What do Mary Robinson, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Sally Rooney all have in common? Each was once a recipient of “Schols”, Trinity’s Foundation Scholarship. While Normal People has thrust Trinity’s oldest withstanding tradition (formed in 1592) into the spotlight of popular culture, much mystery still surrounds this prestigious award. Earlier in November, I spoke to several hopeful candidates to learn more.
Trinity Scholars are entitled to free on-campus accommodation for up to nine months of the year, their college fees waived for five years, a €254 annual salary, and to attend Commons (a three-course meal in the Dining Hall) free of charge. They can also put ‘Sch.’ after their name if they wish. “You feel pressured to do it because the perks are so good […] there’s no way I wouldn’t do it even though the chances [of getting it] are so small,” says Tristan Holloway, a Single Honours English student. Amelia Sikora, another English student, tells me her thought process was “why not, what is there to lose?”
Schols is completely voluntary and Trinity students in their second year sit these exams at the start of January. To achieve Schols, a student must receive a First Class Honours average across all four exam papers, over 70 in two out of the four exams, and no less than 65 in the other two. Students are examined on material based on the modules they have taken in both the first and second year of their course. For Amelia, studying for schols was an opportunity “to look back at areas that interested you in first year but that you didn’t have time to go into…now you have that freedom to do your own research,” and to delve into past topics you enjoyed with a more experienced set of eyes.
For one student studying Chemistry, Schols seemed like “an important part” of the Trinity experience, “It’s just something you don’t get offered anywhere else…I thought I would go for it, even just to say that I tried.”
“My family would definitely hope I would try to get it,” said Meadhbh Nolan, a Law and German student, who entered college with the mindset that she was going to do it. “University education is so expensive…masters are so expensive…accommodation is so expensive…so that’s definitely a big thing for me.”
However, while the incentives are high and numerous, many students find their current commitments getting in the way, especially as Christmas exams loom. “I’m just too busy at the moment” says Tristan, “[Schols] feels like a second job.”
“It’s hard to strike a balance between what you’re doing now and what you’re doing for Schols,” says one student in Engineering with Management, whose study for Schols is “dictated” by course deadlines. Ultimately though, he sees this challenge as a positive thing: “I like the challenge…the stress of the Leaving Cert was pretty bad but it also pushed me to do very well…I think these stressful environments in the long term can be quite good for you.”
Studying for Schols can be a lonely endeavour, “None of my friends are doing it so it’s been quite a solitary thing,” admits a student in Chemistry, “it has been difficult because I’m so used to sharing what I’m doing with someone.”
When I tell Meadhbh that most of the students I’ve spoken to so far are studying alone, she is surprised: “The biggest advice that I got from previous scholars was get a study group… it’s so helpful because other people think of things that you don’t and sometimes you can be in a bit of a one track mind.” Her study group has a shared Google doc and when they meet in person everyone “brings whatever they’ve studied that week to the table.” The group has also brought her a lot closer with others in her course.
Study routines differ from student to student, with many currently just doing as much study as they can in between other commitments. “I just lock myself in the library until I have to leave,” says one BESS student, “my mum calls me at some point in the evening and then I just take the next bus home!”
“I like to get my study done early in the morning, because after 4 or 5 pm my brain just switches off,” says an Engineering student. “I feel fine with four hours a day…I’d be happy out with that actually… two hours on one topic, break, then two hours on another topic…I do past paper questions mainly.”
Over the Christmas break, Meadhbh envisions, “it’s going to be like studying for the Leaving Cert where I didn’t have a plan, I just had a list of things I had to get done and was hoping that I would get done.”
Schols is “always on the back of my mind,” says Amelia. “But at the moment I’m not cancelling anything, or trying not to…I don’t want it to take over.”
“There’s definitely sacrifices for sure,” says a student in Engineering. “There’s a couple of things on my radar like UCD Christmas day… Twelve pubs…New Years… I’ll be there but I maybe won’t be able to enjoy myself as much. It’s also not just the day you give up, it’s about the day after,” you need to have energy the next day to be able to focus.
Some students are finding it difficult balancing study with part-time work, especially as jobs become more demanding in the run up to Christmas. One student foresees having to work more in December: “I’ve started being rostered for more days than I can actually do… I don’t know what to do about that.”
For some, achieving Schols would mean the chance to live independently for the first time. “Schols would be the only way that myself, and I know a lot of people, would be able to move out of home” says Amelia, who doesn’t see herself being able to move out anytime, “in the next few years at least” given the cost of housing in Dublin.
The title and prestige that Schols offers is also a part of the appeal. “The status it gives you…it looks really good for job applications,” says Meadhbh, “which I know shouldn’t be a big reason to do it but that’s the way it is.”
“Especially for people in the humanities, there’s an anxiety…what am I going to do once I finish this degree?” says Amelia. “Whereas if you get this…you can go and do postgraduate research… it’s kind of a safety net.”
For many years, there have been ongoing debates within Trinity about the elitist aspects of Schols. “I feel like I don’t have as much of a stake in it,” Amelia says. “I have family here, I’m living at home, so if I get the accommodation great, if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world. Whereas for other people it’s more like if I don’t get this…my academics will suffer, I’m going to have to keep working, paying rent… I feel like for some people it’s more worth it than others, which I am extremely privileged to be able to say.” We discuss the amount of money the college devotes to Schols and whether some of this could be spent in a better way: “What’s that economics term? The opportunity cost, the opportunity cost [of Schols] is crazy.”
“The problem is that people who are already privileged are much more likely to get those additional privileges that come with becoming a Scholar,” says Meadhbh. Those who don’t have to work part-time or who don’t have caring responsibilities are often able to devote more time to study.
“Not everyone has a place to study at home, not everyone has a warm home with good food to come home to, and that does impact your studying […] I’ve met some really intelligent people who just don’t have the energy or the capacity to reach their potential in that way. There are a lot of people that can’t afford to give up their part-time jobs…or a lot of international students, they don’t have a family network here,” all these things can make studying harder so the idea that achieving Schols is solely about working hard (meritocratic) “is the biggest lie ever.”
Also not everyone arrives at Trinity on the same “educational basis”. “We don’t all enter university on an equal playing field,” Meadhbh points out. She found that those in her German classes who went to private schools were often a lot better at the language initially than those who went to public school. Although this was not the case with Law because “none of us had ever studied it before.”
Is Schols a test of intelligence? “I think it is much less about intelligence than your willingness to work,” says one student.
“Obviously you have to be very intelligent to be a Scholar but that’s definitely not the only thing it tests,” says Meadhbh. “The whole elitism thing as well….you could be a really smart person but you just don’t have the time or the energy because you’ve got other things going on in your life.” She sees the exams as a test not only of intelligence but of student’s ability to be creative, to explore the material on their course from a unique perspective and the student’s ability to be “really critical,” to question “everything”.
In a villa north of Rome a few months after being elected as a Scholar, Connell Waldron tells Marianne: “I feel like the scholarship has made everything seem possible.” Trinity’s Foundation Scholarship undoubtedly unlocks a lot of new possibilities for the students who manage to achieve it and many find the experience of going for Schols extremely rewarding. While the scholarship remains an important Trinity tradition, it also raises an important question: how should academic achievement be rewarded in a world where people with the same potential do not have the same opportunities? Does Schols simply exacerbate a cycle of privilege? Out of the 350 current Trinity Scholars, how many are mature students and people from the Trinity Access Programme? Could some of the money and resources invested in Schols be better spent elsewhere? Opinions may differ but most students are in agreement over one thing: it was “really really unrealistic” when both Connell and Marianne got Schols in Rooney’s Normal People.
