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Good point. I applied in Canada about a decade ago. I do remember they mentioned at that time that they had toned down the "excellence in athletics" category. T
by iqster 15y ago
Good point. I applied in Canada about a decade ago. I do remember they mentioned at that time that they had toned down the "excellence in athletics" category. They now merely required participation and demonstration of sportsman spirit. This struck me as quite a reasonable decision on the part of the selection committee.
On a separate note, the Rhodes selection process is extremely competitive. While I didn't get in, I felt that just the process of applying forced me to self-reflect on my capabilities and accomplishments. I ended up making some positive changes in my life as a direct result of what I learned during the application process - sounds like the YC application eh? Heh Heh!
- colincsl 15y agoI totally agree and think that even if these awards aren't going to the "right" people it is still a worthwhile process for all of those involved. I was nominated by my school for the Goldwater scholarship and also applied to the NSF Graduate Fellowship and found both to be incredibly worthwhile. It wasn't until I wrote (and rewrote) my Goldwater essays that I had a good grasp of what I really wanted to do with life. Sure, at that point I had been doing 'research' and other creative activities, but I had never forced myself to really self-reflect and figure out how my interests come together.