Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to apply?
How do I apply, and when is the deadline?
How many OHMS Scholars will be selected?
What kind of applicant are you looking for?
Who should I ask to write letters of reference for my application?
What is included in the immersive retreat?
How do you decide how much scholarship I receive?
What can I use the scholarship money for?
Why is the scholarship only for two years, and what happens after the two years are up?
Will the summer internships be paid?
Is it acceptable to find my own research internship?
What if I have trouble keeping my grades up?
Can I have a guest at the awards banquet?
The truth is, there are a few rules about who can apply to the program. To be considered for the program, you must be a U.S. citizen or otherwise legal resident (as required by the National Science Foundation, which funds this program). You must be eligible for federal Pell grant assistance for low-income college students (which is determined by completing the FAFSA). When you apply to Ohio State, you need to choose Ohio State Newark and select an eligible STEM major (and/or register for certain courses in your first year). Further details on Pell determination, acceptable majors, and required courses can be found on the Eligibility page, and any questions should be directed to Dr. Andy Roberts.
How do I apply, and when is the deadline?
Before you do anything else, read through the information on this website, including the other FAQs, to make sure this program is something that sounds good to you. If so, please fill out an Application! Then ask two people to visit the Guide to Letter Writers page so they can write a letter that supports your application. Typically, the application deadline each year is in late April, and both the application and the reference letters need to have been received by the posted deadline. The posted deadline may be extended under certain circumstances; check the Apply page or Newark Scholarships page for the most current deadlines. Make sure that you have filled out the FAFSA (see the Eligibility page) by the current, posted deadline, too. Probably best not to wait to the last minute to fill out that FAFSA, since it does take a little time to complete.
How many OHMS Scholars will be selected?
Each year for the next three years (2022-2024), a diverse group of faculty and staff will review applications and letters of support from the pool of first-year OHMS Scholars Program applicants. They will pick the 15 Scholars they feel will most benefit from participation in the program. That might not sound like many, but don’t let that stop you from applying! I want to emphasize the key phrase “most likely to benefit“, because that’s the critical thing that sets this program apart from other scholarship programs. If you’re reading this and thinking, wow, I’d love to be in that program but they’ll never pick me – quit thinking that right now. Seriously, you might be exactly who we’re looking for – check out the next FAQ below to find out! Once you’re selected, you just need to attend at least 75% of the scheduled activities (most of which will occur during regular school hours) and attain a 2.3 overall GPA and 2.7 GPA in your STEM courses to be continued into a second year of OHMS Scholars Program funding.
What kind of applicant are you looking for?
We want enthusiastic students in science, technology, engineering, and/or math (STEM) to apply! This program is for low-income students, whatever your situation—right out of high school, returning veterans, parents coming back to school, whatever. If you are always curious about the world around you, how things work, how things are made, the soil and rocks under your feet and the air you breathe, if you want knowledge about these things to be a major part of your life, the Ohio State Newark OHMS Scholars Program might be the place for you! You don’t have to have been a perfect student in high school, you just need to show us that you have long-standing curiosity about and participation in STEM.
Who should I ask to write letters of reference for my application?
You should ask the people who have nurtured your experience and interest in STEM. Whether that’s a high school teacher, scout leader, 4-H leader, military trainer, pastor, or your supervisor at an auto transmission assembly plant, make sure you ask the people who best know your passion and curiosity for STEM! How do you express your interest in STEM? Do you ask about and care what the numbers mean in your work? Are you a maker? Did you test several configurations for your Pinewood Derby car based on physics? Did you ever take things apart to see how they work? Are you an athlete with an intuitive knowledge of how a ball bounces and flies, who wants to know more about why—the physics, yes, but also the materials and construction? Did you join a river cleanup crew in part to find out what pollutants were in your city’s water supply? Did you volunteer to feed the owls at the natural history museum, and help dissect their pellets? When you watch the Olympics are you the one in the room who can explain the changes in speed of the spinning ice skater? Do you collect rocks and fossils everywhere you go? Do you farm or garden, and enjoy the math of planning crops, sowing seeds, predicting and quantifying yield? These are just a few examples, and there are many other ways that we use STEM every day. Your letter writers should understand your interests and be able to explain them to the selection committee.
