Introduction
Each year Wake Forest awards merit-based scholarships to less than 5% of its first year applicants; the recipients will benefit greatly from a Wake Forest education even as they contribute significantly to the intellectual and civic life of the campus. These scholarships, among the highest honors given to Wake Forest students, are renewable through four years, subject to satisfactory academic, extracurricular, and civic performance.
Though criteria differ slightly, the programs all recognize extraordinary achievement, leadership, and talent. Candidates embody those qualities that have led their predecessors in the past twenty years to eleven Rhodes Scholarships, two Marshall Scholarships, nine Truman Scholarships, over thirty Fulbright Scholarships, along with Goldwater, Beinecke, Luce and other honors.
To be considered for most scholarships (including the Reynolds, Carswell, and Gordon scholarships), students are strongly urged to complete an application for undergraduate admissions by January 1. Finalists for scholarships that require on-campus interviews will be notified by March.
Some merit-based scholarships consider demonstrated financial need as a determining factor. All applicants are encouraged to apply for need-based aid by completing the CSS/PROFILE and FAFSA forms to demonstrate financial need. They should file a PROFILE by January 1, so that need may be determined before the selection of finalists. Applicants should complete the FAFSA by March 1. Please refer to the Introduction to Need-Based Financial Aid page.
The Presidential Scholarship for Distinguished Achievement, our talent-based award, requires a separate application which has an earlier deadline. The William Louis Poteat Scholarship, an award for North Carolinians active in the Baptist church, requires a recommendation form be completed by a member of the applicant’s church. Wake Forest also provides Army ROTC Scholarships for qualified applicants.
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