Nomination Process

High School Nomination Process | Calendar for High School Nomination Process | Office of Admissions Nomination Process | Internal Wells Scholarship Process

The Wells Scholars Program uses a nomination rather than an application process for the selection of Scholars for the next freshman class and from current IU undergraduates.

High School Nomination Process

High schools in Indiana and selected high schools from other states are invited to nominate up to two students from the senior class for the Wells Scholarship.

Schools are encouraged to nominate students who have shown exceptional qualities of character and leadership, have been significantly involved in extracurricular activities, have demonstrated a concern for their community, and have excelled in terms of class rank, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests. In the past, successful nominees have typically ranked in the top 5% of their class, have compiled a GPA of 3.9 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have scored 1400 or higher on the combined SAT Critical Reading and Mathematics tests or 32 (composite) or higher on the ACT, and have shown a pattern of serious commitment to one or more activities outside of class.

Students interested in being considered for the Wells Scholarship should contact their high school guidance counselors to learn if their schools are eligible to nominate candidates and to gather information on the school's nominee selection procedures.

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Calendar for High School Nomination Process

Late August: Nomination packets are mailed to all eligible high schools. Please note: if you have not received your nomination materials by September 1, contact the Wells Scholars Program immediately and you will be provided with another packet of materials.

Early October: Received by deadline for submitting nominations. See nomination packet for exact date.

Mid-November: Approximately 50 finalists are selected for interviews; all nominees are notified of their status.

First weekend in December: Required interviews of finalists at IU Bloomington.

Late December: Notification of status mailed to each finalist. Eighteen to 22 Wells Scholars will be selected from the finalist group.

April 21: Deadline for accepting Wells Scholarship.

Mid-June: New student advising and registration at IU Bloomington.

Late August: Welcome reception for new Wells Scholars; IU Welcome Week.

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Office of Admissions Nomination Process

Students with an outstanding record of accomplishment who are home schooled or who attend a high school that is not eligible to nominate candidates for the Wells Scholarship may be considered for nomination by the IU Bloomington Office of Admissions. (The Office of Admissions is not able to nominate students who attend, or have graduated from, high schools that are eligible to nominate candidates.)

The Office of Admissions will nominate to the Wells Scholarship Committee a small number of candidates from those seeking freshman admission to IU Bloomington for Fall 2014 who are eligible for admission to the IU Hutton Honors College (See http://www.indiana.edu/~iubhonor/ for additional information.) and who have submitted the materials noted below by Friday, September 20, 2013, directly to the IUB Office of Admissions, 300 North Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405. (These materials should not be sent to the Wells Scholars Program. Doing so could delay or prevent, if the deadline is missed, consideration of a student's candidacy.)

The following items are required for consideration and must be received by the Office of Admissions by Friday, September 20, 2013:

For IU Bloomington freshman admission application materials, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/apply/freshmen/apply.shtml.

Those students who are nominated by the Office of Admissions will be contacted by the Wells Scholars Program in early October with additional information about the selection process and a request to submit additional items by a late October deadline.

For the remainder of the calendar of the selection process, see the calendar above.

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Internal Wells Scholarship Nomination Process

Each spring, the Wells Scholars Program anticipates awarding scholarships to one or two sophomores or juniors who are already enrolled at IU Bloomington. In order to be considered for an internal Wells Scholarship, a student must be nominated by an IU Bloomington faculty member and must have completed, at the time of the nomination, at least three semesters of course work as a full-time student on the Bloomington campus. (Please note, the Wells Scholarship cannot be used for support beyond the fourth year of undergraduate study.) Students may not apply for consideration.

The scholarship is based on merit, without regard to financial need.

A nominee is normally expected to be among the top 1% of students at the university in terms of intellectual ability and scholarly performance. The selection committee will also look for evidence of exceptional additional accomplishments or qualities, as indicated by extracurricular activities, community service, research, and/or outstanding talent in some specific field.

Invitations for nominations are sent out to IU Bloomington faculty in February. For the 2013 competition, detailed letters of nomination from faculty should reach the Wells Scholars Program by Friday, March 22, 2013. The letter should speak about the nominee's qualities of character and leadership, as well as about the nominee's academic and extracurricular achievements.

Students selected as finalists will be invited for interviews scheduled for Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Results of the competition will be announced later in May.

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