Distinguished Scholarship Invitational Application

    Distinguished Scholarship Invitational

    The Distinguished Scholarship Invitational at Wichita State is one of the area’s most prominent scholarship competitions, including the $64,000 Harry Gore Memorial Scholarships— three of the largest annual undergraduate scholarships in Kansas.

    To be eligible to compete, you must:

    1. Be a 2025 high school graduate
    2. Apply for admission to Wichita State by Nov. 1, 2024
    3. Meet ONE of the following criteria:
      • Have a minimum unweighted 3.5 GPA, or
      • Have a minimum ACT composite score of 27, or
      • Have a minimum SAT composite of 1260, or
      • Rank in the top 10 percent of your class at the end of your junior year

    DSI materials deadline: EXTENDED Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. CST

    Competition: Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024

    All students who submit a DSI application are accepted to the competition. Students must be physically present on-campus for the competition on Nov. 23 to be considered for the scholarship. There is not a virtual option.

    Sessions (choose one): AM Session (8 AM-Noon) or PM Session (1:30-5:30 PM)

    Timeline of events

    • November 2024 – Applications are reviewed and scored.
    • Nov. 23, 2024 – DSI competition held on campus.
    • By week of Dec. 2, 2024 – Students will receive notification about moving forward as a DSI semifinalist.
    • Dec. 14, 2024 – Gore Core - a celebratory event held for the DSI semifinalists. This is not a mandatory or scored event – simply a way to celebrate being a semifinalist with other students from the competition.
    • By Dec. 20, 2024 – Semifinalists will receive notification about moving forward as a DSI finalist. 
    • Jan. 23, 2025 – DSI finalists will participate in a final interview with the Gore selection committee. 
    • Jan. 31, 2025 – Announcement of 2025 Gore Scholars.
    Questions about the DSI competition or Gore Scholarships can go to dsi@wichita.edu. 

    Ready to start completing your application? Follow these tips!

    1) Start by reviewing the following essay questions and preparing your responses. Each essay question has a limit of 500 words.
    • Essay Question 1 - Tell us about your educational goals while at Wichita State and your intended career goals after graduation. You can include why you chose your major, special interests/talents/goals, or unique experiences that have led you to your future career choice. If you haven't decided on a major, tell us about possible interests and goals.
    • Essay Question 2 - Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Describe a time when you embodied this quote. What challenges did you face, how did you overcome them, and what did you learn from the experience? 
    2) Type your essays in Word, and create your activities chart. Scroll to the bottom of the application to read more information about the activities chart. 
    3) Have someone proofread all of those.
    4) Come back to your application when you're ready to upload the essays and activities chart. 
    5) Complete the contact information and DSI event information. Upload your essays and activities chart. Hit submit!

    Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.