I'm almost positive (99.9 %) that this is a scam. I applied for it and, for some reason, right after sending in the envelope it hit me -- 'I was just scammed!' The sketchy website, the lack of information about the criteria for selection, etc. It just didn't seem right. The reason I applied,though, was my university -- a large public university -- had advertised for it (online and fliers in the financial aid office) so I assumed it was legit. I did, however, decline (wisely) not to send in the 8 bucks.
After much searching on the internet I could not find ANYONE who claims to have ever been awarded the scholarship. Think about how easy it is to find the name of Rhodes scholars online, Fulbright scholars -- even with most small scholarships you can find somewhere online a person who has legitimately been awarded one.I also never received any reply on the status of my application, which is right in line with everyone else, it seems. Really, why waste time or money for postage? One user said, 'why not apply? What can it hurt?' However, I think the chances are so slim that this thing is legit that it just doesn't seem worth it. And why further perpetuate a scam? I alerted my university about this, and hope that they have removed the fliers and links to the J.G. website. I hope that, unless this Mr. Gyles comes forth with a list of winners, other universities do the same.
