1,000 Applications and counting: My first impressions on this year’s MT Annual Scholarships

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We are three days into the 15-day application window of 2020’s Annual Michael Taiwo Graduate School Application Scholarships (MT Scholarships) and we already have over a thousand applicants – it took us the entire two-week application window last year to reach this same number. Since we still have 12 days left, there’s no telling what the final number will be but it’s safe to say it will eclipse 2019’s.
This note is just me thinking out loud. It will not have a structure because I write as the thoughts come to me.

• I just spent my weekend reading through each of the 1,067 applications received so far. Why did I do that? I want to make sure each application gets the personal eye-time it deserves. I want people to know that the decision to accept or deny their request for help was not made by Artificial Intelligence but by a real human. A holistic process of choosing something this important cannot be fully delegated to logic and software that is incapable of feeling.
• I took half of last week off at work to concentrate on this project; very grateful I can do that.
• Over 99% of the applications are from Nigeria. Less than 1% (so far) are from France, India, Rwanda and Ghana. The people in the latter group are a few years early. MT Scholarship’s dream is to eventually encompass other developing nations but for the 2020 award cycle, all the funds will go to Nigerians. I’m not sure a French citizen will ever qualify though…
• I’m proud of the quality of talent in Nigeria. Little wonder that Nigerians are reportedly the most educated (and by some measure, the most successful) immigrant group in the US. Application after application, I am amazed at what these kids have achieved in the face of the most difficult challenges. Nigeria is blessed with a disproportionate amount of raw intellectual capital. Hopefully it counts for something on a national scale one day.
• I’m thus sad that many of these smart, inventive kids will not win the MT Scholarship. There’s simply not enough money to go around. Let me give you an idea. I have screened a thousand applications, sometimes I read an application more than once, and then I mark the application as “Review again” or “Reject.” Currently, I have about 250 in the “Review again” pile. Each of the 250 – and keep in mind that this number will only rise as more applications trickle in before the window closes – is so good that in a world of unlimited resources, they deserve a hand up.
• This reality has steeled my resolve to fight for as many of these kids as possible. I will knock on every door and pursue every means to get them the help they need. As announced earlier, the plan is to award at least 10 scholarships this year. My prayer is that the final number end up much more than that.
• Let me refresh the reader on why this project in the first place. The cost of applying to graduate schools in the US (or other countries for that matter) is beyond the reach of most people in poor nations. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty. We are trying to lower that barrier to entry. To add some specifics: to apply to, say, four schools (I applied to 11 during my time) and write the requisite standard exams cost about $1,000. In a typical poor country like Nigeria, the average person is unemployed, and this is before the COVID pandemic. For the few that are employed, their average wage is less than $300 a month. They have no savings, they have no discretionary spending, they have no access to credit cards or loans. Paying a thousand bucks to further their education and better their life and those of their family is a bar too high notwithstanding their stellar academic credentials and immense drive. The MT Scholarships thus exist to bridge this gap to a better world.
• This perhaps doesn’t fit in this note, but it is bothering me, so I need to say it. About 20% of the applicants explicitly said – without being asked – that they are orphans. Given that the parental situation of their home was not a question on the application form so some may not have stated it, my guess is that the percentage is much higher than 20%. How can a society advance when fathers are getting killed at such an alarming rate? What can we do to make life less dangerous for men? Like I said, these questions are beyond the scope of the MT Scholarships, but I feel better now that it is off my chest.

Thanks for taking a whirlwind tour of my mind. I will probably post some more as the scholarship cycle progresses. Please stay safe and take care of your loved ones.