<p>I got a letter sayin im a finalist</p>
<p>any1 else?</p>
<p>hey...was this a local or state or national finalist??? i haven't heard anything (EAST TN) yet...where are you from?</p>
<p>southern NY, it just said i have been identified as a finalist it didnt specify anything else.</p>
<p>yes, i am from central florida and i was identified as a finalist as well. the letter isn't specific as to what exactly a 'finalist' entails.</p>
<p>does anyone know how many finalists there are?</p>
<p>I got a finalist notification as well. You have 7 days to provide the supporting documentation. The form lists a specific store number just like the target notification and no i will not tell you mine...I need the money. </p>
<p>Based on that I don't think there are national or state finalists just onoe ot two winners per store. </p>
<p>You can check the BB site to verify. </p>
<p>I don't know how many finalists but I would guess its at least one or two per store.....just in case someone fudged and did not get their stuff in. So count the number of stores and multply by 2. </p>
<p>The other option is that its rolling and for the first go round its one per store. I base this on my experience with Target. I got the notification Xmas eve, had a week to submit and got the winner notification in Feb. The winners are not posted yet so it may be that some finalists are not panning out and alternates are being chosen. This is just a guess as there has been little action on the target thread to verify. </p>
<p>Well I'm off to get verification signatures. FYI they did call at least one of the people who signed my target form so take that as you will. </p>
<p>Why compare to Target?????... both scholarships are adminstered by the same company with the same award and verification process. Sure wished I had made a copy of the target writeups. Could have just sent that in. Now I look like a goof who can't use a copy machine</p>
<p>On the verifications sheet, the line to describe our activities isn't that incredibly long...do they just want us to put the name of the activity? </p>
<p>How are the finalists narrowed down? I don't remember what the initial application entailed.</p>
<p>Rule 1 keep copies of everything a rule I did not follow in one case and I regret but I have a folder for every scholrship I've applied for. It is an exact duplicate of what I have submitted. </p>
<p>I will attempt to answer your question based on my experience with another award administered by Sch/America.</p>
<p>IN your original app, you listed your activities, a summary of them, the number of hours you worked and the name of someone who could verify. </p>
<p>You are being asked to pick the three activities out of your list that you feel had the most impact, list them, a one line title is all you are allowed. You make the list and you provide the title. This is where a copy would help. would think you want to list them the same way they were listed on your original app.</p>
<p>Then you need to get verification; a summary of the activity along with impact, limited to three lines, written by the verifier and a signature from that verifer. </p>
<p>It all goes into a single envelope that needs to be postmarked by the 21st. That's what my letter said.</p>
<p>You need to complete the press release as well. Follow the instructions exactly. I took the liberty of providing a sample write up for my verifers which they made better. I also made copies of the form for them to write their first dratf on so if they ran out of room or messed up it was not on the original. The form is completed by hand...no typing however you could type and then cut and glue but I think that would be a bit much. </p>
<p>they did call at least one of my people from the previous scholarship. also if you win your pic goes up at the store for all to see. the release is pretty interesting. Sounds like we are giving up every right we have to BB......BB is not resp for any harm that comes to you as a result of this award....wonder what that means</p>
<p>steve....are you from TN...has any TN person heard???</p>
<p>Im from FL and havent heard yet and I won target scholarship with the same activities.</p>
<p>steve, was there much room in the original app to describe each activity? if not, how will they narrow down the applicants with just a title and hours of each activity? were the activities limited to comm service? thanks</p>
<p>ha i hope thats all they do!</p>
<p>The original app had a character limit to each activity along with the hours and a title.</p>
<p>Now read my note above....You are the finalist for a single store......Your comp is the other finalist for that store if there is another finalist picked. May be may not be who knows. </p>
<p>This is a third party comany they are in business to make money and are probably on contract to a number of orgs besides target and BB. They want to do the work to give BB a good candidate but only enought. They need to make a profit so they are not going to fine tooth this is my guess </p>
