Twenty scholarships are awarded nationwide each year. Beinecke Scholars receive $5,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. There are no geographic restrictions on the use of the scholarship, and scholars are encouraged to begin graduate study as soon as possible following receipt of their undergraduate degree. Scholars must utilize all their award within five years of finishing their undergraduate program. Recipients are allowed to supplement the award with other scholarships, assistantships, and research grants.

To be eligible for a Beinecke Scholarship, a student must:

• Have demonstrated superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement, and personal promise during their undergraduate career.
• Be a college junior pursuing a bachelor's degree during the year of application. Students graduating one or two semesters after the semester of application are considered juniors.
• Plan to enter a master's or doctoral program in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Students in the social sciences who plan to pursue graduate study in neuroscience or clinical psychology should not apply for a Beinecke Scholarship.
• Be a United States citizen or a United States national from American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
• Have a documented history of receiving need-based financial aid during their undergraduate years. Primary evidence of meeting this criterion is a student's history of receiving need-based institutional, state, or federal grants-in-aid. 

Intent to apply: Students interested in applying for the Beinecke should contact FOUR (four@uvm.edu) in the fall for an informational meeting on the Beinecke Scholarship and the nomination process. 

Application Materials:

The following materials are required by the internal application deadline and should be submitted via email to four@uvm.edu as PDF files.  

• A completed copy of the Beinecke application form.
• A current C.V. that lists all activities and awards.
• A statement of 1,000 words or less from the nominee devoted to describing their research or creative interests for graduate study and career aspirations beyond these studies. It should also include a discussion of the most relevant academic, professional, extracurricular, and personal experiences that have influenced or shaped the nominee’s interests and plans.
• One unofficial UVM transcript, and an official transcript for all university-level courses not taken at UVM.
• Three letters of recommendation that come from faculty members who can assess your intellectual curiosity, character, and potential for advanced graduate study. (For the internal deadline, letters of recommendation must be e-mailed to four@uvm.edu by the individual recommenders, not by the applicant.) 

Internal Application: Due by 5pm on February 1 of each year

National Deadline:  A committee of UVM faculty will review applications and nominate one applicant for the Beinecke Scholarship. After earning UVM’s nomination in early February, the nominee should expect to work intensively with both the FOUR office and their faculty mentors to polish their materials prior to the national deadline in late March. Faculty mentors play a key role in advising nominees on their proposed graduate study.

If nominated, the applicant must also complete the Beinecke Financial Aid Data Sheet, which the nominee submits directly to the Director of the Beinecke Scholarship Program by the date of the national deadline. Please do not submit this sheet to FOUR directly. 

The Beinecke Scholarship seeks to find and support students in the humanities, social sciences, and arts who have demonstrated outstanding academic prowess and who wish to attend graduate school. The Beinecke is a $30,000 graduate school fellowship with an additional $5,000 cash award that students apply for in their junior year of college. Twenty Beinecke Scholarships are awarded nationally each year, and the University of Vermont may nominate one student each year to compete for this award.

Once nominated, approximately 100 students from all over the country compete for Beinecke Scholarships. When determining which applicants to award, Beinecke representatives are looking for four things: academic excellence; strong intellectual experience (e.g., opportunities for independent research, publications, conference presentations, etc.); demonstrated financial need (i.e., the candidate must be receiving some sort of financial aid); and validation of academic prowess and potential from letter of recommendation writers. As you're writing your letter, we'd like to encourage you to keep the following points in mind:

Make the Case for Excellence: The Beinecke truly seeks to reward excellence; Beinecke Scholars have outstanding academic records that enable them to go directly to top graduate programs right after finishing their bachelor's degree. Be specific in terms of what has impressed you in your interactions with the student, and bring the student to life in your letter. There are a couple effective ways to do this; you can bring in specific examples or anecdotes from your experience with the student in the classroom or in individual meetings. To that end, avoid being vague, and avoid statements such as, "X Student turned in assignments on time" or "X Student had perfect attendance in my class." (True, these are important qualities, but when articulating excellence these should go without saying)

Confirm and Validate the Student's Academic and Career Goals: Be sure to comment on the student's sincere commitment as well as ability to continue going forward in their field in a top-tier graduate school, and be sure to address the student's potential to make a significant and compelling impact in their field. It's helpful if you can genuinely and favorably compare the student to other outstanding undergraduate (or graduate) students you've worked with.

Speak to Your Audience: The letter you write for a student applying for a Beinecke Scholarship should be similar to the kind of letter you would write for a student going to graduate school. Readers will be looking to you to add depth and perspective to the student regarding their academic achievement, intellectual ability, and potential to succeed in graduate school. Finally, keep in mind that letters that are too short or too long may hurt the applicant. Generally speaking, a one-and-a-half to two-page single-spaced letter suffices for this competition. Recommenders are advised not to exceed two pages. 

Letters can be addressed to the Beinecke Scholarship Selection Committee.