The CAPE review panel will narrow the field to 50 by eliminating applications not in compliance with the requirements of the program (including submission deadlines and other technical requirements) and by evaluating the quality and responsiveness of the essay questions. Download the scoring guidelines (PDF) that reviewers will use for the program. CAPE will give preference to schools that applied in previous cycles of the BRS program but were unsuccessful because of technical (as opposed to substantive) violations.* Preference will be given to schools that did not win the award in the years 2007-2017 (schools that won after those years are not eligible to apply). Finally, efforts may be made to avoid an excessive concentration of schools from the same state. After that, all applications of eligible schools that meet the requirements of the program and that provide exemplary responses to the essay questions will be pooled, and nominated schools will be selected randomly.

*To receive this preferential treatment, schools that fall in this category should attach a note to the draft application submitted in December to let CAPE know that the application is a second try. The note should indicate the year and violation of the initial application.