Distinguished Scholars Award

The Distinguished Scholars Award is Missouri S&T’s most prestigious academic scholarship for incoming freshmen who reside outside the state of Missouri.

This highly competitive scholarship of $30,000 per year will be awarded to five (5) students. This would be a revised scholarship offer and will supersede any other offer that was provided by admissions. This is a four-year package renewable with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00. Out of state residents who become Missouri residents will be assessed instate tuition and forfeit out of state scholarships.

To apply for the Distinguished Scholars Award, all eligibility requirements must be met and all instructions followed for an application to be considered. 

Eligibility

Eligibility for the Distinguished Scholars Award is met by the following criteria:

  • Receive a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75 after six semesters of high school coursework 
  • Receive an ACT superscore of 29 or better OR a SAT EBRW superscore of 1330 or better before the December 1, 2024 deadline
  • Be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident outside the state of Missouri
  • Be a spring 2025 high school graduate
  • Applied for admission to Missouri S&T no later than November 14, 2024
  • Submit an application by the deadline, December 1, 2024 11:59pm CST

How to Apply

  • Apply for admission at least two weeks before the December 1 deadline, to allow time to process your application. Visit apply.mst.edu to complete the online admissions application, and submit your high school transcript and official test score.

Distinguished Scholars Award Application

Essay Topic

In April 2024 the World Economic Forum hosted a panel discussion titled “Innovating for Social Impact”* in which more than 700 attendees were comprised of leaders from all over the world representing all sectors and industries. 10 million social enterprises across the world generate $2 trillion in annual revenue, despite representing only 3% of global businesses*. Social entrepreneurship does not mean that you are giving up profitability or growth; it simply means that you are pursuing profits while trying to make the world a better place. If you had the opportunity to innovate in a way that alleviated some social or societal problem, which cause or social issue would you work to improve and why?  Additionally, how could S&T better prepare students to tackle the cause(s) that you are most passionate about?

*https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/05/how-to-create-more-social-entrepreneurs/

Essay Requirements

  • Your essay should be 500 - 750 words, typed in 12 pt. Times New Roman font and double spaced.
  • You must use MLA style formatting.
  • An abstract page is not needed.
  • Your reference page should include a minimum of three references (various S&T website pages are acceptable).
  • Uploaded essays should be in PDF format.

The scholarship committee will judge the essay on the following:

  1. Purpose and theme
  2. Introduction and conclusion
  3. Organization and structure
  4. Research and documentation
  5. Language use and mechanics

Interview

Students will be notified if they are or are not moving forward in the process. Each finalist will receive an invitation to discuss his/her essay via a virtual interview.