Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards (OMSFA)

Your GPA is important, but not the only consideration for either of these scholarships.

Strong academic achievement is especially important if you’re applying for a Martin Family Honors Scholarship. Martin Honors Scholars are encouraged to join College or Departmental Honors Program at the University of Washington.

GPA is of less importance for Martin Achievement Scholarship candidates, but the competition does get tougher each year. In this program we are looking for dedicated individuals who are beginning to demonstrate an aptitude in specific areas of study, but who may not have a GPA at the top of their class. We want to encourage and support community college students who are beginning to demonstrate the academic potential that will enable them to be admitted to the University of Washington. Successful admission into the University of Washington Seattle is a requirement for the ongoing funding of Martin Achievement Scholars, which begins during a student’s second, or final year of study at one of the designated community colleges and continues when they transfer to the University of Washington Seattle.

Although demonstrated financial need will be a consideration in awarding scholarships for both of these scholarship programs, it is not an eligibility requirement. We recognize that attending college full time can be a huge financial burden, even for those who are supported by family and/or employed, but with lots of other responsibilities.

The Martin Family Foundation is interested in assisting individuals who will have a positive impact in their communities. This goal is not intended to limit a candidate’s chosen field of study in any way. Lots of people with diverse backgrounds are making a difference every day, either through their volunteerism, their chosen career, their engagement with family, their communities, etc.

For the Martin Honors Scholarship, applicants complete an application form, including unofficial transcripts and two letters of recommendation. A review committee composed of UW faculty and staff members reviews all applications and selects a small number of applicants, who are then asked to write a brief essay to supplement their applications. The review committee reviews those essays and selects finalists to be interviewed by the Martin Family Foundation Board in September. The Board makes the final determination of scholarship recipients within one day of the interviews.

For the Martin Achievement Scholarship, applicants complete an application form, including unofficial transcripts and two letters of recommendation. A review committee composed of UW faculty and staff members reviews all applications and selects a small number of finalists to be interviewed by the Martin Family Foundation Board in May. The Board makes the final determination of scholarship recipients within one day of the interviews.

Because there are such a small number of scholarships available, and so many impressive community college students doing outstanding work and planning to transfer to UW Seattle, both the Martin Achievement and the Martin Honors Scholarships selection processes are exceptionally competitive. It is highly recommended to invest time into drafting and revising your application materials thoroughly, getting feedback from mentors and supporters along the way. 

In a typical cycle, the Martin Honors Scholarship program receives ~150 applications for the 2-4 scholarships available. The Martin Achievement Scholarship program has historically been much smaller, given the earlier timeframe involved, with ~20 applications each year for the 2-4 scholarships available. For those who can plan ahead, the Achievement Scholarship is a good opportunity!

The Martin Achievement Scholarship provides:

• $5,000 to be used during the final year of full-time enrollment at the community college.
• Upon successful admission to UW Seattle, the scholarship will then provide $12,000/year for 2 or 3 years of full-time enrollment at UW Seattle (depending on graduation planning).
• Recipients must remain in good academic standing and must be enrolled full-time during the regular academic year (fall, winter, spring).

The Martin Honors Scholarship provides:

• $12,000/year for 2 or 3 years of full-time enrollment at UW Seattle (depending on graduation planning).
• Recipients must remain in good academic standing and must be enrolled full-time during the regular academic year (fall, winter, spring).

Though the number can vary, during each application cycle, the Board is typically selecting 2-4 new scholars.

At any given time, the Martin Family Foundation is supporting ~25 scholars.

Students selected as Martin Achievement or Martin Honors scholars join a community of scholars at the UW and beyond. Martin Scholars get together at least twice/year to share their experiences with each other, learn about resources and opportunities from each other, and meet peers, alums, and others who can provide support and guidance at UW. We encourage scholars to keep in touch with us and with each other after graduation from UW.

We will need to address this for you internally. Using the email address designated in your application (so we can confirm your identity), please email scholarq@uw.edu with specific details about the changes you need to make (which recommender needs to be changed/updated). Most likely, we will need to delete the recommender information in question, to allow you to edit those details again.

First, please double-check that you’ve entered their email address correctly in your application. Using the email address designated in your application (so we can confirm your identity), please email scholarq@uw.edu with specific details about which recommender is having the issue. We will be able to resend the instruction message to them.

Don't panic! Your information is not gone. It is very common for applicants to accidentally log into the application with different login credentials (your browser logs you in automatically using your gmail or other account credentials), which actually starts a brand new application, rather than accessing the application already in-progress.

Please try logging into your application using a different browser or in a private/incognito window so you can force the application system to let you log in with the credentials you choose. Often that does the trick to get you into your existing application.

If problems persist, please email scholarq@uw.edu with specific details about the problem, including screenshots if relevant.