Application Elements

There are several elements associated with the Goldwater Application. These include: 1) online questionnaire, 2) research essay, 3) three letters of recommendation, 4) transcript(s), and 5) if a student is a Permanent Resident, a copy of the student’s Permanent Resident Card and a Letter of Intent to become a U.S. citizen.

Online Questionnaire:

The online questionnaire, in addition to gathering background academic information, seeks to help the Goldwater Foundation understand a student’s commitment to pursuing a research career, intellectual intensity and potential for a significant future contribution to research in one of the eligible fields. A copy of the online questionnaire may be VIEWED or PRINTED by clicking on the appropriate link. Review of this material clarifies the information that will be needed to complete the online questionnaire and what narrative questions need to be addressed.

Research Essay:

As each element of the application is being developed, keep in mind that the Foundation’s reviewers will be evaluating the likelihood that a student will pursue a career and become a research leader in one of the supported fields. The Research Essay provides the reviewers with particularly important insights into an applicant’s background, experience, skills, temperament, and interest in pursuing a research career.

The strongest Research Essays students submit are based on a prior or current research experience. A Research Essay should include a description of the issue or problem, a discussion of the research methodology, and a discussion of the student’s findings. It is very important that the essay detail a student’s specific contributions to the project and indicate the specific skills/expertise the student developed as a result of participation in the project. To demonstrate that a student “thinks like a scientist,” the essay might, as an example, describe future work the experimental data suggests or describe an entirely new work that is based on the skills and insights the student learned from the experience.

If a student has not been involved in a research project, the student can develop a Research Essay on a “proposed” research project that might, for example, be based on an independent investigation of theory or on a topic of interest in the student’s field. A research problem should be put forward, an idea for a research protocol that would address the problem should be presented, methodology should be discussed, and anticipated results described. Linking the project to the skills the student has acquired through coursework or other work would be helpful to the reviewers.

The Research Essay should include appropriate bibliographic information and references.

Research Essay Formatting Guidelines:

Research Essays should be single spaced and use 12 point or larger Arial font. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides. Page length, including bibliographic information and references, must not exceed 3 pages. The Research Essay must include the applicant’s name and the name of the nominating institution in the header at the top of each page. Single or double column format may be used. As appropriate, utilize graphs, tables, and figures in the essay to explain results or to provide interpretation that lead to next steps.

Applicants may use mathematical equations in their research essays. If doing so, they may want to consider using document preparation software like LaTeX.

Research Essays should be saved as PDF files. Although the upload site accepts JPG and PNG file formats, PDF files are preferred. Instructions for uploading the Research Essay to the Goldwater site are provided in the online application. Students are responsible for uploading the Research Essay.

Letters of Recommendation:

Early in the process, the Goldwater CR will discuss with each applicant the selection of appropriate references. Each of a student’s three references should be an individual who knows the student’s strengths and weaknesses well, particularly those who know the student’s research strengths and weaknesses. Those who have served as faculty mentors for a student on a research project are among the student’s most important references. Letters can also come from faculty or post-docs who may not have served as the student’s research mentor but is someone who interacted with or observed some aspect of the student’s research work. Letters from faculty who know a student well from the student’s science, math or engineering classes, particularly those who can relate course materials to the student’s research career interests or who can comment on the student’s research aspirations, are also among the group of appropriate letter writers. Evaluations from former high school teachers, coaches or family friends are generally of minimal value.

Transcripts:

Transcripts from all colleges and universities a student has attended that are being used to compute the student’s cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) must be submitted as part of the application unless all the classes a student has taken at other institutions, along with the grades for these classes, are listed on the student’s current transcript. If available, the current Fall semester classes and grades should be included.

The Goldwater Foundation accepts both official and unofficial transcripts. An official transcript is one that is sent by a university directly to a CR who then uploads the transcript to the Goldwater nomination site. All transcripts – official or unofficial – must be accompanied by the key/guide that the university provides to read the transcript.

The Goldwater Foundation also accepts unofficial transcripts IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET. On some campuses, a Goldwater CR can download a student’s unofficial transcript directly. When this is the case, the Goldwater CR can download the student transcript and then upload the document to the Goldwater online site. On other campuses, only students can download their unofficial transcripts. In this case, the student can use this transcript if it is downloaded IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GOLDWATER CAMPUS REPRESENTATIVE. This transcript is then uploaded to the Goldwater nomination site by the CR. If a student cannot print an unofficial transcript in the presence of his/her CR (e.g., a student is studying abroad), the applicant will need to arrange to have an official transcript sent to the CR. Again, be certain that all transcripts – official or unofficial – are accompanied by the key/guide that is provided by a university to enable a transcript to be interpreted correctly.

Students should talk with their Goldwater CRs to determine whether they will need to have “official” transcripts sent to the CR or can use “unofficial” transcripts. Have the discussion about transcripts EARLY in the process to ensure that all transcripts one needs can be submitted before the nomination deadline. Students are responsible for getting all transcripts to their CRs in a timely fashion. Goldwater CRs are responsible for uploading transcripts to the Goldwater nomination site by the deadline.

Permanent Resident:

A permanent resident of the U.S. must upload a copy of his/her Permanent Resident Card and a Letter of Intent to become a U.S. citizen to the online Goldwater nomination site.