For Applicants
High school graduating seniors with a distinguished record of community involvement and a strong desire to continue to learn through service are encouraged to apply. Competitive candidates have community involvement beyond the normal requirements for high school graduation or Florida Bright Futures scholarships, both in quantity and depth of service. A commitment that exhibits initiative and leadership will be given greater consideration. International and out-of-state students are welcome to apply.
Service Scholar Information Video | View
- Applications open: Oct. 10 at 8 a.m.
- Application deadline: Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. (EST)
- Recommendation deadline: March 5 at 11:59 p.m. (EST)
- Semi-finalists announced: March 19
- Finalists announced: April 12
- Program acceptance announced: April 22
- Student acceptance due: May 3
APPLY
The application is completed via Survey Monkey Apply (SMApply), an online application system. The application can be accessed via the button below. While applying, please make sure to check your junk or spam email inboxes for Survey Monkey emails.
Applicants are encouraged to stay attentive to their email for changes in their application status.
Recommender Information
Thank you for serving as a recommender for a program applicant. As a recommender you will receive an auto-generated email from our application system (Survey Monkey Apply). Please check your spam and junk mail folders for this email if you are not seeing it in the provided email’s inbox.
Once you accept your role as a recommender and follow the appropriate link in your recommender email, you will be asked to respond to four prompts within an online recommendation form. There will NOT be an opportunity for document upload and copying the content from letters of recommendation that are not direct responses to the prompts into the response boxes is NOT advised.
The recommender prompts:
- How long, and in what capacity, have you known the applicant?
- In what ways could the applicant be challenged to be more effective as a mature and productive leader? In other words, what are the applicant’s primary areas for growth? Please cite examples for support.
- In 15 years, what would a newspaper headline read about the applicant’s positive contributions to society and impact they had in their community? Please explain.
- There are multiple engagement opportunities available at Florida State University. Why do you feel the Service Scholar program best aligns with the applicant?
Recommendations are due one week AFTER the recommendation request (and application) deadline each year. Please see the application timeline above for specific dates.
Family & Guardian Information
The Service Scholar program becomes a chosen family for many. This emphasis on "family" is not in competition with families of origin or upbringing. Recognizing the dedicated effort of many families to support their student to reach this point in their life, the Service Scholar program wants to provide a 'Family Guide' resource that may assist families continue that support as their student applies for Service Scholars.
This guide is intended for parents and guardians of students interested in applying for the Service Scholar program. The guide also contains information relevant for parents and guardians of current Service Scholars. The Service Scholar program exists as an additional co-curricular opportunity for students at Florida State University, and as such participation and records related to participation are considered part of a student’s educational record. These records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as FERPA. While quite different than HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) which establishes patient record privacy standards within healthcare settings, similarities can be drawn for ease of explanation and understanding. In the way that a medical record belongs to the patient, educational records belong to students. And, in a comparable manner that patients can release specific records to specific third parties, students can also release limited pieces of their educational record to parties of their choosing. The University refers to this release as “delegated access.” Students may contact the University Registrar’s Office for additional information regarding delegated access and the release of specific educational records.
FAMILY GUIDE
Learn more
To learn more about the Service Scholar Program, or to get assistance with your application, please consider joining us at some of the following opportunities:
- Scholar Instagram Takeover: Sunday, Nov. 24 @thecenterfsu
- Program Info Session: Monday, Dec. 16, 6 p.m. via Zoom (Registration required)
- “Scholars Serve” IG Takeover: Saturday, Jan. 11 @thecenterfsu
- Scholar Instagram Takeover: Sunday, Jan. 26 @thecenterfsu
- "Ask the Scholars" Instagram Live: Tuesday, Feb. 11 @thecenterfsu | View
- Program Info Session: Monday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom (Registration required)