Google is one of the world's software and technology powerhouses—it's not surprising that they offer several scholarships for students interested in pursuing computer science and engineering.
Because Google has the resources to offer very generous
awards, applicants come up against serious competition when gunning for
one of their scholarships. If you're interested in a Google scholarship,
you should be as prepared as possible if you want to submit a successful
application.
In this post, I'll explain every major Google award in detail before giving you tips and strategies for submitting an awesome application.
Introduction
Google offers seven major scholarships for students who plan
to pursue (or who are actively pursuing) an education and career in computer
science, computer engineering, or a closely related field. Because Google is
constantly seeking to employ people with these skills, it makes sense that they
would encourage talented students to study CS.
In an effort to encourage underrepresented groups to pursue
CS and other technical fields, most of the Google scholarships are
limited to certain populations. Here are the seven major scholarships I'll
cover:
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (North America)—Applicants must be
African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Filipino/Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Female, or a Person with a Disability.
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (Asia Pacific)—Applicants must be women
who study computer science in an Asia/Pacific country.
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (Europe, Middle East, and Africa)—Applicants
must be women who study computer science in Europe, the Middle East, or
Africa.
- The
Google Lime Scholarship for Students With Disabilities—Applicants must
study in the US or Canada and have a visible or invisible disability.
- The
Google Europe Scholarship for Students With Disabilities—Applicants
must study in Europe and have a disability.
- The
Google SVA Scholarship for Student Veterans—Applicants must be US
veterans or currently serve in the US military.
- The
Venkat Panchapakesan Scholarships (India)—Applicants must be Indian
and must be enrolled as full-time students.
At the end of the article, you'll find strategies for increasing your chances of winning a Google scholarship.
#1: The Generation Google Scholarship (North America)
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The
Generation Google Scholarship (North America) is for high school
seniors or current undergraduate/graduate students who are studying computer
science and engineering and plan on attending school in the US or Canada. Students
that identify with groups historically excluded from the technology
industry, including Women, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx,
American Indian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander are strongly encouraged to
apply.
- Winners
receive either $10,000 (US dollars) or $5,000 (Canadian
dollars) depending on where they attend school. Money must be used for
tuition or education-related expenses.
- Deadline: The application typically opens in the fall, with a deadline in late December.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Intend
to be enrolled in or accepted as a full-time student in a Bachelors,
Masters, or PhD program at an accredited university or college in the
United States or Canada for the upcoming academic year.
- Be
studying computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related
technical field.
- Demonstrate
a strong academic record.
- Demonstrate
financial need.
- Exemplify
leadership and demonstrate passion for improving representation of
underrepresented groups in computer science and technology.
- Students who identify with groups historically excluded from the technology industry, including Women, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, are strongly encouraged to apply.
Application
The online application includes:
- General
background information (e.g. contact information and details about your
current and intended universities)
- Resume/CV
highlighting technical projects and participation in community engagement
- Academic
transcripts from your current institutions (and prior, if applicable)
- Responses to three short answer essay questions
#2: The Generation Google Scholarship (Asia Pacific)
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The General Google Scholarship (Asia Pacific) is
intended for female university students majoring in computer science or a
related field at a school in an Asia Pacific country.
- Winners
receive $1,000 (US dollars) which must be used for
tuition or education-related expenses.
- Deadline: Typically in mid-December
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be
currently enrolled as a full-time student in a Bachelor's degree program.
- Be
in their 2nd year of study at an accredited university in Asia Pacific
country when completing the scholarship program.
- Be
studying computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related
technical field.
- Demonstrate
a strong academic record.
- Exemplify leadership and demonstrate passion for improving representation of underrepresented groups in computer science and technology.
Application
The online application includes:
- General
background information (e.g. contact information and details about your
current and intended universities)
- Resume/CV
highlighting technical projects and participation in community engagement
- Academic
transcripts from your current institutions (and prior, if applicable)
- Responses
to two short answer essay questions
- 15
minute "meet and greet" per shortlist participant
- Google Online Challenge (Invitation to the challenge will be sent 5-7 working days post application deadline)
#3: The Generation Google Scholarship (Europe, Middle
East, and Africa)
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The General Google Scholarship (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) is
intended for female university students majoring in computer science or a
related field at a school in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.
