Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering
Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 | 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Rhatigan Student Center
Optional activities from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering (WISE) is an exciting competition held each fall for eligible high school seniors interested in studying engineering or computing at Wichita State. Ten $30,500 Wallace Scholarships will be awarded to the winners of the 2023 Wallace Invitational. These students receive the prestigious designation as a Wallace Scholar. The Wallace Scholarship is made possible by the generosity of the late Dwane and Velma Wallace. They left a legacy at the WSU College of Engineering spanning over 45 years.
Please Note: WISE is an in-person scholarship competition. You must be physically present on the WSU campus on November 22 in order to compete for a Wallace Scholarship.
Check out the FAQ section below for answers to all of your questions about what to do before, during, and after the WISE competition! If you have reviewed the FAQs and are ready to apply, submit your application at the link below!
Before the Competition
To be eligible to compete in WISE, you must:
- Be a 2025 high school graduate
- Submit Wichita State admission application materials by November 1, 2024. You must declare a College of Engineering major in the "Academic Interest" section of your admissions application.
- Meet one of the following criteria:
- Have a minimum 3.5 unweighted high school GPA, or
- Have a minimum ACT composite score of 27, or
- Have a minimum SAT composite of 1280, or
- Rank in the top 10 percent of your class at the end of your junior year.
If you meet the eligibility criteria to compete in WISE, follow these steps to apply for the competition:
- Apply for admission to Wichita State University.
- You must apply to, and be admitted to, Wichita State University in order to compete in WISE.
- We encourage you to apply for admission to the university prior to completing your WISE application. However, you may submit your WISE application prior to applying for admission as long as you meet the WISE eligibility criteria and declare a College of Engineering major when you submit your admissions application.
- Be sure to declare a College of Engineering major in the "Academic Interest" section of your admissions application. The College of Engineering majors listed
on the admissions application include the following:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Applied Engineering - Engineering Management
- Applied Engineering - Facilities Management
- Applied Engineering - Process Automation
- Applied Engineering - Sustainability and Environmental Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Cybersecurity
- Electrical Engineering
- Engineering - Undecided
- Industrial Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering
- If you aren't sure which College of Engineering major you want to declare, select "Engineering - Undecided." Do not select the generic "Undecided" option or that will make you ineligible for WISE.
- Complete the WISE application by November 10. Applications submitted after 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 10 will not be accepted.
As part of your WISE application, you will be asked to write three short essay responses. Each essay response will have a 150-word limit. You will also be asked to upload an activities chart showing your high school involvement and accomplishments. Please spend time reviewing and preparing these sections of the application before you are ready to submit. Your essay responses will be scored and included in the overall WISE scoring process. For more information about the WISE scoring and selection process, see the How are the winners selected? section under the "After the Competition" heading further down on this page.
No. We will provide you with all of the information, materials, and instructions you need on the competition day. The best advice we can give you is to relax and have fun! A lot of students are nervous when they arrive to WISE because they do not know what to expect, which is completely understandable. Although you are competing for our Wallace Scholarships, we want to you to have fun and enjoy learning more about Wichita State University and the College of Engineering.
If you need lodging for Thursday and/or Friday night, you are welcome to stay at the hotel/motel of your choosing. We recommend staying at the Hyatt Place hotel located right here on the Wichita State campus.
For a listing of other lodging options, visit www.visitwichita.com/hotels. Most of the hotels listed in the Downtown and Northeast options in the Regions section will be a short drive to campus.
On Competition Day
No. We will provide you with all of the materials you need for the competition. In fact, we encourage you to bring as few items with you as possible. You will be moving around the Rhatigan Student Center and the Wichita State campus quite a bit, so the less you bring, the less you have to worry about keeping track of throughout the day.
Students often ask if they should bring copies of their resumes. This is not necessary.
Business casual is recommended for students participating in the competition. Business casual or casual attire is recommended for parents and guests. However, we discourage students from purchasing new clothes just for WISE. Wear the nicest outfit you have, but don't feel like you have to spend money on clothes to impress us. We want you to look presentable, but we're not scoring you on your attire.
Park in Lot 24 or 25 on the south side of 17th Street between Holyoke Street and Vassar Avenue. These lots have been reserved for WISE participants, so please park in Lot 24 or 25 to avoid receiving a parking ticket.
Click here to see the campus map showing Lot 24. Lot 25 is immediately west of Lot 24.
Winners are selected, in part, based on two scored competition activities: a written essay and a group design challenge. Students submit their essay as part of the WISE application prior to competition day. On competition day, students will complete the group design challenge. The group design challenge will take place during the "Competition Rounds" portion of the day indicated in the WISE schedule in the section above.
Group Design Challenge
Participants will be placed into small groups of 4-5. Groups will be given an engineering problem to solve, and will have a specified amount of time to work together as a team to come up with a solution. Groups will pitch their solutions to a two-person judging team. Participants will be scored based on their leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
Written Essay
Participants will individually compose a written essay in response to three essay prompts included in the WISE application. This part of the competition takes place prior to November 22. You will write and submit your essay with your WISE application, which is due by November 10.
After the Competition
The winners of the WISE competition earn the prestigious distinction of Wallace Scholar and are each offered a Wallace Scholarship package worth $30,500 to study engineering or computing at Wichita State. Wallace Scholars are selected from WISE through a scoring process using five sub scores. The five sub scores are derived from participants' unweighted high school cumulative GPA, ACT composite score, ACT math score, Group Design Challenge score, and Written Essay score. If you took the ACT more than once, and have multiple sets of scores on file with Wichita State, we will use your highest composite score and high math score from any test scores submitted to Wichita State. If you took the SAT instead of the ACT, we will convert your SAT scores to the equivalent ACT scores.
WISE Scoring Formula
Unweighted High School GPA +
ACT Composite Score +
ACT Math Score +
Group Design Challenge Score +
Written Essay Score =
Overall WISE Score
All participants will be notified of the outcome of the competition in January 2025. The winners, who will be named Wallace Scholars, will be publically announced at the Wallace Scholar Announcement and Reception held in February on the Wichita State campus. Winners and their families will be invited to this event to be formally recognized and introduced to the campus community.
Note: WISE is a competition specifically for the purpose of selecting recipients of the Wallace Scholarship. In addition to the Wallace Scholarship, the College of Engineering has over 90 other scholarship funds. To be considered for all other College of Engineering scholarships, please complete the New/Continuing Students application within ScholarshipUniverse. The New/Continuing Students application will be available from November 1, 2024 through March 1, 2025. Click here for instructions on how to apply for other engineering and general university scholarships.
Yes! WISE is a competition specifically for the purpose of selecting recipients of the Wallace Scholarship. In addition to the Wallace Scholarship, the College of Engineering has over 90 other scholarship funds. To be considered for all other College of Engineering scholarships, please complete the New/Continuing Students application within ScholarshipUniverse. The New/Continuing Students application will be available from November 1, 2024 through March 1, 2025. Click here for instructions on how to apply for other engineering and general university scholarships.
Note: WISE is a competition specifically for the purpose of selecting recipients of the Wallace Scholarship. In addition to the Wallace Scholarship, the College of Engineering has over 90 other scholarship funds. To be considered for all other College of Engineering scholarships, please complete the New/Continuing Students application within ScholarshipUniverse. The New/Continuing Students application will be available from November 1, 2024 through March 1, 2025. Click here for instructions on how to apply for other engineering and general university scholarships.