Admissions FAQs

Applicants from all countries and institutions are welcome to apply, whether you are a graduate of one of our esteemed partner universities or from other domestic and international institutions outside our partner network. Eligible applicants must be a graduate or professional degree candidate who has applied to an eligible WashU doctoral or master’s degree program and also meets one of the following criteria:

• Partner Applicants (Partner Scholars) – graduate of one of the McDonnell Academy 30+ esteemed institutions in the McDonnell Academy’s partner university network. Priority is given to partner graduate candidates; OR
• International Applicants (Global Scholars) – an international applicant who is a not a U.S. citizen and has graduated from an institution, either international or U.S.-based, outside the partner network. These applicants are considered for a limited number of fellowships.; OR
• Domestic Applicants (US Scholars) – a U.S. citizen who from either U.S. or international institutions who has earned previous degrees from either U.S. or international institutions. These applicants are considered for a limited number of fellowships.

Still not sure if you’re eligible, use the “Am I Eligible” tool on our admissions webpage.

Yes! Mcdonnell Academy Global Scholars (international applicants) are international students who have spent most of their lives outside the United States but obtained their undergraduate degrees in the U.S. If this description fits you, you are eligible to apply!

No. In order to qualify for the McDonnell Academy fellowship, graduate students must be entering their first year of an eligible doctoral or professional degree program.

The McDonnell Academy application opening date aligns with the respective graduate program application opening date. If the program you plan to apply for has not opened applications yet, you cannot apply to the Academy until it does.

The McDonnell Academy application is integrated into the WashU graduate application portal. After you submit your application for an eligible WashU doctoral or master’s degree program, a link to apply for the McDonnell Academy fellowship will become available on your WashU status page. For programs that fall outside the WashU graduate application portal, such as JD, MPH, MD, and others, you will be provided with specific instructions on how to apply for the McDonnell Academy fellowship following the submission of your application.

For more details and step-by-step guidance specific to your choses program, please refer to How to Apply section of the Application Instructions page.

The McDonnell Academy application is available through January 31st.

Your next step should be to complete the McDonnell Academy online application by January 31st. For step-by-step guidance on how to apply, please refer to How to Apply section of the Application Instructions page.

Yes; however, you may use the same materials and recommender for each application.

The McDonnell Academy application is available only to those who have applied to an eligible WashU graduate or professional degree program. To explore the graduate and professional degree programs offered at WashU, please visit Academic Degrees & Programs page.

Yes, if you have submitted an application to an eligible WashU program, you should apply to the McDonnell Academy before the January 31st deadline. Keep in mind that the McDonnell Academy’s admission committee reviews applications in mid to late February. Only candidates who have been accepted into their graduate degree program will be advanced to the evaluation stage of the McDonnell Academy’s selection process, and a select group of these candidates will then be proceed to the next round.

No. The McDonnell Academy graduate fellowship is only available to candidates accepted into eligible WashU graduate program.

If you are an incoming first-year student with a deferred application for an eligible degree program, you are eligible to apply to the McDonnell Academy. However, you must reapply to the McDonnell Academy for the Fall enrollment term. To do so, you need an active application in the WashU Graduate Admission Portal, which requires the reactivation of your deferred application by the specific program to which you initially applied.

Each school or department has its own process for reactivating deferred applications, and you will receive specific instructions when they are ready to begin the process. Once your application is reactivated for the Fall 2025 enrollment term, you will gain access to the McDonnell Academy application on your status portal.

To successfully complete the McDonnell Academy application process and be considered for the fellowship, you must submit the following materials:

• Personal essay – Write an essay, 1,000 words or less, explaining why you want to be a McDonnell Scholar and how the McDonnell Academy fellowship will impact your goals and career aspirations. 
• Short video – Record a two-minute video using the provided prompts to help us get to know you beyond your academic pursuits.
• Recommendation letter – Select an individual who knows you well and can highlight your leadership skills, character, and potential for growth. Provide their contact information in the application.

For more details and step-by-step guidelines please refer to How to Prepare section of the Application Instructions page.

No. Only your completed application, personal essay, video, and recommendation letter is required. The McDonnell Academy does not require you to submit CV’s, GRE scores, or other academic records.