What is included in the immersive retreat?
Immersive science retreats are a lot of fun, but we know that they can sometimes be hard to attend. The OHMS Scholars program will make it as easy as possible by providing free bus transportation from Ohio State Newark to and from the field station where the retreat is held. Lodging and meals at the field station will be covered at no cost to you, and alternate meals (for example, vegetarian or gluten-free) can be accommodated with enough notice. The field stations we are using will provide a few essentials such as necessary sampling and laboratory equipment. Ohio State Newark will provide other important items like notebooks, pencils, water bottles, sunscreen, hat, and more (contact the program director, Dr. Roberts for details, special requests, or transportation issues getting from home to Ohio State Newark). You will have some free time and might want to bring a small amount of cash for snacks. (See also the Immersive Retreat page.)
How do you decide how much scholarship I receive?
I wish we could tell you exactly your award amount ahead of time, but the process of arriving at an amount is a little complicated and depends on the specifics of your situation. The National Science Foundation allows us to meet what is called your “unmet need” for college attendance with this scholarship. The upper limit is $10,000 per year for two years, for a total award of $20,000, but you might get somewhat less. The OHMS Scholars Program team works with the Financial Aid office to determine your unmet need by referencing your answers to the FAFSA (see the Eligibility page for other details), comparing your Pell award to the cost of attending Ohio State Newark, and considering other grant aid that you have been awarded. We do not factor in any loans you may qualify for, because this scholarship grant is meant to replace loans as much as possible.
Here is an average example: In the 2019-2020 academic year, the cost of attendance at Ohio State Newark was $23,480. The average Pell award for a qualified student was $4,708, the average grant aid from Ohio State Newark was $5,863, the Ohio State tuition remission for first-year regional campus students was $4,281, and when you subtract all those from the cost to attend, the average unmet need was $8,628:
| Example: Unmet Need Calculation | |
| Calculated cost of attendance | $23,480 |
| (minus) Pell award | -$4,708 |
| (minus) Ohio State Newark Grant | -$5,583 |
| (minus) Ohio State tuition remission for first year regional campus students | -$4,281 |
| Total unmet need (and OHMS scholarship amount) | $8,628 |
If you were the average student in this example, the amount of the OHMS scholarship would have been $8,628 (approximately $4,314 per semester). If your need was lower than average, your award would match that lower need; if your need was higher than average your need would be met up to a maximum of $10,000. Get it? The important thing here is that when you’re part of the OHMS Scholars Program, the scholarship you receive will cover 100% of your tuition, room and board, and many related expenses so basically you pay nothing to attend! If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Program Director, Dr. Andy Roberts.
What can I use the scholarship money for?
The scholarship money you receive can be applied to the cost of attendance. Typical “costs of attendance” include tuition, housing, meal plan, books, supplies, and student fees. In the case of this scholarship, additional costs of commuting or childcare may also be considered a cost of attendance, as long as you get approval from the Financial Aid office. See the Scholarship page for details on how the scholarship is applied and disbursed.
Why are the scholarships only two years, and what happens after the two years are up?
The quick answer is that most STEM majors you start at Ohio State Newark can only be completed on the Columbus Campus. What does that mean? While our STEM faculty sometimes teach upper-level courses on the Columbus campus and/or advise and support graduate students there, because the Newark campus does not currently offer the upper-level course requirements you need past year two, you would need to change to the Columbus campus to complete your degree. We can only provide scholarship funding to students that are full time, or nearly full time, at Ohio State Newark. But don’t worry! If you are selected as an OHMS Scholar, you’ll have OHMS program benefits aplenty to help you navigate campus-change!
