I was invited for the ADS Competition a few months ago and I am scheduled to take the test in two weeks. I was wanted to brush up on some stuff to study for the test, but I don’t really know what they test. Do any past participants and/or winners have any input as to what type of questions were asked and what subjects I should really study? Also, what was the format of the test?
I participated in ADS in 2014. The test that year was many multiple choice questions (honestly can’t remember how many) as well as two short essay questions after the multiple choice. The essays were similar to application-style essay questions; they were not academic questions. I don’t think the test has changed since I took it.
The topics on the exam ranged from math to art history to reading comprehension (given a few paragraphs to read). Honestly, you can’t study for this test. But I didn’t find it too bad. Best of luck
Now that the first ADS weekend is in the books, what did those who attended think?
Very well run. Learned a lot that we did not already know. Moved higher on D’s list. Big campus. The honors college seems to afford a ton-load of flexibility (especially around substitutions and prereqs)…more than other schools we are looking at. The campus is huge. Nice to have an Amtrak station nearby. Love the Professorial Assistantship program. Quite a large campus. Go Green.
I agree it was well run. My daughter had a good time Friday night. It is a very big campus. A lot of green space. Honors college does appear to offer a lot of flexibility. Seemed liked someone was paying the speakers money every time someone mentioned study abroad. LOL Still on the list in our house. Guess will we learn results of the weekend (and the second one this weekend) by the end of February. Good luck to everyone who participated or will participate.
Has anyone received an email or letter about a phone interview? It seems like that is the next step in the process according to prior year’s threads.
we attended the Feb 3-4 ADS. did not realize they offered travel vouchers but were told they ran out by the time i requested one. we are watching our pennies so we rented and drove 820 miles each way and stayed at a cheap hotel.
how did it go? well, he went from mildly interested to “MSU is at the top of my list” so as a recruiting tool they did a very nice job. the weather was what i expected for Michigan in February – 10 degrees and snow everywhere. he said he did not mind.
the campus was as described above – very big, very spread out and a lot of open space. much different from a lot of campuses that cram everything together very tightly. it really felt like its own small town. a very different feel from other campuses we have experienced.
it was very well run indeed. i was impressed with the MSU faculty speakers. they were very engaging and personable as well as knowledgeable. it made you feel very comfortable about the kind of people you were considering handing your kid off to for 4 years. the student speakers effectively conveyed their very different, yet positive individual experiences at MSU. everyone made it very easy to envision being there and succeeding personally and academically.
and yes, they really pushed the Study Abroad angle, didn’t they? LOL
Professorial Assistantship program looks great, i agree.
he got a chance to bus to two different academic interest sessions. he chose Biosystems Engineering and Physics, and very much enjoyed both presentations. his goal is to double major in Mech Engr and Physics.
he thinks he did well on the exam. we shall see. a full ride would be very nice indeed.
a few months ago, he had a Skype interview with i think the admissions director, the Honors college dean, and one other dean. not only did they remember the interview but they approached him individually, and spoke with him about specific details they discussed in the interview from months before. that really impressed me. no other school has come remotely close to the level of interest MSU has shown my son. i hope they can find a way to translate interest into $$$ b/c he really wants to be a Spartan now.
oh and he got an email last night, they are sending a travel voucher check after all. Go Green.
@123field I thought I remembered them saying they were shooting for 2/23 to start announcing winners. I could be wrong, but that came from the parent meeting during the test.
@30socks You may be right. I honestly can’t remember – as we got so much great information during the parent meeting. The email we got after the competition indicated the end of February. It appears that the process in previous years was phone interviews to a selected group and then from that group winners were chosen. I could be totally wrong in my analysis of prior years’ threads.
Perhaps previous ADS winners (from all levels of awards) can enlighten us as to the process?
Yes, that’s right, there is an interview step next. Forgot that @123field. Rather, pushed it out of my mind.
So if there is an interview step and they expect to notify kids by late February about getting the awards, when are kids notified of interviews?
Late Feb. (on or around 2/23) is the time kids are notified about interviews, not awards. My bad. Although I do believe they might give out some lesser awards that may or may not require interviews. These are not really advertised.
Good to know … now to just cross all fingers and toes in the house (including the dog’s and bird’s - ha!).
the MSU website says there are 15 full-ride Alumni Distinguished Scholarships. But did anyone else catch in the white info folder about the University Distinguished Scholarships? it seemed they also are full-ride awards, given to students who do not win one of the 15 ADS. they listed the names of students who won either of these last year and the total of ADS/UDS full-ride scholarships was 23, not 15. so i guess there are 23 or so full-ride possibilities available, not just the 15 ADS
@Wien2NC The University Distinguished Scholarships were awarded in December after Skype interviews. Good luck to your son with ADS!
whoa. you’re johnny-on-the-spot with the inside scoop. did you/your kid win?
Yes. 8 were awarded.
@Wien2NC You could come visit the 2017 Parent thread and see all sorts of information, including some scholarship announcements: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1479899-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017.html
CONGRATULATIONS !!! nice going !
I didn’t make it to finalist oh well in state tuition is already pretty cheap if I get into the osteopathic medical scholars program otherwise I’m going to umich in state