- 7,000
EUR award (or local equivalent)
- Deadline: Typically in mid-December
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be
currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at a
university.
- Intend
to be enrolled in or accepted as a full-time student in a Bachelors,
Masters, or PhD program at an accredited university in Europe, Middle East
or Africa for the upcoming academic year.
- Be
studying computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related
technical field.
- Demonstrate
a strong academic record.
- Exemplify leadership and demonstrate a passion for improving representation of underrepresented groups in computer science and technology
Application
The online application includes:
- General
background information (e.g. contact information and details about your
current and intended universities)
- Resume/CV
highlighting technical projects and participation in community engagement
- Academic
transcripts from your current institutions (and prior, if applicable)
- One
letter of reference from a professor, instructor, adviser or
supervisor
- Responses to five short answer essay questions
#4: The Google Lime Scholarship for Students With
Disabilities
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The Google Lime Scholarship for Students With Disabilities is
for college and university students in the US and Canada who both (1) study
computer science or a related field and (2) have a visible or invisible
disability.
- Winners
receive either $10,000 (US dollars) or $5,000 (Canadian
dollars) depending on where they attend school. Money must be used for
tuition or education-related expenses.
- Deadline: Typically in December
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Have,
or consider themselves to have, a visible or invisible disability.
- Be
currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at a
university.
- Plan
to enroll as a full-time student at a university in the US or Canada for
the upcoming academic year.
- Maintain
a strong academic performance.
- Be
pursuing a degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a degree
in a closely related technical field.
- Exemplify leadership and demonstrate a passion for computer science and technology.
Application
Submit an online application which includes:
- General
background information (e.g. contact information, details about your
current and intended universities)
- Resume/CV
- Academic
transcripts from current and prior institutions (if you have earned a
prior degree)
- One
letter of reference from a professor, instructor, adviser, or supervisor
- Responses to three short answer essay questions
#5: The Google Europe Scholarship for Students With
Disabilities
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The
Google Europe Scholarship for Students With Disabilities is for
college/university students in Europe or Israel who both (1) study computer
science or a closely related field, and (2) have a disability.
- Winners
receive a €7,000 scholarship. About 10 recipients are
chosen every year.
- Deadline: Late December
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be
currently enrolled at an undergraduate/graduate student.
- Intend
to be enrolled or accepted as a full-time student at a Bachelor's,
Master's or PhD program at a university in Europe or Israel for the
upcoming academic year.
- Be
studying computer science, computer engineering, informatics, or a closely
related technical field.
- Demonstrate
a strong academic record.
- Exemplify
leadership and a passion for computer science and technology.
- Have, or consider themselves to have, a visible or invisible disability (see EmployAbility’s approach to disability here)
Application
Students complete an online application which includes:
- General
background info (contact info, details about your current and intended
institutions)
- Resume/CV
- Academic
transcripts from your current and prior institutions (if you've earned a
prior degree)
- One
reference letter from a professor, instructor, adviser, or supervisor
- Responses to three short essay questions
Recipients will be selected based on the overall strength of their essays and application materials compared to the entire applicant pool or respective peers (e.g. Bachelors students compared to other Bachelors students).
#6: The Google SVA Scholarship for Student Veterans
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The Google SVA Scholarship for Student Veterans is for
college and university students in the US who both (1) study computer science
or a closely related field and (2) are student veterans or are on Active Duty
- Scholarship
winners receive $10,000 each
- Deadline: Typically in November
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be
currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at a
university.
- Intend
to be enrolled in or accepted as a full-time student at a university in
the US for the upcoming academic year.
- Maintain
a strong academic performance.
- Be
pursuing a computer science or computer engineering degree, or a degree in
a closely related technical field.
- Be
a current student veteran (includes members of the National Guard or
Reserve) as proven by a DD-214 and transcript, or a student on Active Duty
as proven by submission of Active Duty orders and a Memorandum of
Understanding from your commanding officer indicating that you are
currently in good standing with your unit and transcript.