The McDonnell Academy application includes a section for applicants to provide a URL to their video. To obtain a shareable link to their video, we recommend that applicants upload their video to an online video or file-sharing service. There are several options available, including YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, WeTransfer, etc. Please adjust the video privacy settings accordingly to ensure your video is viewable.

While the McDonnell Academy has access to and may review the materials submitted as part of the graduate degree program application, the admissions committee primarily focuses on the materials provided specifically for the McDonnell Academy application. If there is specific information or experiences that applicants would like to highlight, we encourage you to include this information in your McDonnell Academy essay and/or video.

Once the application is submitted, no further changes can be made. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully review all aspects of your application to ensure accuracy before submission. If a technical error occurs, please contact McDonnell Academy admissions for assistance in making corrections.

The McDonnell Academy requires only one letter of recommender.

Select the ideal person who can write a letter of recommendation that highlights your leadership skills, character, and potential, rather than focusing solely on academic credentials. The recommender should be able to describe your communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and/or interpersonal skills, as well as how you have achieved goals and/or exceeded expectations. 

This individual can be a past/present instructor, employment manager, coach, academic advisor, professional mentor, etc.  Ideally, this person should have held a supervisory position in relation to a professional or academic role.

If you choose the same individual who provided your program letter, ensure they write a separate letter specifically for to the McDonnell Academy that addresses your leadership qualities.

The admissions committee reviews departmental recommendation letters from your graduate program application. However, we require a separate letter for the McDonnell Academy to focus on your leadership qualities rather than academic credentials.

You may use a recommender from your graduate application if they can address your leadership skills, character, and potential. This recommender must write a separate letter specifically for the McDonnell Academy.

While we strongly encourage applicants to provide a professional email address for their recommender, we understand there are circumstances in which a professional email is not available. In these cases, you may provide your recommender’s personal email address.

If your recommender does not have access to or permission to use their organization’s letterhead stationery, they may use plain paper and include their full contact information at the top of the letter.

Upon submission, your recommender will be sent a letter of recommendation request email which includes a link to upload the recommendation letter.  Recommenders are given 14 days from receipt of the letter of recommendation request email to upload the letter of recommendation. The application deadline is January 31st, which means recommendations can be submitted until February 14^th and still be considered on time. This 14-day grace period allows us to accept recommendation letters until February 14th at 11:59 PM US.

Have you submitted your application?

• No: The letter of recommendation request email will not be sent to the recommender until you have completed all required sections and submitted your application. Once submitted, an email with instructions to upload the letter will be sent to your recommender automatically.
• Yes: If you have indeed submitted your application, please review the “I have submitted my application but my recommender did not receive an email to provide a letter of recommendation” FAQ response below.

Upon application submission, your recommender will be sent a letter of recommendation request email from the McDonnell Academy, which includes a link to upload the recommendation letter. If your recommender has not received the letter of recommendation request email, please review the contact information you provided for your recommender and check their email address for errors.

If you have verified that the contact information provided is correct, the email may have been blocked by the email host’s security protocols. Please ask your recommender to check their junk/spam folders.

Changes to your application following submission are not permitted. If the recommender’s information requires updating, you may request changes by completing an Admissions Inquiry Form.

Your application is NOT fully complete without the letter of recommendation.

Yes, you may request changes by completing an Admissions Inquiry Form.

Yes. The McDonnell Academy extends interviews to selected candidates based on the quality of their application in early March. Due to the high volume of applications the McDonnell Academy receives each year, we are unable to extend interviews to every applicant. Interviews are conducted virtually via Zoom.

On average, there are between 20-25 Scholars admitted each year.

The McDonnell Academy admissions committee reviews applications in mid to late February. Applicants who have been accepted into their graduate degree program will be advanced to the evaluation stage of the McDonnell Academy’s selection process, and a select group of these candidates will then be proceed to the next round. Final decisions are communicated by the end of March, and usually no later than mid-April. Please keep in mind that this can be a lengthy process and the timeline is subject to change.

No. Candidates must be accepted to an eligible WashU degree program to be eligible for McDonnell Academy consideration.

Applicants can track their application’s progress through their WashU Graduate Application Portal status page. Accepted individuals will also receive an email notification with further information.