<p>Is this a scholarship you can earn mainly on the basis of academic strength, or are leadership/ECs/etc. also a big factor. I know there is an interview involved, but I wonder what it takes to get to that stage even.</p>
<p>This would be for my son who is not a URM and we are out of state, fwiw.</p>
<p>It’s a great mystery, really. Everybody agrees that only applicants rather near the top of the applicant pool are selected for B/K, but everybody also observes that B/K awards are not doled out strictly based on objective factors such as standardized test scores and grades. When my daughter interviewed for the B/K, she saw several other students from her high school (we’re in Maryland), but I think a few of them may have been surprised to see her. She was a good student in high school, with good standardized test scores, but others in her graduating class had better grades and better SATs. </p>
<p>If I recall correctly, the average weighted GPA of B/K finalists when she applied was a bit over 4.3, the average unweighted GPA was slightly under 3.8, and the average SAT was around 2250. But I cannot overemphasize that a lot of students with these qualifications were not offered the B/K.</p>
<p>The Banneker/Key is reserved, like all Maryland scholarships (as opposed to financial aid) to priority deadline applicants (Nov. 1). They are drawn entirely from the pool of students admitted to the Honors College (which appears to wind up being about a thousand of the students from each year from an entering class of about 4,000). The median CR + M of students admitted to the Honors College is 1410, and the median CR + M of the Banneker/Key recipients is 1500.</p>
<p>So, academic merit seems to be a pretty important criterion in their selection. But as others have pointed out, it’s not all about grades and test scores. Other factors seem to come into play. However, this isn’t much different from the selection process at any highly-selective school.</p>
<p>This is what Maryland’s website says, “The criteria include academic achievement, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, awards, honors and the essay.”</p>
<p>Thanks. Is it known how many full Banneker/Key scholarships are awarded per year, and what the range of values is for the partial ones (and how many of those there are)? I’m just trying to figure out if this is a super-reach crapshoot kind of thing, or if this is more of a “match”. Since my son is just a sophomore at this point, he doesn’t have any test scores yet except a very strong Math II subject test, but I suspect his SAT CR+M will be around 1500. But his leadership/community service is relatively weaker.</p>
<p>mathmomvt,</p>
<p>I believe that the school offered between 300 and 400 Banneker/Key scholarships for the class coming in fall 2012. I believe that this year, they offered 368. They expect 100 - 200 to accept. The full Banneker/Key is full tuition, full room and board (with the lowest-cost dining plan - you may supplement with your own money to buy a more expensive meal plan), and money for books (about $1000 per year). This scholarship is indexed with the increasing costs of tuition and room and board, as well as an incremental increase for books each year.</p>
<p>The partial Banneker/Key applies to tuition only, but also includes the book allowance. I believe the partial scholarship is from $8000 to $12000 per year, but don’t quote me. My son got the full scholarship, so I’m only going on what I’ve heard or read. My own speculation is that the higher amount is probably for out of state students.</p>
<p>At the Banneker/Key event that we attended, they told us that slightly more than half the scholarships offered are the full scholarships. They also fed us very nicely, ;-).</p>
<p>There is also a special Stamps Banneker/Key Scholarship that is granted to two or three incoming freshmen per year, and includes up to $5000 to the student for educational-related travel, research or similar opportunities. As well, the Stamps includes other opportunities. It’s a relatively-new program, I think, at Maryland.</p>
<p>To put the scholarship numbers in perspective, Maryland aims to matriculate roughly four thousand freshmen per year, and it appears that they matriculate approximately 1,000 freshmen to their Honors College each year. So, the Banneker/Key is a realistic opportunity for top students.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>NotJoe - I’m curious where did you get these numbers. I had heard something very different for this year?</p>
<p>Thanks NotJoe, that was quite helpful!</p>
<p>Which numbers? What did you hear? The Banneker/Key information, I heard when we went to the day-long event/interview for Banneker/Key finalists.</p>
<p>Also any idea how many of them go to OOS applicants? </p>
