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Application Questions

This page lists the questions and information requested in the Goldwater Scholarship application, organized by section, so you can prepare your responses before you begin. Character limits for the written responses are noted below; the online application enforces them, so drafting within these limits ahead of time will save you effort.

Dates and class-year definitions below refer to the current competition cycle. Always confirm specific deadlines and requirements with your Campus Representative and the official online application.

The application opens by confirming your eligibility and residence:

  • Citizenship status
  • Mailing address for your state (or territory) of legal residence
  • Your U.S. Congressional House District for your state of legal residence (look this up at house.gov by ZIP code; non-voting delegations — American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — enter “At Large”)
  • Whether your state of legal residence is the same as your permanent residence (usually a parent or legal guardian’s address); if not, your permanent residence mailing address
  • Permanent telephone number
  • If your legal residence differs from your permanent residence, how your legal residence was established

Career Goals & Written Statements

These written responses are the heart of the application. Character limits are enforced by the online form.

Career Goals — Brief Statement

In one or two sentences, describe your career goals and professional aspirations.

Limit: 200 characters

Career Goals — Expanded Statement

Expand on your brief statement to more fully describe your career goals and professional aspirations. Indicate which area(s) of mathematics, science, or engineering you are considering pursuing in your research career and specify how your current academic program and overall educational plans will help you achieve those goals.

Limit: 3,000 characters

How to approach it

Draft your answer, refine it, then refine it again. Before you write, talk the questions through with people who know the work: your research mentor, faculty who are not your mentor, others working in your field, and, where you can, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students. Understanding what a research career involves is what makes a statement convincing.

  • Be specific about what comes next. Name your plans for graduate school, and for post-doctoral research if you can see that far.
  • Show what brought you here. The research experiences, the courses that shaped your direction, and any other learning opportunities that support the goals you describe.

Research Career Motivation

Describe an activity or experience that has been important in helping shape or reinforce your desire to pursue a research career in science, mathematics, or engineering.

Limit: 1,500 characters

Personal Background (Optional)

Optional. Goldwater Scholars represent the diverse economic, ethnic, racial, and occupational backgrounds of families in the United States. Describe any social and/or economic impacts you have personally experienced that have influenced your education — either positively or negatively — and describe how you dealt with them.

Limit: 1,500 characters

Research Activities

You may list up to five research activities. For each one you will provide:

  • Research activity title
  • Start month and year, whether it is ongoing, and end month and year
  • Average hours per week during the academic year and during the summer
  • Name(s) of your project mentor(s) — up to three — and each mentor’s title
  • A description of the research project, including your role and contributions and the skills you acquired (1,000 characters)
  • Publication citation(s) and presentation citation(s), if any

If you do not have formal research experience: describe any skills or accomplishments significant and relevant to this application (for example, analytical, laboratory, or presentation skills).

Activities, Accomplishments & Recognitions

Activities & Accomplishments (up to 5)

  • Organization
  • Scope of the activity or accomplishment (international, national, college, community, or other)
  • Your role and involvement
  • Leadership position
  • Length of involvement

Recognitions (up to 5)

  • Recognition
  • Type (international, national, college, community, or other)
  • Award description (250 characters)
  • Award year

Academic Information

Current College or University

  • Institution type (2-year or 4-year)
  • Field of study and area of specialization within that field
  • Official cumulative unweighted GPA (4.00 scale, reported to two decimal places)
  • Credits or credit hours required for graduation, the number achieved as of January 1 of the application year, and the number planned at graduation — reported in whichever of the two your institution uses
  • Expected baccalaureate graduation month and year
  • Whether you are a sophomore or a junior (per the Goldwater definition below)
  • Matriculation status at the institution you will attend in the upcoming academic year

Goldwater definition: A sophomore is an undergraduate with a minimum of three but not more than four semesters of full-time undergraduate study remaining, beginning in September of the award year. A junior is an undergraduate with a minimum of one but not more than two semesters remaining.

Study Abroad

  • Whether you have participated in or plan to study abroad
  • The study-abroad academic institution
  • How the experience is relevant to your career aspirations

Coursework (up to 6 per category)

  • Current courses in your major
  • Future courses in your major
  • Future courses outside your major (double majors list courses from both majors, as appropriate)

Previous Schools Attended (if applicable)

  • Official school name, city, and state
  • Institution type (2-year or 4-year)
  • Dates attended and unweighted GPA (4.00 scale)
  • Whether that school is providing a transcript to your Campus Representative

Future Academic Plans

  • Whether the institution you will attend in the upcoming academic year is the same as your current institution
  • The highest degree you plan to obtain

Medical or Veterinary Degree (if applicable)

If you plan to attain an M.D., M.D./Ph.D., D.O., D.O./Ph.D., D.V.M., or D.V.M./Ph.D. degree, explain why a medical or veterinary degree is necessary for you to achieve your research goals.

Limit: 2,000 characters

Certification & Supporting Materials

To complete the application, you will also provide:

  • Certification and release, with your electronic signature
  • Your research essay — a separate uploaded document (see the Research Essay page)
  • Names and email addresses for three recommenders
  • Official transcript(s)
  • If you are a permanent resident: a copy of your permanent resident card