Bannecker/Key Chances

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

<p>So I'm a rising senior looking at colleges, and as of right now University of Maryland is probably a safety school. However, a Banneker/Key scholarship would make it a much more attractive option. I'm wondering if anyone can help gauge my odds of at least being interviewed for it. Would love to hear from past winners and/or interviewees especially.</p>

<p>Academics:
* I've been ranked 1st in my class Freshman thru Junior year. I'm 95% sure I'll be our valedictorian. (Class size is 137)
*Weighted GPA is a 4.4862 on a 4.33 scale (not sure of unweighted and don't feel like calculating it by hand)
*ACT composite = 35
Reading= 36
Math= 34
Writing= 35
Science= 34
*SAT composite = 2280 (No SAT IIs yet, I'm taking biology and maybe world history in October)
Writing = 780
Math= 740
Reading = 760
* APs = Sophomore year, US history (scored a 5); Junior year, World History (5) and Calc AB (5); Senior year, scheduled to have Gov and Politics, Lit and Comp, Calc BC. (Only two other APs are offered at my school, Art history and Music Theory)
* Some other notable classes: Honors Biology, Honors Trig, four years of Spanish
* This fall I will be taking an Environmental Science class at Lehigh University (not a community college; its a pretty respectable school)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
* Juggling Club (President Jun and Sen years)
* Debate Club ( secretary Jun yr, President Sen year)
* Mock trial team (attorney Soph and Jun yrs)
* Student Representative to School Board
* Writer for a teens section of local newspaper
* Eco- Action Club
* Power (Weight-training) Club (treasurer Sophomore and Jun yrs)
* 4 year member of Marching, Concert, and Jazz Bands (Playing saxophone; soloist in Jazz band and treasurer of band council)
* Employed by County Parks and Rec. Dept (Soph thru Sen years; ~35 hrs per week in summer, less during school)
* about 100 hours of volunteer service including counselor for 5th grade environmental camp, sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica, work at a State Park, and local independent film festival
* I'm hoping to volunteer for the Green Party in the months leading up to the next election</p>

<p>Awards and whatnot:
*Member of NHS
*Based on past years will almost definitely be a National Merit Semifinalist
*Rensselaer Medal Award for outstanding academic achievement in the study of mathematics and science (plus 15,000 renewable institutional scholarship)
*First place in local Rotary Club Speech contest, Second place in regional round (Soph and Jun yrs)
* A few other minor, class specific awards</p>

<p>I'm a white male from PA if that helps. I'd really appreciate any responses! Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>oops, spelled banneker wrong in the title…</p>

3

<p>I would say you are most likley to get the bk scholarship. You even look like a potential ivy league student. However I do know students who got into top schools like Duke and Cornell and they didn’t get the bk scholarship.</p>

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<p>I am also considering a few Ivy League schools, however I’ll gladly take a Maryland education for free over a Yale education for $20-30,000</p>

5

<p>Although it looks like your stats are where they need to be for B/K, NEVER count on getting it. They only give out a certain amount and there are plenty of students with high stats like yours applying. You’ll definitely get some sort of scholarship and probably the Honors college. </p>

<p>For OOS students this past year, the partial B/K (which most of the nominees received) was $12,000, which is equivalent to the highest level President’s scholarship. Also, you don’t have to interview for the President’s. So that might work out for you.</p>

6

<p>Definitely apply by the early deadline and I think you have a very excellent chance of getting the B/K. There are no guarantees and with the economy being what it is, they may even offer fewer B/Ks. You should be very proud of your work so far. My son just graduated and most of his friends are going to top ranked grad schools including: Princeton, Stanford, Penn, MIT etc. Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>Thanks to everyone for the help. I’m hoping for admission at yale and brown and a few other higher end schools, but I’m still definitely hopeful that I’ll get to interview for the b/k scholarship</p>

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<p>As other people have said, the b/k award can be random so don’t count on it. That said, I got the full ride this year and you seem more qualified for the award than I am, so I’d say you have a great shot at it :)</p>

9

<p>Hi everyone! May I pose a similar question? :slight_smile: I already submitted my priority app, obviously. Freaking out though because I had everyone read my essays 39487598245 times and didn’t notice 'til I submitted that I had one teeny typo - accidentally left out one “and” in a sentence, rendering it nonsensical even though it reads well. First app - that was rough. I had glowing recs, though.</p>

<p>I’m a Hispanic female, from Maryland . National Hispanic Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction. Looking to major in Bioengineering; 4-year student in the STEM education program Project Lead the Way at my high school.</p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0/4.0
GPA W: 4.50
Class Rank 6/473 at a National Blue Ribbon School. Top 2% of class.</p>

<p>Senior Course Load: Only 5 classes, pursuing an internship for the spring semester. H. Engineering Design and Development (capstone engineering course - pretty intense, we have a mentor at NASA and everything), Linear Algebra (weighted AP, follows Calc AB/BC at my school), AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Physics C</p>

<p>AP’s: World History (3…not reporting that, uhh…), Statistics (5), Calculus AB (5 - subscore), Calculus BC (5), English Lang & Comp (5), US History (4)</p>

<p>SAT’s: 2220 superscored (790 CR, 720 M, 720 W)
SAT II’s: 760 Lit, 750 Math II, 710 Physics</p>

<p>I have a bunch of EC’s too, Captain of the Varsity Track and Cross Country teams at my school (30+ hours a week all year, recipient of many team awards), 200+ hours community service, 12 years in Girl Scouting (but didn’t pursue a Gold Award) co-founded a suicide prevention youth organization, National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Women in Engineering Club, Math Team, etc.</p>

<p>Random stuff: Got invited to the Columbia University Engineering Experience in NYC, Student at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (took AP Physics B in two months - pulled a B…)</p>

<p>Do I at least have a shot? Even with a typo like that in one of my essays? I’m on pins and needles :frowning: I love Maryland, and even though Columbia has expressed a strong interest in me I’ll probably end up at UMCP. </p>

<p>Thank you!! :)</p>

10

<p>Relax cubanita13. I don’t believe a one-word omission/typo would be enough to affect the admissions decision unless that one word was the name of another university and the sentence was about said university being your number one choice…!</p>

<p>Yes, your stats are sufficient to give you a “shot” but Banneker Key is not something that anyone can predict with any accuracy. As several students pointed out, it seems very random and many students with great stats are surprised that they didn’t get an invitation to interview. Will you be admitted? I would think without question, yes, and I agree with oceanicole that you will most likely be invited to honors and offered some merit scholarship. If you are applying to engineering, I would feel comfortable guessing that you will be a direct admit. Females applying to engineering are highly sought after, and even if you weren’t female, my assessment would be the same.</p>

<p>Having said that, here’s hoping the best for you and the OP.</p>