Hi,
I am applying for the Most Valuable Student Scholarship for this year and I was just curious about how competitive the scholarship is? Does anyone know what the most important aspects of the application are?
Thanks!
Most important aspects are SAT score and financial need.
Their formula is posted on line.
Last year there were close to 20k applicants… which actually means it’s not the most competitive out there.
I agree with Courtney; however, that being said, even if you aren’t one of the 20? (I forget) selected to go to Chicago, there is still some decent money to be had for this scholarship. You can advance to different levels and win money at each level. Based on the formula that Courtney is talking about, your parents can still make quite a bit of money and it’s possible to bring in money. I’m not sure how much time my son spent on this application, but I think he may have won about $9,000 total. He had pretty good SATs (not perfect or even fabulous) which but they helped compensate some for my husband’s good salary (not that his income is fabulous either, but we are grateful for it). Bottom line is that he is glad he applied for this one. 
As a side note - Courtney really knows her scholarship stuff. If you look through this site, you will see just how successful she was in her scholarship search. Congratulations Courtney!
@CourtneyThurston, can you post the link of the formula? Thank you.
For “specific nature of work” do you put your job title or do you list the duties you have done on the job
@olems515 I sort of did a mixture. For example I put “Umpire for summer softball” and “Birthday party hostess and general employee”
@Canoon I am unsure what year these guidelines are from but here is the link you were seeking http://www.elks.org/SharedElksOrg/enf/images/EvaluatingBrochures.pdf
@kayleighbrown thank you !
Did anyone attach a resume?
I have one printed out and stuck behind my honors and awards details and in front of leadership and activities details but I just wanted to include it since it lists both my unweighted and weighted GPA and ranks. I’m not sure if I’ll actually turn it in today with everything though. Did you include one? I’d feel better including it if somebody else did @olems515
@kayleighbrown, Thank you for your link to the formula.
I just turned in my application! I hope this thread gets as much attention as the 2014 and 2015 Elks Scholarship threads. I would love to talk to other applicants and compare stats, talk about our progress in the competition, etc.
@kayleighbrown I did add a resume and I submitted it today also.
@olems515 I ended up adding my resume, I figured it wouldn’t hurt! I’ve low key been twitter stalking the search “elks scholarship” to compare myself to my competition since not a lot of people are posting on this thread yet. I’ve only really looked at the girls’ profiles since the competition is split between genders and literally all of the girls I have seen on Twitter have been from California, which would only give me an idea of who I’d be competing against if I made it to nationals. I really am starting to wonder if just not as many people applied this year because I haven’t seen many people talking about it on Twitter and this thread has barely gotten any attention. Maybe this thread will pick up soon which I would love, or maybe the Class of 2016 just doesn’t utilize College Confidential like the Classes of 2014 and 2015 did! What state are you from?
I submitted my application last night.
I had to find this scholarship on my own and I don’t know anybody else who actually applied for it. It does seem to a much quieter discussion here than in the past few years.
For reference, I’m a male from Arizona.
Does anyone know when they notify people about who made it through the first round?
“The first round of email notifications will be sent in mid-January, after Lodge judging is completed. District judging will be completed in late January, and State judging will be completed in mid-February.”
I got a call from my local elks telling me I placed third place for the girls locally and the guy told me some sum of money that I’ve already received but I could not hear him… Has anybody else gotten a call like this/know how competitive the state level is? I’m a female from Louisiana
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When did you submit your application? @fivestarlc
@fivestarlc congrats! I think that means you’re moving onto districts! Then hopefully you move into states after districts! I haven’t gotten a phone call yet and I know many people won’t until early January because judging isn’t required to be done already. I really hope to get a call soon though because I’m anxious to know if I’ll be advancing. I’m not sure how many people submitted applications to my local lodge though - as far as I know no seniors at my school submitted one and if surrounding schools have seniors as apathetic to scholarship applications as they are at my school I don’t think I’ll have a lot of competition. Keep your fingers crossed for me though