application for this program. So you can apply for Cambridge scholarships if you are:
- a citizen of any country outside the United Kingdom (for example with Indian or Pakistani nationality)
- it is really important that applying to pursue one of the following full-time residential courses of study at the University of Cambridge:
Ph.D. (three-year research-only degree)
MSc or MLitt (two-year research-only degree)
One year postgraduate course (e.g. MPhil, LLM, MASt, Diploma, MBA, etc.)
In addition, a candidate must possess the following qualities:
- excellent academic excellence
- good leadership potential
- a commitment to improving the lives of others after the completion of the program
- a really good academic background that fits with Cambridge university
Required documents to apply
You must arrange the following material in order to apply for this scholarship program:
- CV/Resume
- Research proposal (Ph.D. applicants only)
- Gates Cambridge Statement (statement of purpose)
For Gates Cambridge statement, you are asked to write 5000 words to explain why you are applying for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and how you meet the four main criteria.
Please do note this statement is extremely important as this would be used to shortlist the candidates who stand at the same levels. So make sure before applying that what you write is 100% correct and well explained.
Reference
You need to submit 2 academic references surely not from those who are your friends or family members. The referees must include how they rate you for the chosen scholarship programs, for example, exceptional, strong or weak. The reference details could either be typed in the online application with almost 600 words or could also be uploaded as a separate letter.
Who could write you a reference letter?
A current or former academic advisor who is aware of your personal attributes, or a current or former employer. In some cases a senior staff in an organization you may have volunteered with.
Important things for a referee
It is really important that your referee knows all the information about this scholarship program for example selection criteria and process. The referee can also use an example that how you (the applicant) meet the requirements of the program.
Selection criteria
In total, there are three phases which are involved to consider a candidate for the scholarship program:
Departmental ranking
In order to ensure only the most academically outstanding candidates are considered, the Trust asks academic departments in Cambridge to rank eligible applicants on academic ability only. Those who are put forward by their departments are considered the most academically outstanding applicants they have received that year.
Shortlisting
In the second phase, once the Trust has a list of all ranked candidates, these are divided into broad subject areas and passed to our Shortlisting Committees. These Committees look at the candidates’ entire application pack (including the Gates Cambridge Statement and Reference) and apply all four Gates Cambridge criteria in order to identify those who will be invited for an interview. Everyone who is shortlisted for the interview will have gone through an exceptionally competitive process and will show evidence of meeting the four Gates Cambridge criteria.
Interview
In third phase, all shortlisted candidates have a short interview to assess how they meet all four Gates Cambridge criteria and Scholars are selected after the interview.
How to apply
For the majority of the course and funding options, do apply online at this website link http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk
The separate application process is followed for the following two-course:
Consider reading here the official Cambridge scholarships website here https://www.gatescambridge.org/apply-overview