- Have received an honorable discharge, or be in good standing with his/her branch of service.
Application
Applicants must submit an online app which includes:
- General
background info (contact info, details on your current and intended
institutions)
- Resume/CV
- Academic
transcripts from your current and prior institution (if you've received a
prior degree)
- DD
Form 2-14 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD-214),
or Active Duty orders and a Memorandum of Understanding from your
commanding officer indicating that you are currently in good standing with
your unit
- One
letter of reference from a professor, instructor, adviser, or supervisor
- Responses to three short essay questions
#7: The Google Venkat Panchapakesan Scholarships India
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The
Google Venkat Panchapakesan Scholarships are for students from India
who aspire to be computer scientists and technology leaders and exemplify
leadership skills in the field.
- Scholarship
winners receive $2,500 USD each
- Deadline: Typically in October
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be
enrolled as full-time students for the upcoming academic year.
- Spend
award on tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment required for the
students' classes at their primary university.
- Not be an employee of Google Inc. including its affiliates and subsidiaries.
Application
Applicants must submit an online app which includes:
- Resume,
including experience in the area of computer science, leadership
experiences, and the impact you have created.
- Essay
responses (400 words or less).
- One recommendation letter from a professor or work supervisor (for selected scholars only).
How to Win a Google Scholarship
Most of the awards listed are for current undergraduate or
graduate students, so you may not be quite ready to apply for a Google
scholarship. This is a good thing—the longer you have to prepare for your
scholarship application, the better your chances of success.
Here, I'll cover both long-term strategies (for students who
are in high school/early college) and short-term tips (for students who want to
submit an app during the next scholarship cycle).
Long-Term Strategies
You might still have a while before you put scholarship applications together, but that doesn't mean you can't start preparing. These long-term strategies will help you strengthen not just your Google scholarship application, but your college apps as well.
Demonstrate Academic Excellence
There aren't any hard GPA cutoffs when it comes to
qualifying for these awards, but with the intense competition for Google
scholarships, you'll need impressive grades in order to stand out as an
applicant.
Some of the scholarships listed above have public lists of
scholarship winners which also list the students' college and university. Many
of the schools (at least the ones located in the US) are very competitive with
acceptance rates as low as 5-15%. This gives you an idea of the sort of student
you'll be competing with for these awards
Not all scholarship recipients ended up at ultra-competitive schools, but your chances of winning an award will be higher if your grades are comparable to those of the most high-achieving students. I expect you'll need to have a truly excellent GPA—top 10% in your class, or even top 5%—in order to have a good shot.
Demonstrate Leadership Skills
Many scholarship programs—including Google's—want to invest
in future leaders in their fields. It's important that you show a history of
leadership experience in order to meet this criterion. You can do this by:
- Actively
participating in class or at work
- Volunteering
to lead or take on projects
- Joining
clubs or extracurriculars (especially related to CS) that ignite your
passions and interests
- Starting
your own club or organization
- Working your way up the ladder (e.g. getting a promotion) at a job or internship
Develop Relationships With Educators, Mentors, and
Advisers
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All of the scholarships listed above require applicants to
submit a letter of reference. It'll be easier to seek out
letter-writers—and the letters themselves will be more effective—if you've
cultivated relationships with several instructors, mentors, and/or authority
figures.
Seeking out these types of relationships is also helpful for
another reason: it's important to have experienced people around you to guide
you on your academic and career path.
If you have respect for a particular class or job or
extracurricular activity, your teacher or mentor will come to respect
you—that's step #1. To work on further developing these relationships, you can:
- Go
to office hours to ask for extra help on tricky problems or concepts
- Actively
participate in class and work meetings
- Go to your professors or supervisors with questions that may be outside the scope of your regular curriculum or job; this demonstrates intellectual curiosity
Commit to Computer Science and Technology
The large scholarships that Google gives out are serious,
long-term investments in both the futures of student recipients and the future
of computer science and technology. As such, Google wants to make sure
that the awards go to those who are going to stay in these fields.
