ACS Trenton Local Section Scholarship Award 2022

The Trenton Section of the American Chemical Society is sponsoring one High School Scholarship ($3,000 max for the scholarship, over two years). $1,500 will be awarded in year one. There is the potential for a second year $1,500 renewal depending on funds, required continued pursuit of a degree in chemistry and maintaining good grades. Graduating students at public or private high schools within the boundaries of the Trenton local section, who plan to major in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, or chemical technology at a two or four-year college, qualify for these scholarships.  

The Section also offers the Roeser Memorial Scholarship award ($5,000 max for the scholarship, over two years). $3,000 will be awarded in year one, with the potential for a $2000 renewal for one additional year. The application and renewal requirements are the same as described above with the following two restrictions: (1) the student must be graduating from a public high school and (2) must be planning, as a senior in high school, a career in pure or applied chemistry. An additional paragraph in the application describing pure or applied chemistry is also required (*see details below).

We are looking for high school seniors who will pursue undergraduate degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry, chemical biology or chemical technology and that plan to pursue a career in the chemical sciences or engineering. Please note, typically, students pursuing degrees to become a nurse, medical doctor, physician assistant, pharmacist, physical therapist and certain other health professional career do not qualify; however, health science/engineering careers that extensively use chemistry, chemical technology, or chemical engineering and will involve research or manufacturing rather than treating patients may qualify at the discretion of the selection committee. 

Please note: only candidates attending a high school located within the Trenton ACS Local Section are eligible for either of these scholarships. You can determine if your high school is located within the Trenton ACS Local Section by entering your high school’s Zip/Postal Code and State at the following webpage: ACS Local Section Lookup.

To qualify for consideration for either scholarship, the student must submit to the scholarship committee the following items:

1. A letter with the following subheadings:
   1. Background. Describe your intent to apply, summarize your GPA, extracurricular activities, and impressions of your high school chemistry course(s).
   2. College Plans. Describe why you chose your college and your major
   3. Career Plans. Describe your career plans after college and address what you plan to do with your career

*In order to be considered for the Roeser Memorial Scholarship, the applicant must include an additional paragraph in section C which address the following two areas: 1) A description of what is pure or applied chemistry and 2) An explanation of why a career in this area interests them  

2. An unofficial transcript of high school grades including chemistry courses. 
3. If you wish, you may include an unofficial (i.e photocopy) of your standard test scores (e.g., SAT, ACT, Major Field Test for Chemistry, administered by the Educational Testing Service).
4. The student’s home phone number and an email address, which will be active after the student graduates (do not give emails attached to the high school you are attending). We need to be able to contact the scholarship awardees to apply for the second year renewal, depending on the availability of funds.
5. Pursuant to changes made last year, the applicant is required to provide the name of a teacher who is willing to provide a recommendation, if required. Please include a phone number and email from your teacher so we can contact them, if needed. It is very important that you ask your teacher if he/she is willing to provide a recommendation! This is your responsibility to make sure the faculty member knows that they MAY be asked to provide a reference for you. If we need a recommendation, we will send a form to your teacher. Part of this form will ask them to provide a SHORT paragraph about you.

All of the applicant’s materials should be sent as a  SINGLE PDF file for sections 1-5 to thomcag@gmail.com and also must be received by 5:00 pm Friday, May, 6, 2022. The subject line of the email should be: Applicant name, TrACS Scholarship Application.

If you cannot submit a PDF file, a hardcopy may be sent to the address listed below and postmarked by the same deadline. An email should also be sent to thomcag@gmail.com so we know to expect your mailed application. The subject line of the email should be: Applicant name, TrACS Scholarship Application.

Mailing address for hardcopy application:

Abby O’Connor
Professor of Chemistry
The College of New Jersey
2000 Pennington  Rd
Ewing, NJ 08628 

Historically the awards have been presented to the winners at an Awards Banquet. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, the awards ceremony last year was a virtual event. This year TrACS is hosting the Mid-Atlantic Region ACS Meeting (MARM), in early June 2022. The scholarships will be awarded during the MARM.  Details will be provided at a later time 

Students receiving the scholarship will be expected to perform the following duties:

1. At their institution of matriculation, the scholar must participate in their campus’ chemistry club (usually a student affiliates club of the American Chemical Society). If none exists, service to another science-based club may be substituted.
2. At the end of the academic year, the scholar must provide a written report that includes their activities with the campus club during the academic year, an unofficial copy of their transcripts showing their performance in their major, and a statement that the scholar will remain a chemistry, chemical engineering, or chemical technology major.

This information will be used to decide to award a second, smaller scholarship to the students. The local section will invite 2021 scholarship winners to attend the Awards ceremony in 2022 to share their experiences at their new institution.