<p>How do you qualify? What exactly does it entail?</p>
<p>If you were offered the 12,000 merit scholarship you will be invited to join. There is no application. You can read about it on line. It is an excellent program with some of the best professors. I believe it involves 1 class a year with honors and then a thesis senior year. You can apply after 1st semester if you weren't invited if you have a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA. My D has applied for next semester. I believe it is just filling out a short app and getting a professors recommendation, ie and listing your leadership experiences.</p>
<p>So once you find out if you were accepted, you'll know if you get a scholarship? or do you find out later? </p>
<p>Thanks so much</p>
<p>I believe the merit scholarships come with the acceptance if I remember correctly and finaid comes later on line.</p>
<p>what are the typical stats for the 12,000/ is that the highest merit scholarship awarded by USD?</p>
<p>Yes it is the highest, I do not know for sure, I know it is above 1320 as my D got the 6,000 one. She also recieved a leadership one which was a lot smaller. It also goes by GPA though so is probably a combination.</p>
<p>What made your D want to go to USD? Assuming she had a decent gpa, her scores would give her a decent shot at many other competitive schools... what about USD made it standout? has she been happy w/ her choice?</p>
<p>heh... good one ihateyou</p>
<p>There actually is an application. You have to write some essays. I got the 12,000 and still had to do the app even though I was invited. But you are pretty much in regardless of the essays.</p>
<p>I'm assuming the application is done AFTER you are invited to join? There doesn't seem to be anything on their website about this...</p>
<p>There is a section if you browse under liberal arts on the honors college. My D is waiting to hear if she got in for this semester. She had to get a teachers rec , list leadership activities and write a short blurb. You are correct thumper, you need to be invited for 1st semester, after grades if you have a 3.4 or 3.5 you can apply</p>
<p>How do you like the program Sirwatson 1?</p>
<p>I chose another school over USD. However, I went to USD for a visit before I chose schools and had an appointment with the woman in charge of the honors program and I have to say I was pretty impressed with it. It is nice to graduate with an honors clause and the program was really personal and seemed to foster relationships with professors and peers. Definitely do it if possible.</p>
<p>My D just got her letter of acceptance to the honors college!!! We are pretty excited!</p>
<p>Great Arizonamom!! What great news for your daughter. What are the advantages to being in the honors college (dd will not be invited as an incoming freshman but more than likely will have the grades to apply after...hard work is her asset....SAT scores were not).</p>
<p>From what I hear there is more mentoring and some of the best professors, very small classes and a senior thesis. There are also extra activitities planned for the members- check the on-line site as well as my D has not called yet to get more info. Keep us posted on your D's decision thumper!</p>
<p>The events are kind of lame and the SAT should not be that great of a deterrent for getting into USD for the honors program. My first SAT was 980 and my second was 1130. Albeit I had demonstrated strengths in my gpa and college courses.</p>
<p>I was planning on early action, but come nov 15 I decided to revise my common apps essays and sumbit my app for regular D. I scored well on the sats (1410), and ranked top 15% in a competitive high school (where the avg sat is higher than at usd). On a national scale, my gpa may appear low, but my school focuses less on grades (grade deflation is the more common trend) and more so on class rank. That being said, I was planning on waiting for my letter in April, with the hope that I would get merit. However, I received my acceptance letter yesterday (for reg D...), but I didn't receive any merit so I contacted admissions. The first rep said that only "highly sought" reg D applicants are accepted this early, but she said I should email the counselor for my area. According to him, I was evaluated as an early action applicant (eventho I clearly marked Reg D and submitted in late Dec) and I was not initially offered scholarship. He said based on my stats he'd send it in for an appeal, but I would need to wait until March to hear. Considering this is when I was expecting to hear, it dosen't seem all that bad. However, the fact that I wasn't offered scholarship/admission to the honors program is very disheartening. I have already been accepted to a top 40 school, so going to USD for the 40k's/no honors program would just not make sense. Does anyone have a suggestion on how I should advocate my case to admissions?</p>
<p>My D did not get in for 1st semester either with a good GPA but only a 1320 SAT but you can resubmit 2nd semester as long as you have a 3.4 GPA from 1st semester. You will definitely get in to honors but I would fight for the merit by submitting an appeal. My D got more money at another school she was strongly considering by appealing, so did my S 2 years age.</p>
<p>thanks for you input arizonamomm... when you say appeal, did your D/S simply ask for an appeal, or did they do anything extra to support their case? I was pondering writing a paper (did some research) on gpa comparison, and its lack of effectiveness school to school. I figure I'd be able to support my own case, while at the same time providing another writing sample (which hopefully would be good). I don't want to come off as pushy, but at the same time, I'm not about to let 48 g's pass me by. To be honest, I'm pretty disapointed/upset by the scholarship decision, but at the same time I don't want to show too much of my frustration to admissions. What do you think is the best course of action that I should take?</p>