Apply to McNair Scholars Program
Priority will be given to those applications received on or before October 1, 2024. Applications received after this date will be considered as space allows or for admission to the program in future semesters.
Applicants accepted in fall 2024 will be selected to participate in the spring/summer 2025 research cohort. At this time, we are only accepting applications for students who plan to graduate in fall 2025 or later.
Please review the following eligibility requirements from the U.S. Department of Education, before proceeding with your application. There is also a time commitment involved with program services. Participants will be required to attend a six-week research program at the University of Nevada, Reno the summer following their acceptance into the program.
*The fall 2024 McNair Scholars Program application will open August 2024. Review the steps below prior to submitting an application.
McNair Scholars Program Online Application
How to complete your McNair Scholars Program application
As part of your online application you will need to provide the email addresses of two faculty members who will evaluate you for the program. After your online application has been reviewed, you will be contacted by the McNair Scholars Program and asked to proceed to step two.
You will be emailed a secondary link where you must upload an essay, unofficial transcripts and tax documents. The link has directions for each of these steps. Information regarding the essay requirements is listed below for reference.
Please limit your response to a TOTAL of two, typed, double-spaced pages.
- Who are you? Describe your family including parents' highest level of education and your educational background as well as your post-graduate study and career goals.
- Please define your understanding of the McNair Scholars Program philosophy and its primary goal.
- The University of Nevada, Reno McNair Scholars Program experience is stimulating, challenging, and demanding both in and out of the classroom. Why are you interested in such an experience and what are your reasons for wanting to be a McNair Scholar?
- Discuss what you hope to gain by becoming a McNair Scholar.
- Given the purpose of the McNair Scholars Program, to increase the diversity of administrative faculty and professors on college campuses, describe your level of interest in an academic career? Describe your course load, extra-curricular, and general work commitment.
- Discuss any plans, financial, familial, or personal responsibilities you have that may interfere with your participation in the program.
All applications will be reviewed by a faculty committee and students will be invited for an interview. Students who are selected for the McNair Scholars Program interview process will be required to complete the Eligibility Signature Page Form along with any additional tax documentation required from the previous tax year's forms: 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ copies (side 1 & 2 ONLY), or a Statement of Non-Taxable Income.
Students will be selected to participate in the McNair Scholars program after interviews are completed.