Office of Fellowships Churchill Application Steps

Before you begin work on your Churchill Scholarship application, carefully read all of the information in our Churchill Overview page to determine your eligibility and whether this award will further your goals. Follow the steps for applying and seeking the endorsement of Amherst College. By carefully attending to these instructions, you'll be sure to produce an application that represents you authentically and favorably. Start in the spring semester and work on your application throughout the summer. Your target is the internal deadline of October 15, 2025.  Kipp Weiskopf '07 and Colin Godwin '07, Scholars

When you apply for a Churchill Scholarship, you are applying for support for a year of graduate study/research at the University of Cambridge. There are two different degree courses available to applicants for the Churchill Scholarship: the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) and MASt (Master of Advanced Study).

MPhil: the standard MPhil is a research degree, a program that entails full-time research in a lab, and culminates in a thesis and a viva (an oral examination). 
MASt: this is a taught degree course comprising lectures and written examinations. 

Some MPhil courses involve a mixture of taught courses and a research paper, and most MASt courses provide the opportunity to write a research paper. Check the department’s website for a full description of each course.

Choosing the right course for you can be far from straightforward. A field that falls in one academic department here may be in a different one at Cambridge. Do not limit yourself; look at labs in a variety of departments, and check the Programs of Study list below to see if the Churchill supports study/research there. 

• Examine this list of Programs of Study eligible for this scholarship. Note that, while there are taught courses at Cambridge other than the MASt, the Churchill Scholars Program encourages applicants to pursue a lab research placement instead of a taught course.
• Take time to read about post-graduate admissions at Cambridge, and to review the department websites for degree programs that interests you and that are on the Churchill list, investigate research going on there (if applicable), and look into the faculty and their research interests. Make sure you meet the eligibility requirements for any programs you are considering. 
• Consult with AC faculty in your major/the field you hope to study in graduate school. Faculty are the best advisors on what course of study you are well-prepared for and what is the best institution for it. PIs with whom you've done summer research will also be great resources. Start these conversations in the spring before you apply.
• Many mathematics majors are interested in the MASt in Mathematics. Before deciding to apply for this, read the Foundation's guide, Part III Mathematics for Churchill Scholars. As for all applicants, if you are applying to this program, you should put Churchill College down as first choice in your Cambridge application.  However, in the Cambridge application, you will find a tick box to express interest in the Trinity College Cambridge Scholarship. Check this off, too. If you are not successful with Churchill, you will automatically be considered by Trinity, and their college affiliation can be changed if you win the Trinity award. This will vastly increase your chances of spending an unforgettable and life-changing year in Cambridge. 

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Now that you've made sure that Cambridge is a good fit, you need to know whether the Churchill is, too. We hope you've already read the basic eligibility requirements on our Churchill Overview page and that you meet them. You probably need help determining if you meet the level of academic/research accomplishment signified by things beyond the GPA that are required. Request an appointment here to have a conversation with Christine Overstreet about it. We'll discuss your academic journey overall, whether applying makes sense for you, and whom to ask for recommendation letters. 

Solicit recommendation letters from FOUR faculty members or PIs with whom you've done research. At least two should be AC faculty members who have seen your most sophisticated work. (Often your thesis advisor is a good choice.) The other two can also be faculty here, but if you have done an REU or other significant summer research, ask the PI in that lab for a rec. A combination of letters from within and outside of Amherst can be very compelling. 

Ask your recommenders to read our Churchill Overview page, which will introduce them to the Churchill and also outline the content and format requirements for the letter. (You might cut and paste the Info for Recommenders section at the bottom of that page and send it in an email to them.)  

When to ask: Ask the writers in the summer/early fall, alerting them that the deadline is October 15th. Assure them that, while you are asking them early, you'll send them materials, such as your essays and resume, about 3-4 weeks before their letter is due. Alert them that they will receive a link from the Churchill portal to upload their letters there.

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If you are applying for an MPhil, which typically entails mainly research, you will need to discuss your potential for working in the chosen lab with a PI at Cambridge and receive a letter from them confirming the arrangement. (If you are applying for an MASt  you don't need to do this step. 

Refer to the Programs of Study list to see which programs are marked with an * indicating that you don't need to speak with a PI.) If you did Step 1 (explored programs and departments at Cambridge), you probably have an idea of who you'd like to work with there. You might also get leads from a faculty member here or a PI (laboratory supervisor) from your summer research. It's okay to reach out to more than one person while you are exploring your options. You'll be surprised at how friendly these people can be! Feel nervous about how to craft the initial email to reach out? Most people do! Use this template as a guide for your initial email.

As evidence of your conversation, you will need to upload to your application r a letter from the laboratory supervisor indicating their willingness to accept you in their laboratory, pending a successful application. 