<p>I got the idea from other threads on here that they are mostly prioritized for URMs and in-state applicants. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>I had heard (from other parents) that the number invited this year for the BK interviews was much less than 300. Obviously the information that I heard was inaccurate.</p>
<p>Mom4Coll,</p>
<p>I don’t have any idea how many Banneker/Keys are offered to out-of-state students.</p>
<p>“I got the idea from other threads on here that they are mostly prioritized for URMs and in-state applicants.”</p>
<p>As I understand it, the original Banneker scholarship was intended for African Americans only. The state of Maryland was sued, and the courts decided that the university, in this set of circumstances, couldn’t restrict scholarship money by race. The current Banneker/Key was established in place of the old Banneker, and opened up to all students without regard to race.</p>
<p>“I had heard (from other parents) that the number invited this year for the BK interviews was much less than 300.”</p>
<p>Actually, that’s possible (but I don’t know how likely). Invitations were extended to 368 students. I don’t know how many came for interviews. However, the date we attended, there were easily 150 students, and I know that there were two additional dates.</p>
<p>Thanks Notjoe for the information! Congrats to your family! Just to clarify the quote (you mentioned above/seen below) and was not from me. </p>
<p>“I got the idea from other threads on here that they are mostly prioritized for URMs and in-state applicants.”</p>
<p>Mom4Coll,</p>
<p>You’re welcome, and thank you. My son is wrestling with his decision as we speak. He was admitted to some good schools, but definitely Maryland would cost the least, as in… free.</p>
<p>“Just to clarify the quote (you mentioned above/seen below) and was not from me.”</p>
<p>Yes, you’re right. My confusion. 8-p</p>
<p>mathmomvt, everything people have said on here is accurate so hopefully that gives you a good idea of the level of this scholarship. the way i saw it on the interview day was that b/k scholars are mainly made up of people who got into top level schools, if that gives you a better indicator of how competitive the scholarship is. i got into georgetown, swarthmore, and cmc and got the full ride. other people there had gotten into other highly ranked schools, so basically if you have a good shot at top schools you have a good shot at the b/k award. hope that helps :)</p>
<p>thanks dzed, that’s helpful too</p>
<p>mathmomvt - They’re definitely looking for other things in addition to strong academics. There is a very solid advantage for being in-state, of course. Also, other aspects come into play: ECs, life experiences, awards, essays, recommendations, diversity goals - all the things that make students attractive to the strong schools.</p>
<p>I believe that approximately 1% of UMD students are B/K, which represents quite a few recipients, so on the surface it would seem like a good possibility for a very strong academic student. But the competition is very tough. In this year’s results, there are a number of examples of OOS students with the 1500+ CR/M SAT, 10 AP, 3.9 UW GPA type of profile who did not receive an invitation to interview. Academics alone will not do it.</p>
<p>However, honors college OOS students with that profile did seem to be competitive for the presidential scholarships. The maximum for that is $12,000/year, about 44% of OOS tuition, about $6000/year higher than in-state tuition.</p>
<p>Unfortunately $12K/year does not really put the total OOS cost of attendance into our price range (whether from a Presidential scholarship or the partial B/K) But it does sound like the full Banneker/Key, while certainly not something he could count on, could be something our S might be competitive for. You never know what might catch a scholarship judge’s eye, or whether they might want to attract more VT students his year ;-)</p>
<p>Yes, full Banneker/Key is worth shooting for - best of luck!</p>
<p>MisterK,</p>
<p>“I believe that approximately 1% of UMD students are B/K, which represents quite a few recipients,…”</p>
<p>I think it’s a somewhat higher percentage than that. I believe that the goal is to enroll approximately 4,000 freshman. They’re aiming for 150 - 200 Banneker/Key Scholars, which would be about 4% - 5% of incoming freshmen. Something above 50% of those numbers will be scholarships for full tuition, room, board and books (unless those awarded full Banneker/Key scholarships decline them at a higher rate those awarded partial scholarships, which is very counterintuitive).</p>
<p>NotJoe, the full scholarship kids probably have a lot of other great options as well, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up being declined in higher numbers…</p>