The Statement of Purpose essay is an important factor in the selection of Gilman Scholarship recipients. We strongly encourage you to read the Gilman Selection Criteria, carefully review your essay, and ask an advisor, faculty member, or others to proofread your essay for spelling, grammar, and content prior to submission.
In your essay, be specific in describing your individual reasons for studying abroad, keeping in mind that this is a scholarship for academic study abroad or credit bearing international internships. Please address ALL of the questions below, in no particular order: (max of 7,000 characters)
How will studying or interning abroad help you achieve your future academic or professional goals?
Why did you select your specific program and host country?
How are you academically prepared to be a successful scholar abroad? If you have faced significant academic difficulties, tell us about those and how you are overcoming them.
What examples of knowledge, skills, and experiences will you draw on to meet the challenges of going abroad?
Compose your essays in a word document outside of the online application. Once your essays are finalized, copy and paste them into the text boxes provided in the online application. Your session will timeout after 45 minutes of inactivity, so please save your work accordingly.
Your essay should be composed in paragraph format, not as numbered responses to the questions in the application.
There is a 7,000 character limit (including spaces) for the Statement of Purpose Essay. This is approximately 1.5 pages, single-spaced in a word document. The two Community Impact Essays (Building Mutual Understanding Essay and the Follow-on Service Project Proposal) have a 3,000 character limit each. The optional Critical Need Language Award essay has a 2,000 character limit (including spaces).
Do not format (i.e. bold, underline, italics) your essays in the word document because your formatting will not transfer to the online application.
Ensure that your essays address the prompt/theme.
