Applying for ACCESS Scholars
ACCESS seeks women and individuals from all dimensions of diversity who embody the program values of excellence, leadership, and gender equity.
How ACCESS students are selected:
A team of STEM faculty and administrators evaluates each applicant using a holistic review process that considers application essays, extracurricular experiences, high school course load and rigor, a letter of recommendation, and GPA.
Your ACCESS Application Must Include:
Personal Essay
How will being an ACCESS Scholar help you succeed as an undergraduate in the sciences? Highlight your interests and academic/career goals. (500 words max)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
ACCESS Scholars seeks to build a diverse and inclusive cohort with individuals from different backgrounds. How might your own life experiences, leadership qualities, and/or goals contribute to advancing equity in STEM fields? (500 words max)
Additional Experiences
Is there anything else in your background, such as work experience, volunteering, leadership positions, etc., that is not covered in the previous two questions that you’d like to share? (300 words max)
We are especially interested in students who have taken rigorous science courses (high school and/or college level).
This upload can be an unofficial transcript.
This letter should address your scientific interests and/or abilities, your leadership skills or potential, and your capacity to contribute to a supportive and inclusive community. Letters from teachers or other academic mentors strongly preferred.
You will be prompted to submit your recommender's name and email address in the application. Please ensure that their name and email address are spelled correctly. Once you submit their contact information, they will be sent an email with a link to upload their letter directly to your application. If you or your recommender has any questions about this process, please reach out to Sam Shaw (sam.shaw@utah.edu).
Questions about ACCESS or the application process?
Email ACCESS Program Manager, Sam Shaw at sam.shaw@utah.edu