21st Century Scholar Program

<p>So I got into Mount Holyoke today (yay!), and my virtual acceptance letter says that I've been accepted as a 21st Century Scholar. Apparently, "As a 21st Century scholar, you will receive a $25,000 scholarship (renewable for four years), admission to a first-year honors tutorial with a faculty member, and funding for a summer internship. And, as a group, you will be invited to participate in select intellectual and social events."</p>

<p>Anyone know anything about the program? Aside from the obvious financial award, any information about personal experiences with the tutorial, internship money, "select intellectual and social events", etc. would be much appreciated! :)</p>

<p>I would like to know this as well. </p>

<p>Btw, awesome username :)</p>

<p>Congrats! I got one, too. I’ve heard the “select intellectual and social events” are annual dinners for the 21st Century scholars with the president. Other than that, I’m kind of in the dark, too.</p>

<p>They also give you a very nice pen and pencil box. :D</p>

<p>JK congrats to you all! Distinct honor.</p>

<p>It’s the highest (merit) scholarship that Mt. Holyoke offers, IIRC. Congratulations.</p>

<p>I don’t really have much to add, except that I’ve also gotten this, but I’m definitely curious to find out more.</p>

<p>Can those who received this scholarship put up their stats? Thanks :)</p>

<p>Awesome! Congrats to you guys too, blarghh, paulel, and emuroo! :)</p>

<p>And pinklilyflower:
-private all-girls school in CA
-4.32 WGPA
-2260 SAT (690 M, 770 CR, 800 W)
-8 APs (all 4s and 5s so far)
-700 WH SAT II, 760 Lit SAT II, 760 USH SAT II
-Captain of debate team, choir, community service projects, NHS, CSF, lots of leadership.
-National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, some National Forensic League recognition
-Girls State, summer internship, internat’l choir tours.
-I think my Why Mount Holyoke essay was pretty solid… Very detailed reasons as to why I was applying.
-Oh, and I had an alumni interview, which I thought went okay. :slight_smile:
I think that’s about it…</p>

<p>pinklilyflower: here are my stats </p>

<p>2250 superscored SAT (2230 one time…I actually didn’t do superscore for most schools, but MHC already had my other scores), 790 Math 2 , 800 Chem
Top 1% of class.
National level awards in Table Tennis, long term (11 yrs) commitment to traditional dance, state level awards in debate/speaking, drama, Interact Club stuff with many pretty big awards, VP in Interact, and Class Prefect in school.
Loads of environment related stuff and social cause related stuff done with Interact.</p>

<p>My essay was pretty okay, it spoke in detail about why I wished to attend but it was literally written in 5 minutes. Yep. With my mom standing behind me tapping her watch. (We had final mock exams going on at that time, and I procrastinated the essay till the end. Thankfully I could use a lot of the same lines from another women’s college’s essay).</p>

<p>I requested an alumni interview, but there wasn’t any alum available in my country…</p>

<p>Good Luck to you all. I love MHC and feel honoured that they chose to give me the scholarship! :slight_smile: But I’m not sure if I’ll attend. Decisions for me, depend on fin aid, so I’ll have to compare offers.</p>

<p>And Bossof51: That’s not fair! I heard the class of 2014 also got an eraser with MHC written on top and a smiley sticker! :stuck_out_tongue: They’re saving money on us!
j/k.</p>

<p>Hi all! I’m actually a current 21st Century Scholar (class of 2013), so if you have any questions about the program or Mount Holyoke in general, let me know!</p>

<p>@ceb216 I’d love to hear about your experience with the 21st century scholars program as well as MHC in general! Sorry I don’t have any specific questions haha.</p>

<p>Well, let’s see… I’m a sophomore biology major. I’m also completely my pre-med reqs and earning a 5-College certificate in Culture, Health, and Science. I’ve worked in a biology lab since my first year, and I’m a member of the M&Cs, one of the awesome a cappella groups on campus. I also rowed crew for a year (and I highly recommend it). So if any of you have questions about those kinds of things, let me know. I can also usually refer you to someone if you have a question I can’t answer.</p>

<p>I have loved Mount Holyoke thus far. There are so many incredible opportunities on campus, academically, co-curricularly, and socially. It may be a small college, but there are lots of things you can do, both on campus and through the 5 colleges (Hampshire, Smith, Amherst and UMass).</p>

<p>As for the 21st Century Scholars program, I think it’s great. First of all, you get a FANTASTIC merit scholarship. That alone was enough to put MHC towards the top of my list, and I am so happy with the decision I made. They tell you there are events and internship funding when you’re accepted, but I’m sure you’re wondering, “what exactly does that mean?”</p>

<p>Every year we start off with a “Tea with the President”, which is a great way to meet other Scholars and hopefully get to chat with Lynn. She’s incredible! We also have events throughout the school year. In the past, we’ve had special sessions with speakers coming to the college and spots have been saved specifically for us to attend conferences, etc. The great thing about the program is, because it’s relatively new, Marie, the coordinator, is very receptive to what WE want to do as scholars. If you go to her and say, “Hey, I’d love to see this kind of event,” she’s usually very good about making it happen.</p>

<p>As for internship funding, Mount Holyoke has a committee called the UAF, which has funds for all MHC students. The committee is run through the Center for Career Development, and you can learn more about funding here: [Funding</a> & UAF :: Career Development Center :: Mount Holyoke College](<a href=“http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cdc/funding.html]Funding”>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cdc/funding.html). As 21st Century Scholars, we’re GUARANTEED funding for one year. You still have to apply, but unlike other students, you will definitely be funded before you graduate. That link is really helpful in terms of what kind of things you can apply for funding for and what kind of advising you can get as an applicant.</p>

<p>Any other questions?</p>

<p>what are the honors tutorials like? </p>

<p>thank you for taking the time to answer :)</p>

<p>The honors tutorial I did was one of my fondest memories of my first-year. Our group (only 4 students-- 2 domestic and 2 international) loved working together so much we continued on into second semester!</p>

<p>My honors tutorial was called “Great Books of America” so basically we read, you guessed it, great books by American authors. Then, second semester, we expanded and just read books we wanted to read. It was cool because I got to read some of the famous books I’d heard about but never actually read. Surprisingly, the course was taught be Jim Hartley, an Economics professor. It was exciting because he was getting to teach one of his other passions outside of his discipline. </p>

<p>My tutorial was probably the most “normal,” but I definitely enjoyed it and know tons of other people who had great experiences with their more obscure/focused tutorials.</p>

<p>Hi ceb612!</p>

<p>I was also recently accepted as a 21st Century Scholar, my tentative major is bio, too, and I’m also looking toward the pre-med track.</p>

<p>So how is MHC’s bio course for a pre-med student? Obviously, the college is very strong in the sciences, but I wonder how hard it is to maintain an a substantial gpa for med school. Other college friends of mine (they don’t go to MHC) advised me that I should choose a major other than bio not only to appear more diverse but also to get a higher gpa (apparently the bio course there is pretty killer).</p>

<p>Haha, but other than that, I am more than happy that I was chosen for this program, and I congratulate the other 34(?) who were chosen. Yayyy!</p>

<p>bless360, </p>

<p>I’m not going to lie… pre-med here is difficult, but I chose to be a bio major because I love it, and honestly, most of my pre-med classes aren’t even bio! As for a major, you should do what you love-- bio or not. I know it sounds corny, but you’ll have the happiest experience (and the highest GPA) if you enjoy your work.</p>