The longer you've been seeking out an education in CS and
the more projects or learning experiences you've taken on, the more serious and
invested you'll seem to application evaluators. Here are a few ways you can
demonstrate a commitment to CS:
- Start
taking any and all available courses in high school
- Work
on programming projects with a mentor in your free time
- Participate
in CS clubs and/or competitions
- Choose to major in CS or a closely related field (this is a requirement for Google scholarships)
Short-Term Tips
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Even if you haven't been planning long-term to optimize your
Google scholarship applications, there are a ton of things you can do to boost
your chances. Follow these tips to submit a complete, polished, thoughtful
application.
Plan Ahead (as Much as Possible)
You can't exactly throw a complete Google scholarship
application together in one afternoon. For one thing, you'll have to write
several essays and/or short answer questions; for another, you'll have to get
thoughtful letters of reference from teachers or advisers. These things take
time to do well.
I'd encourage you to start putting your application together about 12 weeks before the due date. This timeline is important for a couple of key reasons. First, you'll need time to draft your essays, ask a trusted mentor to review them, and then polish and write up final versions. Second, it's courteous to give letter-writers plenty of time to come up with references—ask them if they'd be willing to write for you at the beginning of this 12-week window (or even earlier).
Invest in Your Essays
Your essays are the one part of your application where the
scholarship committee gets true insight into who you are as an individual—they
won't ever meet you in person, and while reference letters are helpful, they're
still second-hand accounts. As such, you want to make sure your essays are
confident, strong, and polished.
Here are some tips for making your essays the best they can
be:
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- Answer
every part of the prompt. This is especially important for any
technical essays.
- Elaborate—don't
just provide a list in response to a question. Evaluators want to see that
you're thoughtful. Yes/no answers will not cut it.
- Make
your goals and passions clear. It is very important to application
evaluators that students are invested in, and passionate about, computer
science and technology. There are many students that study CS—why should
you get the scholarship? What do you care about that makes you special?
- If
you have an opportunity to do so, explain why you started studying
CS, why you want this scholarship, and how this scholarship will help
you (for example, maybe you hope to directly help others or advance
technological progress).
- Craft
a narrative. You want your essays (if you are required to write more
than one) to work together in crafting a cohesive story about who you are
and what you care about. Think critically about two or three important
points that you want evaluators to know about you—all of your essays
should serve to communicate these points.
- Don't
be afraid to brag (to an extent). Bring up any honors, awards, or
accolades if they're directly related to CS. It's helpful to make a list
beforehand of all of your achievements (this is also helpful if you need
to update your CV or resume).
- Demonstrate
humility. As accomplished as you may be, it's off-putting to come
across as arrogant about what you've achieved. Don't be afraid to
(partially) attribute your successes to the guidance, mentorship, and
support of others.
- Stay positive. This is especially pertinent when it comes to essays asking you about hardships or adversities. It's helpful to speak about these issues with a frank, honest tone—just make sure to express positivity about the future.
Choose Your Reference Writers Wisely
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It's of course important to scholarship evaluators to gain
insight into your own motivations and perspective, but it's just as important
for them to understand how others view you. As such, it's important
that you think strategically about who you ask to write your letter of
reference.
Ideal letter-writers will have detailed, glowing anecdotes showcasing your character, your work (hopefully in CS), and your personal relationships with others. Letter-writers can be especially effective if they know you in multiple contexts (e.g. they serve as a mentor but also as a professor or boss).
Summary
Google offers seven major scholarships for students all
around the world, but only students who are studying (or plan to study)
computer science or a closely related field will qualify. The seven scholarship
programs are:
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (North America)
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (Asia Pacific)
- The
Generation Google Scholarship (Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
- The
Google Lime Scholarship for Students With Disabilities
- The
Google Europe Scholarship for Students With Disabilities
- The
Google SVA Scholarship for Student Veterans
- The
Google Venkat Panchapakesan Scholarships India
As the awards are fairly generous, applicants will come up against serious competition. In order to optimize your chances of winning one of these awards, it's important that students strategize in both the short and long term.