Eugene McDermott Scholars
Helpful Hints

Consider the following tips as you work on your application for the McDermott Scholars Program at The University of Texas at Dallas.

• You can submit your application at any time before the deadline.
• Read the instructions thoroughly.
• Read the entire application before starting it.
• Look over all the questions early enough so you have time to consider your answers.
• Have these application instructions open to refer to while you are working on your application.
• If you find speaking easier than writing, discuss your ideas with someone, or record yourself talking through your answers, and work from there. You may want to write your answers in a separate document (keeping in mind the character limits for each question) and then copy your final answers into your application.
• Consider what your most authentic “voice” is and let it speak in your answers.
• There is so much more to you than can appear on any application, and you are more than the sum of your activities.
• We recognize that learning, leading, and serving happen everywhere – including at home and at work – not only in the experiences typically mentioned in applications.
• We recognize that people’s personal contexts, like family responsibilities or the need to work, shape their other activities.
• Before completing the ACTIVITIES section:
  • List all your activities in a different document first.
  • Prioritize them and select up to 10 that are the most meaningful to you.
  • Consider including the activities that give a complete picture of your priorities, how your time as a student is usually spent, what you really enjoy, needs you’ve met in your communities, and what demands affect your time use.
• The last short answer question on the application may be a good place to name anything you think is important for us to know about you that you were not able to mention somewhere else in the application.
• Read your application to see if what you’ve included tells who you are and demonstrates that by what you do. Then ask someone else to read your application.
• Proofread your application. Then ask someone else to proofread your application.

When you are ready to submit, keep a copy of your completed application before submitting it. After submitting your application, you will not be able to access it again.