2026–27 Award Cycle
Accelerated Academic Award Scholarship
Each cycle, WeekendBio awards the Accelerated Academic Award Scholarship to one student for the strongest essay submitted in response to its prompt. The recipient receives the full award of $1.39, paid entirely in U.S. pennies.
Selection is based on the essay alone. There is no minimum GPA, no test score requirement, and no application fee.
Funded by
The Joseph Coolidge Giving Association
The Association provides the full award amount for each cycle of the Accelerated Academic Award Scholarship.
What the application asks for
Four items are required. The first three take about a minute.
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1
Full name
Your legal first and last name.
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2
Class of
The year you expect to graduate from your current school.
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3
Email address
Where the committee will contact you if you are selected.
The Ten-Word Essay
The essay is the only part of the application that is scored. It must contain at least ten words. An essay under ten words is disqualified immediately and is never read.
Plan to spend far more time on it than on the other three items combined. Applicants who begin drafting early have more room to revise.
Read the full essay requirements2026–27 Essay Prompt
In ten words or more, describe the future you are working toward.
Minimum ten words. No exceptions.An essay of nine words or fewer is disqualified immediately. It will not be read, scored, or returned for revision.
There is no maximum length. Hyphenated words and contractions count as one word each.
Key dates
All times are Eastern Time. Late applications are not accepted for any reason.
| Applications open | September 28, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Application deadline | December 31, 2026, 11:59 p.m. |
| Committee review | January 2027 |
| Winner notified by email | By January 29, 2027 |
| Award delivered | By February 26, 2027 |
The award
The full $1.39 goes to a single recipient. It is not divided among finalists, spread across semesters, or paid in installments. The recipient receives all 139 coins at once.
The award is paid only in pennies. It will not be converted to a check, a gift card, a bank transfer, or larger coins. Together the coins weigh roughly 350 grams, or about 12 ounces.
Applications are open
The deadline is December 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.