First-Year Freshmen Scholarships

Our college scholarships for first-year freshmen are awarded based on the student's unweighted high school grade point average, involvement, leadership potential and writing ability.

To be eligible for a Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment First-Year Scholarship, applicants must:

1. Apply for admission to the University of Kentucky with a primary major in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Students can (and should) apply for this college scholarship before being officially admitted to the university. If students do not complete the application for admission to the university by January 6, they will not be considered for scholarships within the Martin-Gatton CAFE.
2. Complete the First-Year Scholarship application. 
3. Send high school transcript to UK Admissions. Applicants’ unweighted high school GPA will be verified with the transcript sent to UK Admissions.
4. Write carefully composed essays, each 500 words or less, that answer the application questions (details below).

Applicants will be asked to outline their involvement and leadership activities throughout their high school career. This may include activities such as sports, clubs, part-time work, awards, volunteer work, and more. 

Students are encouraged to think through their extracurricular activities and create a list prior to beginning the application.  

The essay portion is extremely important. Applicants will be asked to answer the following two questions; each response should be 500 words or less.

Essay 1 - Required

Please describe your career aspirations. What led you to choose your major? What do you intend to do with your major upon graduation? What impact do you hope to have on your community/society once in your chosen career?

Essay 2 - Required

The lessons we take from the obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Essay 3 - Optional

Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

To create the best possible response, students are encouraged to draft their essays prior to beginning the application. Use of AI to generate essay responses is prohibited. 

Scholarships from the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment are awarded for one academic year, in two equal amounts for the fall and spring semesters. Students must re-apply for continuing student scholarships in the spring semester of each year.

NOTE: Other scholarships from the University of Kentucky may be renewed annually.