The Application Process
The McConnell Foundation Scholars Program application process opens online every year on November 1st. You can create an account and start filling out the application at that time. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and California Dream Act Application are available starting the first of October for the following academic year. You may complete and submit your McConnell scholarship application once you have received your Student Aid Report (SAR) from the FAFSA website or Dream Act Student Aid Report (DASAR) and uploaded it to your scholarship application. It usually takes three business days to receive your SAR or DASAR after submitting your FAFSA or California Dream Act Application. The McConnell Foundation Scholars Program application is always due on March 5th at 9:30 pm Pacific Standard Time. No applications will be accepted after that time for any reason, including internet or computer problems.
After submission, all complete and eligible applications are assigned to reading groups based on region. Each application is read and ranked by a minimum of three trained community volunteers. The top-ranking applicants from each group are forwarded to a regional interview where final selections are made.
Selection Committees
We don’t pick your community’s McConnell Scholars – you do.
The McConnell Foundation Scholars Program serves communities from Bridgeville to Cedarville, from Yreka to Los Molinos, and everywhere in between. While we’re all proud to be from the “North State,” each of our communities has its own unique history, challenges, and character. Students who grow up less than an hour’s drive apart can have vastly different experiences and opportunities.
Our purpose is to help strengthen our communities by finding and supporting students who are most likely to be catalysts for positive social change. At The McConnell Foundation, we feel that no-one is better qualified to identify these students than their fellow community members. That’s why we have a separate volunteer selection committee for each of our five counties. These volunteers conduct all of the paper screening and interviews and make the final selections. McConnell staff attend and facilitate the interviews but do not vote.
We are deeply privileged and honored to work together with these caring and committed individuals to help our communities thrive. Please contact Dave Tanner, The McConnell Foundation Scholarship Program Officer, if you are interested in serving on a McConnell scholarship selection committee.
Please contact Dave Tanner, The McConnell Foundation Scholarship Program Officer, if you are interested in serving on a McConnell scholarship selection committee.
DAVE TANNER
Scholarship Program Officer
530-226-6233
Important Dates For the 2017 Application Season:
- 11/1/2016: The McConnell Foundation Scholarship Programs applications available online at: https://northstatescholarships.communityforce.com/Funds/Search.aspx
- 10/1/2016: FAFSA and CA Dream Act applications available
- 3/5/2017 at 9:30 pm PST: McConnell Foundation Scholarship Programs applications due
- 3/25/2017: Email sent notifying all applicants of interview or non-selection
- 4/1/2017: Trinity County McConnell Scholars interviews
- 4/8/2017: Shasta and Siskiyou County Scholars interviews (Fall River and Tulelake High School interviewees are included in Modoc Region)
- 4/29/2017: Tehama County and Modoc Region (including Fall River, Alturas, Surprise Valley, and Tulelake High Schools) Scholars interviews
- 5/1/2017: Email sent notifying all Scholars interviewees of acceptance or non-selection
- 5/13/2017: McConnell Vista interviews
- 5/15/2017: Email sent notifying all Vista interviewees of acceptance or non-selection
Interviews dates are chosen far in advance and require coordinating the various schedules of our selection committee volunteers. We recognize that our scholarship applicants are busy people and scheduling conflicts inevitably occur. However, we are unable to provide alternate interview dates. Please plan accordingly.
McConnell Scholarship Applications
The McConnell Foundation, the Community Foundation of the North State, the Shasta County Board of Education, and College OPTIONS have worked together to create a shared scholarship application website – North State Scholarships.
Clicking here will take you to the North State Scholarships welcome page. From this page, you can either search for The McConnell Foundation scholarship program applications or by clicking “View All Scholarships,” you can see all the applications from the four organizations. It’s easy to import your information from one application to another. You can now apply to several scholarships in the same time it used to take to apply to only one or two.
For specific questions regarding The McConnell Foundation Scholarships please contact Scholarship Program Officer Dave Tanner at (530) 226-6233 or by using the email contact form.