Open up an application in the Churchill Foundation's portal. In this portal you will enter all the materials for your application. For our internal review, we will pull a pdf of your application from that portal once you have submitted it by the internal deadline.

In the portal, you will:

• Create a profile with demographic info
• Answer questions about your major(s), eligibility, and intended program of study
• Describe your future career plans (200 words)
• Produce a "narrative transcript" - a 300 word short essay in which you walk the reader through your transcript explaining course selections, noting meaningful classes, indicating textbooks assigned (if appropriate), highlighting graduate courses, and clarifying any grade discrepancies. (The selection committee does not look at grades outside of science, math, or engineering courses.)
• List your research/employment experience (with dates and names of advisors); scholarships, prizes, awards, and other distinctions; non-academic extra-curricular activities, with brief explanations about each
• Explain the impact of the pandemic on you (300 words) in terms of missed opportunities, if any (for instance, research that should have been in person moving online); may not be in 2024 application
• List publications, posters, and/or oral presentations (using formal citation format and noting specific contributions to authorship). There is space to list papers in preparation or under review. 
• Monitor your recommendations and as we get close to the deadline, send gentle reminders.

You will also upload:

• Your transcript(s) - MUST BE NON-ENCRYPTED! Procure a printed version from the registrar's office and scan front and back, then upload, or remove locks/authentication from electronic version.
• Correspondence with lab supervisor (see Step 4!)
• Proposed Program of Study essay (see Step 6!) 
• Academic and Research History essay (see Step 7!)

And Enter Recommendation Letter requests including:

• Name, title, address, telephone, email, and
• a note to the recommender: write a friendly greeting and reminder of the conversation you have already had requesting a letter; copy and paste the content & format, submission and deadline information at the bottom of our Churchill Overview page.

Draft your Proposed Program of Study (format: 1 page, 1" margins on all four sides, 12 pt Times New Roman; heading in upper left corner with your name and Amherst College on line 1; Proposed Program of Study on line 2; create a pdf of the doc to upload). Send the essay as a Word doc to Christine Overstreet for feedback. Also ask your faculty advisor to review it. 

For research-focused programs: Make your case for the degree program you are choosing based upon your previous research and study, and outline the research you hope to accomplish in your master's year. While your plan will necessarily be detailed, even technical, it must be comprehensible to an educated reader from another scientific field. The Selection Committee is made up of former Churchill Scholars from a variety of disciplines, and it is not possible to represent every specialized area of the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Citations are not necessary, but you can include brief ones if you feel it is important.

For mainly taught programs: Use the essay to demonstrate your close familiarity with the department’s rich offerings, suggest which courses you wish to take, and describe your rationale for your selections. If there is a research component to the course, you can also discuss your intention for research.

Academic and Research History (2 pages, 1" margins on all sides, 12 pt Times New Roman); heading in upper left corner with your name and Amherst College on line 1; Academic and Research History on line 2. Send the essay as a Word doc to Christine Overstreet for feedback. You may also wish to ask a faculty advisor to review it. 

This Statement is be an account of your intellectual journey in which you describe what drives you, what major research questions interest you, and how your academic and research experiences have led you to apply to the Churchill Scholarship.  and how your academic interests have evolved. In addition, you should feel free to discuss other work and activities that provide a fuller picture of who you are and who you want to be. This is a good place for you to describe your particular role and contributions to your research projects. The Foundation and the Selection Committee assume that these documents are your own personal work (although it is acceptable for you to seek editorial advice), and your signature on the application testifies to this. Please do not repeat information from the Proposed Program of Study.  It will not be helpful to use this essay to praise the University of Cambridge or Churchill College, nor is it advisable for you to assert that you are an ideal candidate for the Scholarship.

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In order to be considered for endorsement at AC, you must have applied to your program at Cambridge by the internal deadline of October 11th. 

• Start on the University of Cambridge Postgraduate Admissions page
• Be sure you have thoroughly examined the department and course website.
• Enter Churchill College as your first choice for college within Cambridge. 
• Prepare and submit the application

You've come so far and done so much! Congratulations on researching programs, gathering supporters, writing essays, and getting it all in. 

What is endorsement? After you've submitted your application, we'll present it to a committee comprising Amherst STEM faculty to review. There is no interview as part of this process. During the week of October 21-25, the committee will read each application carefully, discuss and evaluate each person's qualifications, and decide on TWO Churchill nominees. Each institution participating in the Churchill competition may only endorse only two. They will convey their decision to our office and Christine will notify you of your status via email. As an applicant, you should prepare yourself for any outcome. 

Have questions? Please contact us.

Physical address: 100 Boltwood Avenue, Amherst, MA 01002

Mailing address: AC #2214, PO Box 5000, Amherst, MA 01002