<p>Here is my guess on what is going to occur...the write ups will be reviewed compared to your initial app and if they match and the narrative is decent you are in. If not decent or they don't match you are not. Probably thumbs up or down and then they move to another candidate</p>
<p>You can stress out on this its your call. The best thing to do is to pick the three activities that you think have the biggest impact or who have a sponsor who will wrtie the best narrative and go with them. If your sponsor/adult/verifer writes small that helps LOL.</p>
<p>Seriously you are actiing like you made up the activities on your app and now can't remember them. Just go with your gut on the best ones</p>
<p>Hope this helps or if your are in my area does not lol</p>
<p>My son received his letter stating he is a finalist (Minnesota). They don't leave much room for the adults who have to verify the community service work, that's for sure! Crossing my fingers!!!</p>
<p>BB has ~600 stores (US minus Geek squad and other spec types) and if the target scholarship is an indictor they got over 12k apps. Probably more since it was so easy to apply. They then used a computer to sift thru and then sort by store and then kick out the top two or three per store. The screening has been done. </p>
<p>given they have to turn this around in 5 weeks they probably only sent this to a single finalist for each store. If they did two that means they have 1200 apps to review in 5 weeks...I don't think so. they probaly have a trigger for going to choice number two, no match or no reply in 14 days but remember they don;t have to award all of these. Also this is advertising and a tax write off...they don't have to find the best applicant. They only have to find a good one. there is no return for them in going for the gold when silver will do </p>
<p>So if you get this mailed in on time, and your write up matches and the narrative is decent you are in is my guess. </p>
<p>This is all a guess but I'm a pretty good guesser. I asked on the target thread for anyone who was a finalist and did not get selected and got no replies.</p>
<p>Have they already finish contacting the semifinalists? I live in Texas and they haven't contacted me yet. Anyone from Texas heard anythnig ye? Please reply ASAP!</p>
<p>steve, what are the narratives and write ups you're talking about? </p>
<p>I didn't make up anything on the app, it's just that I've filled out so many different scholarship applications, it gets hard to keep track of since some only want certain activities while some don't want them, etc.</p>
<p>It's difficult to not get worked up on it when getting it may help my family to afford college, it's not like the BB scholarship is $50.00</p>
<p>Do you have a scanned version of the activities page? I'm desperately trying to picture the page to recall any info</p>
<p>content </p>
<p>Age race sex, collegechoice, HS grad date, HS info,parent info; </p>
<p>Volunteer community service section for each activity </p>
<p>Name
check boxes for the grade you did it in 9,10,11, or 12.<br>
Next to each year the approx number of hours spent
what did you do
contact person for the activity
contact phone number </p>
<p>Very limited amount of info collected, i.e Math tutor at Title 1 middle school 100 hours, Jr year tutored math at low inclime school every monday after school jr year. I had 9 entries</p>
<p>Activities and leadership </p>
<p>activity 1 name
Years participated again by grade and hours by grade
Leadership office held if any for this and year of leadership
I had 13 activities ranging from Eagle Scout to AP scholar to sea kayaking
to bungee jumping in New Zealand</p>
<p>then</p>
<p>Work Experience 1 entry for every job</p>
<p>Employee position 1 Name
Starting month
Start year
end month
end year
months of work
hrs per week
total amount earned
I work 15 hrs a week during school and f/t in summer as a small engine mechanic</p>
<p>then Self declared academic info</p>
<p>Cum gpa 3.84uw
Cum gpa on 100 pt scale 93.3uw
highest SAT verbal 760
highest sat math 720
High ACT N/A</p>
<p>Then certification, signature and a prayer</p>
<p>hope this helps and makes sense to bed I go. My boss filled my gas can with the wrong oil gas mixture for 2 cycle engines today and I spent two hours fixing an engine only to have it die because he put the wrong gas in it. Glad I don't have to deal with that customer tomorrow.</p>
<p>recyclingbinh06 I would say that if you had not heard by next week you are not in. The deadlines are pretty tight but that is a guess only</p>
<p>thanks steve, anyone know if it's okay to have different people than those indicated on the app fill out the verification sheet? the sheet doesn't specify anyone, just someone who knows your work well...the names i listed in the app were those involved in the program i was in, but i feel there are others who know more about me and what i did</p>