What Are Academic Awards?
Campuswide awards, national or international fellowships, and nationally competitive scholarships are an excellent way to stand out as a law school applicant. These types of awards/scholarships are awarded primarily based on academic achievement.
Where to Start:
There are three main places to begin looking for academic award and scholarship opportunities:
- The Undergraduate Academic Awards Office: Staff from this office can help you find scholarship opportunities outside UW-Madison that match your goals and interests, navigate the scholarship application process, prepare for national scholarship interviews, and can also review scholarship essays. See the Contact Us section to set up an appointment.
- Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH): For scholarships at UW-Madison, the first step is to logon to the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub. You will be prompted to fill out a “general application” which is a series of questions to filter a list of departmental or campus wide scholarships for which you could qualify.
- Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS). This is the best place to start for international fellowship or grant programs. This is the campus unit that can help you apply to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which is designed to give recent B.S./B.A. graduates and young professionals opportunities for personal development and international experience. See here for contact information and to make an appointment.
Examples of Campus wide Awards
- Bascom Hill Society Scholarship—One-year scholarship for student with distinguished record of service/leadership/ academic achievement, and demonstrated financial need
- Herfurth-Kubly Award—Two $2,000 awards recognizing outstanding seniors
- Hilldale Research Fellowship—Approximately 105 awards funding student/faculty collaborative research in any field
- Holstrom Scholarship—Approximately five awards funding student/faculty collaborative environmental research
- Ginsburg Family Awards—awards recognizing juniors and seniors who excel in leadership/service/scholarship
- University Book Store Award—As many as 20 awards recognizing independent student work in any field (e.g., a senior thesis)
Examples of Nationally Competitive Scholarships/Fellowships
- Beinecke—For juniors to fund graduate study in arts, humanities and social sciences
- Churchill—For seniors or recent grads to fund one year of graduate study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics at Cambridge University
- Fulbright—For seniors or recent grads to fund academic opportunities for personal development and international experience
- Goldwater—For sophomores or juniors to fund undergraduate study for students in math, science and engineering
- Marshall—For seniors or recent graduates to fund two years of (graduate) study in any field at a university in the UK
- Mitchell—For seniors or recent graduates to fund one year of (graduate) study in any field at any university in Ireland or Northern Ireland
- Newman— For civic minded undergraduates with at least one year of undergraduate study left
- Rhodes—For seniors or recent graduates to fund two years of (graduate) study in any field at Oxford
- Truman—For juniors to fund graduate study in public service field
- Udall—For sophomores or juniors to fund undergraduate study in environmental studies, tribal policy or tribal health care