The Beautiful Minds Challenge is an annual scholarship and cash prize competition that rewards creative ideas and expression. Every fall, students aged 15–19 are invited to submit a project responding to a new prompt. This could be your year!
The top 12 students who are high school seniors (or equivalent) and who intend to enroll at Marlboro College in the fall of 2019 will be eligible for a full or partial tuition scholarship. Scholarships cover eight semesters at Marlboro as long as the student remains in good academic standing.
The top three students who are high school students in their first, second, or third years (or equivalent) are eligible for cash prizes—$1,000 for 1st place, $750 for 2nd place, $500 for 3rd place. Students who won a cash prize in 2017-18 are not eligible to win another cash prize, but can enter subsequent challenges in order to earn a scholarship and/or honorable mention status and trip to the Symposium.
All of the prize winning individuals/teams will also be invited to an expense-paid trip to Marlboro College for the 2019 Beautiful Minds Symposium in the spring. Additional honorable mention projects will be extended a Symposium invitation as well. The total number of attendees depends on the number of submissions made by individuals or groups.
If you are ready to submit your 2018 Beautiful Minds Challenge project, that's great! Please fill out a submission form: Submission form
The Beautiful Minds Challenge is open to all teens aged 15–19 who have not yet enrolled in college. You may work on a project alone or with up to two teammates. Teams with more than three members will not be eligible for prizes or symposium attendance.
To be eligible for scholarship consideration, students must be high school seniors (or equivalent) seeking to enroll at Marlboro College in the fall of 2019, and must submit a completed application for admission by January 15, 2019 in addition to their Beautiful Minds Challenge submission.
Submissions from homeschooled and international students are welcome!
A complete project submission must include the following elements:
All writing should be in 11 point font, double spaced unless you are submitting poetry or a script, or other written materials with particular formatting.
If you know what you want to express, but are not sure how to submit it digitally, contact us and we’ll come up with a creative solution together.
All projects must be submitted by Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.
The Beautiful Minds Challenge is currently the only way to win a full tuition scholarship to Marlboro College. Scholarships cover up to eight semesters of study, as long as recipients remain in good academic and community standing. These semesters do not need to be consecutive. Beautiful Minds Challenge scholarships are maintained under the same criteria as merit awards. More information can be found on our Merit Awards and Admissions Grants webpage.
In order to be considered for a scholarship, students must:
Beautiful Minds Challenge scholarship recipients are not eligible for other merit aid at Marlboro, but are eligible for additional need-based aid to cover room, board, fees and additional tuition, depending on their family’s financial situation.
Submissions are reviewed by a panel of Marlboro College faculty, staff, and students. They assess Beautiful Minds projects based on expression of original, critical, and creative thinking, demonstration of research and preparation, and effectiveness of presentation and overall quality.
Seniors who are eligible for scholarship consideration will have their general application materials for Marlboro College taken into account as well as their Beautiful Minds Challenge submission.
All members of your winning team will be invited to the symposium, with expenses covered for all team members. However, if you are a member of a winning team, you will split the scholarship and/or cash prize.
Cash prizes will be split evenly among members, with checks delivered at the Beautiful Minds Symposium.
Scholarship amounts will be split evenly among members who enroll at Marlboro. All decisions about scholarship splits must be communicated in writing by deadlines outlined in the award letter and are final.
We'd miss you! But it will not prevent you from claiming your prize if you win.
Winners will be notified on February 1, 2019.
Yes. Beautiful Minds Challenge scholarships are only applicable to winning seniors who enroll at Marlboro College beginning in Fall 2019.
Absolutely!
Your project - a creative response to the prompt in a digital format, along with an application form which includes your contact information and more details about your project. See “Project Parameters” above.
There are guidelines for how much material to submit. See “Project Parameters” above.
To help you get started on your Beautiful Minds Challenge project, we have created a downloadable Project Guide.
We encourage you to seek out project-based learning resources. Here is a great infographic to start with.
Facebook: facebook.com/BeautifulMindsChallenge
Twitter: @mindschallenge
Instagram: @mindschallenge
“Be the change. Document the effect.”
“Human being: being human. Capture truth.”
“Create something out of destruction. Share what you learn.”
“Take a road less traveled. Make something that shares your journey.”
“Make something beautiful. Share why it is.”
2012 winners and runner up submissions
Students with exceptional submissions will win a trip to the annual Beautiful Minds Symposium at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont. Beautiful Minds Challenge finalists will join current Marlboro students and faculty members to share ideas and submissions, learn about the creative process and problem solving through group activities, and get a taste of college residential life and coursework.
Marlboro College will arrange and pay for transportation to and from Vermont, as well as food, lodging, and activities during the symposium. For teens living outside the United States, Marlboro will contribute up to $500 towards the cost of a flight or other transportation.