First, the academic and personal benefits. In your first week on the Newark campus, you will meet the staff who can personally connect you to any help you need on campus, to keep you on track and healthy for the critical first two years of your academic career. During the academic year, you’ll learn about careers and research opportunities in at least eight different STEM disciplines, as well as science communication and grant writing. As an OHMS Scholar, you will be meeting researchers and professionals from Columbus, Stone Lab, industry, and non-profits. The OHMS Learning Community will closely connect you to your peers at Newark and to members of the student chapters of national STEM organizations on the Columbus campus—and you’ll have this built-in community well-established before you move on from Newark. In your first spring semester at Newark, you’ll have the opportunity and training to apply for many different summer research internships, some on OSU campuses, others throughout the state and beyond. These connections and this community-building, when combined with the OSU dedicated Campus Change staff—whose primary purpose is to help regional students move to their major departments in Columbus—will make a potentially daunting process transparent and supportive.
Second, the financial benefits. Most notably, an OHMS Scholar’s unmet cost of attendance (including housing and meals) is covered for two academic years, up to $10,000 each year for a maximum of $20,000. That’s two years of college—half of your bachelor’s degree—that will be largely or completely free of college-related debt! Above that, you will receive coaching and support for research internship applications, so that your summers can be funded, too. If selected for the OHMS Scholars Program, you become a National Science Foundation (NSF) Undergraduate Scholar and will have preferential consideration in applications for summer academic research positions, summer placements with our industry partners, and as paid participants at NSF REU programs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates). For your last two academic years (on the Columbus campus), as a Pell-eligible student your OSU tuition will be fully paid via Pell and the Buckeye Affordability Program, and you’ll have support to apply for some of the many scholarships available for Columbus campus students to defray housing, meals, and other expenses.
Will the summer internships be paid?
Many, but not all, which is one of the reasons the internships are optional. That said, we are adding more paid positions all the time. Some of the summer research opportunities that our academic, industry, and non-profit partners have on tap for OHMS Scholars are paid through the supervising scientist’s organizational or grants funding. Those OHMS Scholars who apply and are accepted for internships that do not include wages or a stipend can also apply for various grants through OSU to support their summer expenses and earnings. We understand most of our OHMS Scholars will need paid employment for their summers, and we intend to do all we can to help make that employment STEM-relevant. See also the <Internships page>.
Is it acceptable to find my own research internship?
Absolutely! If you have contacts to arrange your own supervised summer investigations in your area of interest, do it! You may also be able to apply for OSU grants to support your self-arranged summer supervised research if it is not otherwise paid. We would like to connect our Office of Career Development with your research supervisor ahead of your research, both to smooth the process and provide some guidance about the OHMS Scholars Program, but this is not required.
What if I have trouble keeping my grades up?
It happens, we get it. Sometimes your grades slip a little for whatever reason. As a first-year OHMS Scholar, you will need to attain a 2.3 overall GPA, and 2.7 GPA in your STEM courses, to be continued as a funded second year OHMS Scholar. You will also need to attend at least 75% of the scheduled activities, which can include weekly group meetings, occasional day trips, and special speaker lectures to continue into second-year funding. (Most of these activities, again, will occur during regular school hours.) At Ohio State Newark, and within the OHMS Scholars Program, we have many ways to help you through the inevitable challenges of your first two years of college, whether those challenges are academic or time and life management. The OHMS Scholars Learning Community will be the core support for our OHMS Scholars: you’ll meet weekly with STEM faculty, you’ll study together with the other OHMS Scholars, and you’ll have a STEM faculty mentor. Available to all students are the campus Math Center, Writing Center, peer coaches and mentors, tutors, counselors, academic advisors, and the learning skills specialist. With all these supports available, we will help you to the best of our ability to get your grades back on track and keep you in the program!
Can I have a guest at the awards banquet?
You may have up to two guests at the awards banquet, which will be in the spring semester.