John Marshall Scholar E-vite

I received an email today from U of R inviting me to submit an essay for the John Marshall Scholars program. There are two topics to pick from. I immediately dismissed one of them so I have been thinking hard about the other. I came up the seed for a pretty good topic at work this afternoon. I have until the 31st to submit the essay. That should give me enough time to write a solid 500 or so word essay. I have no idea how many people are invited to apply for the program, but a Marshall scholarship would make Richmond my choice for law school.

As for the criteria, the email reads as follows:

Applicants will be considered solely on their merit; need will not be a factor considered in the selection process. In determining merit, the Committee will review an applicant’s narrative statement, transcripts, letters of recommendation, community service, work experience and extra-curricular activities. Every effort will be made to identify applicants whose values, personal characteristics and academic credentials suggest they will make a positive contribution to the Law School, the legal profession and the community.

I hope they really look closely at the statements, letters of rec, and work experience because my transcripts won't hold up too well under close scrutiny (well, the grad school grades were alright, except for that damn engineering class). I have to wonder if the LSAT score is used to invite people to apply for the scholarship but is not used to determine who is given the award. Curious.