Each year Boston Mensa awards the following scholarships to local students, based on an essay competition:

• $750 Boston Mensa Scholarship -- best essay overall
• $250 Boston Mensa Scholarship -- second best essay overall
• $500 Ralphine McGill-Coons Memorial Scholarship -- best essay of a student of science or medicine

Top scoring essays may also be eligible for MERF (Mensa Education & Research Foundation) scholarships and will be forwarded for inclusion in the national MERF contest.

To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen and live or attend school in the Boston Mensa area, (Massachusetts zip codes 01420 through 02675). You also must be enrolled in an accredited college or university as a undergraduate or graduate student for the following academic year. You do not need to be a member of Mensa or be related to one.

Applications will be sent to those requesting them when they are available to us. Normally this is by December 1. The deadline for requesting an application is December 31. The deadline for returning your completed application is January 15. Send only by regular delivery; special delivery mail or deliveries requiring a signature will not be accepted.

For more information or questions, please contact the Scholarship Chair, Rick Kovalcik, at kovalcik@alum.mit.edu.