Live to Learn

Advice and Guidelines

(compiled with the input and advice of Elliot Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, and Scott Merriner, former Rhodes State Secretary for Alaska)

	Don’t apply just for the prestige: Apply because you want to go to Oxford: The Rhodes Trust is interested only in students who sincerely want to go to Oxford (and for whom Oxford’s academic programs are a good fit). Thus, only apply for the Rhodes if Oxford is one of your top choices to begin with. Selectors are fairly adept at distinguishing the true scholars from the glory seekers, and the latter rarely advance. Apply because you want to “fight the world’s fight”: Selectors are looking for candidates who are firmly and demonstrably committed to being leaders in making a positive difference in the world around them. Only apply if you are sincere about doing so. Again, “padded” applications are easily detected and are disregarded.
	Take the interview seriously: Take the interview seriously: The interview is the single most important part of your application and should be approached accordingly. That said, extensive preparation can reach the point of counter-productivity. Trying to anticipate every potential question is impossible, and it can leave you ill-prepared psychologically to deal with questions you hadn’t anticipated. Also, it’s easy to come off as being too polished – interviewers want to engage with a real, genuine person, mistakes and all.
	To thine own self be true: Your personal statement should be uniquely and identifiably your own. Of course, you should always have advisors (or others) proofread materials to correct spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, etc. However, it is usually fairly obvious when advisors have had too much influence in the writing of the personal statement, and this is severely frowned upon by selectors. If you cannot get to the interview round on your own, you certainly will not get past it.
	Get good letters of recommendation: Make it clear to the individuals writing your letters of recommendation that selectors expect such letters to be thorough, descriptive, and written by someone who knows you well; short form letters are next to useless.

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