<p>"In late March, approximately 500 semifinalists are chosen by an independent, national committee of educators convened by the Commission on Presidential Scholars. Six to twenty semifinalists are identified for each state/jurisdiction by the review committee. The number of semifinalists identified per state/jurisdiction is based on a proportionate number of test takers for that state.</p>
<p>In April, the Commission on Presidential Scholars makes the final selection of the 121 students. One young man and one young woman are chosen from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families of U.S. citizens living abroad. In addition, up to 15 students are chosen at large."</p>
<p>Does not appear further essays or interviews are required.</p>
<p>My son got his letter (made semifinalist) in the mail today - we’re in Wisconsin so probably closer (don’t they come from Iowa?). Congrats and good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>I called to ask about a replacement package for the semifinalist. The person answered the phone said the result will come out tomorrow around 4:00pm.</p>
<p>See? Even this site won’t accept the language my daughter was subjected to in close contact (a public event really) REPEATEDLY at the “prestigious” U.S. Presidential Scholar Recognition weekend. Get my point?</p>
<p>Ma’am I was recently named a Presidential Scholar and I find your posts immature and biased. I’m sorry your daughter’s experience was bad but you really have to let it go. It’s been a year.</p>
<p>I, too, was recently named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and I agree with kgoodwin18–who happens to be my friend and classmate. However, even if she wasn’t, I would still reply to you, newtron, because some things must come to an end. Your immaturity is hilarious, as well as your efforts to make a strong claim that the arts are of less importance than academics. For your information, Presidential Scholars in the Arts candidates went through the same screening as everyone else after nominations were named. We submitted transcripts, spoke of our community and extracurricular involvement, and were asked to write the same number of essays. You would know this except you never did fill out the application, did you? Because you weren’t chosen as a nominee. You’re a grown woman. Why are you here on this thread? Why are you on College Confidential at all? Go watch Dr. Phil.</p>
<p>My family just got back from Washington DC where we attended the Medallion ceremony for the 2012 US Presidential Scholars (my daughter is one of them:)). I just want to share our experience which was a very positive one. To be honest, I was prepared for the worst after reading Newtron’s post. Well, it’s the total opposite. The ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the National Building Museum. It was evening and you can just imagine the ambiance those giant pillars and architecture created. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan shook hands with each scholar as his/her name was called and the medallion handed out. The medallion is a thick & heavy bronze medallion that is gold plated and engraved with the scholar’s name and Obama’s signature. There was a reception afterwards where they served desserts and there were lots of opportunities for picture taking. Transportation was provided for all the guests/teachers/scholars to and from their destination. It was very well organized and the evening was very elegant. On another evening, the Scholars of the Arts performed at the Kennedy Center to honor all the 2012 Scholars. The talent of those kids left us in awe. It also gave us goosebumps when after the performances, the scholars for the arts saluted the rest of the scholars for academics and they stood up. I felt sad that Newtron seemed to belittle the scholars for the arts. Reading through the biographies of those scholars one would easily see they deserved to be recognized. Herbie Hancock was there to deliver an inspiring speech. The only events that specified that parents could not attend were the ones honoring the teachers and the dinner for the scholars. My daughter had a very positive experience, she seemed to have made a lot of new friends and she even wants to come back next year to become advisor. Even though it did not carry any financial reward and it did not have any more bearing on the college admission process, the US Presidential Scholarship Award is as prestigious as it sounds. And it did not matter that the president was not personally at the White House when the scholars visited.</p>
<p>Golly gosh…do you s’ppose it’s an election year? Do you s’ppose there are U.S. Presidential Scholar staff creepers on this site? Do you s’ppose my complaints made here and to the U.S. Presidential Scholar program staff and others might have benefited this year’s scholars? I am glad this year’s scholars had a better experience. You are welcome.</p>
<p>Bullying starts with and is encouraged by the U.S. Department of Education and its U.S. Presidential Scholar program.</p>
<p>My goodness, sounds like a giant scam. Another interesting thing, is when I hit the link to the list, my browser reported the site as malware…hmmmm.</p>
<p>Our daughter is on the list. I am surprised that she is on the list. Her score is very good, but not perfect (not 1600). I thought only students with perfect scores make it as candidates. But, I am not complaining.</p>
<p>My D did not make it, which surprised me. But they don’t give the exact cutoffs… No big deal. While I sort of though D might be on the list, we figured she would never make it to semifinals anyway. No one from her school made it this year.</p>
<p>Interesting - no one from my son’s district made it this year. He made it last year but he’s screwy because of graduating a year early. So he’s 2012 for this but 2013 for National Merit. He made it to semifinals (top 5 males & 5 females from the state) but not to the finals for the trip to DC (which he really didn’t care about). I’m really not sure what the point is - too late for applications at that point and no money out of it. A lot of work on the essays, etc. for little return.</p>
<p>It is possible that a student qualified but isn’t on the list. You can call and they will tell you the cutoff scores for your state. If your child did not indicate tha it was ok for scores to be released to outside entities, their scores weren’t sent. Their is a phone number in the FAQs.</p>