Goldwater Campus Nomination Timeline

Please be advised that before we nominate you or endorse your candidacy for a fellowship competition, we will perform a conduct and academic honesty check to confirm that you are in good disciplinary and academic standing; a waiver that allows us to do so is part of the Prospective Applicant Form (available below).

UR nomination to compete in the national Goldwater Scholarship competition is a multi-step process. An interdisciplinary faculty committee of STEM professors is convened to review candidates and make nomination decisions.

Below is the campus nomination schedule for the Goldwater Scholarship 2026-27 competition.

2026 Fall Semester Schedule for Applicants

September 21: Submit URochester Prospective Applicant Form (PAF) and the official Goldwater Scholarship Interest Form via the program’s website. Both are part of the vetting process conducted by the Goldwater Campus Representative (CR) and are required before you can be approved to begin the official Goldwater online application. The CR will communicate with you via email after this initial assessment of your profile; making an appointment at this time is not necessary. There will be no individual appointments until after the initial vetting and submission of the campus questionnaire (FPQ).

October 13: Submit the URochester Fellowships Preliminary Questionnaire (FPQ)You do not need to contact our office about an appointment after completing these forms; the CR will review the submissions and follow up with you afterwards. If it has been more than two academic semesters since you submitted an FPQ, please submit the FPQ Update. You do not need to do the entire FPQ again, unless you want to. Submission of the campus questionnaire is a mandatory part of the internal vetting process.

November 13: Draft of the Goldwater online application and the research essay due for initial CR feedback. You should also ask for feedback on the essay from an appropriate faculty/research mentor. Be sure to share the Goldwater essay guidelines with anyone reviewing your research essay. Do NOT submit the application. You will need to download your application and send it to the CR via this submission link.

RECOMMENDERS: Do not list any recommenders in the application until you have discussed recommender selections with the CR.

December 11: Revised draft of Goldwater online application, including the uploaded research essay, due for presentation to campus review committee. This is the version the campus committee will receive. Do NOT submit the application. You will need to download your application and send it to the CR via this submission link.

December 20: Goldwater recommendation letters due for internal nomination process. Signed reference letters should be submitted to the CR; letters should be on official letterhead with a current date. Ask your recommenders to click here to upload a letter of recommendation. Recommendation letter files should be named according to this format: Student Last Name_Goldwater Letter_Recommender Last Name (e.g., Smith_Goldwater Letter_Jones)

Early January: Goldwater Campus Nomination Committee meets to select nominees. Applicants will be notified via email of their nomination status, and those selected as nominees will discuss final revisions with the CR in preparation for the national submission.

2027 Spring Semester Schedule for Nominees

January 24, 12 noon: Complete, final, revised Goldwater Scholarship Application shared with CR for final review. Do NOT submit the application. You will need to download your application and send it to the CR via this submission link.

Finalized Goldwater recommendation letters submitted via the Goldwater application system.

Transcripts

URochester Transcripts: We recommend that nominees obtain an OFFICIAL electronic URochester transcript to upload to the application. Before you request your University of Rochester transcript, make sure your full spring program is reflected accurately on your transcript and that there are no missing grades from prior terms.

Non-URochester Transcripts (if required): Be sure the transcript shows both your name and the name of the institution that issued it.