Mad Genius Scholarship
At Mad Genius, we're on a mission to unleash our creative energy on the world of snacking. We are obsessively passionate about creating mind-melting culinary mashups that test the bounds of flavor fusion. We are equally passionate about connecting with our community and recognizing creative genius, especially in America’s youth.
The Mad Genius Scholarship exists to “UNLEASH MAD POTENTIAL.” Unlike purely academic scholarships, we plan to recognize and reward genius across a wide range of creative (and not necessarily academic) pursuits.
At Mad Genius, our disruptive mashups combine all-time favorite foods into convenient, craveable, and highly snackable finger foods like Cheeseburger Quesadillas, General Tso’s Chicken Empanadas, and Bacon Mac & Cheese Snack Rolls. Mad Genius is excited to invite scholarship applicants to flex their creativity around a MASHUP theme.
For this year's scholarship class, applications are open to high school, undergraduate, trade school, or graduate students who are exceptionally creative, inspired, and motivated to achieve in creative fields. To apply, please respond in full to the following prompt:
1) Submit a mashup inspired creative work and explain your thought process in creating it and how it ties into the mash-up theme.
2) In a short essay (<500 words), detail your career aspirations, any distinctions or recognition you’ve received to date, and how you would apply a scholarship to your creative pursuits.
3) Submit a photo of yourself that best sums up your vibe.
We are eager to reward insane creativity and mind-blowing originality. By way of merely illustrative example, if your creative passion is…
- CULINARY, you could submit food mashup ideas, recipes, and/or images of your most inventive and delicious mashups.
- VISUAL ARTS, you could create a brilliant image or illustration of foods mashing together
- FASHION, you could create a mashup themed outfit, bringing together different wardrobe items and styles.
- COMEDY/LITERARY, you could write stories, poems or jokes inspired by the mashup theme.
- ATHLETICS, you could submit a video of you doing something incredible that brings different sports together (e.g. hitting a home run with a volleyball).
- MUSIC, you could create a mash track that brings together instruments, sounds, and styles that aren’t commonly mixed.
Best of luck to all who enter. We’re excited to be blown away by your genius and award our inaugural “Mashterclass” of Mad Genius Scholarship recipients!
Disclaimer - As a condition of my submission, I agree to grant Mad Genius full ownership and IP rights in all aspects of my submission. In exchange for scholarship consideration, I agree to timely execute any disclaimers of IP ownership as to my submission upon Mad Genius’s request. By submitting this visual work, I acknowledge that I do not retain any ownership or intellectual property rights in my submission. I understand that Mad Genius is not obligated to use this visual work, and I am not entitled to any compensation or recognition for its use apart from the scholarship award, if I am chosen. I warrant that the works submitted are (i) entirely my own, (ii) not plagiarized in any way, and (iii) not made (in whole or in part) through use of AI.
Detail your career aspirations, any distinctions or recognition you’ve received to date, and how you would apply a scholarship to your creative pursuits.
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FAQ
The application deadline is Nov 1, 2025. Winners will be announced on Dec 1, 2025.
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Award amounts per winner are designated by the donor. Check the award amount for a detailed breakdown.
The winner will be publicly announced on Dec 1, 2025. Prior to the announcement date, we may contact finalists with additional questions about their application. We will work with donors to review all applications according to the scholarship criteria. Winners will be chosen based on the merit of their application.
Award checks will be sent to the financial aid office of the winner's academic institution or future academic institution in their name to be applied to their tuition, and in the name of their institution (depending on the school's requirements). If the award is for a qualified educational non-tuition expense, we will work with the winner directly to distribute the award and make sure it goes towards qualified expenses.
Before we award the scholarship, the winner will be required to confirm their academic enrollment status. Depending on the circumstances, verification of Student ID and/or their most recent transcript will be required.
If you have any questions about this scholarship or the Bold.org platform, just email contact@bold.org and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Yes. The terms and conditions for this scholarship can be found here.