Chance me for Johnson Scholarship?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington & Lee University
1

Rising senior from Connecticut looking at high level schools away from New England

SAT: 1500 (superscored)
GPA: 3.88 unweighted, 4.85 weighted (Weighted as a 5.0 for A in Honors or AP Class)
Rank: #2 in the class at the beginning of sophomore year, will remain in top 5
ACT: 33 (superscored), Best ACT: 32, English 34, Reading 34, Science 31, Math 30
Ethnicity: White
Sex: Male

School:
Public School- High rigor for public school, many students have been accepted into Ivies over the past 5

Courses:
8th Grade- Honors High School Algebra
Freshman Year: Geo H, Spanish II H, Latin II H, Global Studies Level 1 (step before Honors), English 9 H, PE/ Health, Gen Science H
Sophomore Year: Algebra II H, AP Euro History, English 10 H, Latin III H, Spanish III H, Bio H, PE/Health
Junior Year: AP Language/Composition, AP Statistics, Spanish IV H, AP US History, Honors Pre-Calc, Honors Chem (only AP class available in schedule I didn’t take)
Upcoming Senior Year: AP Calc BC, AP Physics I, Early College Credit Spanish V, AP Government, World Lit H, 20th Century Fascism and Communism, Personal Finance

Extra-curriculars:

Eagle Scout for Boy Scouts of America
Senior Patrol Leader of my Boy Scout Troop
Varsity Hockey Team Captain- been playing on the team since sophomore year
Volunteer for Hockey Learn to Play program- Using my love for hockey, I help out with clinics teaching young athletes how to skate and play the game of hockey
High School Junior Varsity Baseball- Freshman and Sophomore Year
Member of competitive Travel Baseball team- Junior Year
AHM Youth Director- I serve as the representative of the youth community for local organization that provides extensive programs for drug prevention, mental health, and counseling.
Connecticut Governors’ Scholarship- Semi-finalist (chosen as ‘Top Scholar for my class’)
Chosen for and participated in School Exchange Program to Spain (incredible experience in my junior year that my essay will be based on)
Tutor for English and other humanities
Red Cross Certified Lifeguard (Trained in CPR and work in the summers)
Instructor of the Handicapped Swimming Instructor- Using my certification as a lifeguard, I help mentally and physically disabled individuals learn how to swim and exercise one day a week during the school year.
Member of Future Problem Solvers since Freshman Year
-State Competition Participants for all years of involvement
-(Important)- Using FPS, we created a CmPS (Community Problem Solvers) project, in which I assisted in raising awareness about the issue of domestic violence within our school and community and helped run multiple donation drives to receive clothes and materials for local domestic violence shelters. We won the state competition and our group attended he International Competition in Wisconsin.
Member of Mock Trial in Freshman Year
Member of School’s Investment Club
Member of National Honors Society
Representative of Class of 2018 for School Referendum on New Alternative Grading System

Awards:

Semi-Finalist for Governors’ Scholar Award (Top Scholar for School)
First Place for State FPS Competition for work on Domestic Violence Initiative Project

Recommendation Letters and Essays:

I have lined up two very good recommendation letters from two teachers that will be able to advocate for me and can both write well.
I have also forged a good relationship with my guidance counselor, so I will not have to worry about a generic letter from her that may hurt me.
I am confident in my essay, as I can draw experiences from my exchange trip and show my personality.

Potential Major or Path in College:
I am hoping to major in political science and minor in economics on a path towards graduate law school.

Washington and Lee is one of my favorite schools that I have looked at and the Johnson Scholarship is an amazing opportunity. I am hoping my leadership experience and application is strong enough to be in consideration for this great honor. It would be great if you could chance me for W&L itself and the Johnson Scholarship. Thank you!

2

@lukes747, I ran across this when looking for another thread but I was familiar with the Johnson Scholarship so it caught my eye. I am a parent (mom) with a son your age (also rising HS senior). We live in Roanoke, VA near W&L and have had several friends attend W&L. Also, one of my son’s school friends was name a Johnson Scholar last year. So I am just sharing with you what I know. First if all, it’s a great school in a beautiful part of the country. Four great seasons and no harsh winters so you’ll love that part. As far as your chances with the scholarship, you look like a very strong candidate. My daughter just finished college on a full scholarship (nationally competitive) and my son is hoping to do the same. (He is looking at UVA and several others but not W&L.) So we have been down the road of ‘what does it take’ for some of these top, top awards and who makes the cut, what are they looking for etc… and bottom line, you really do seem extremely well rounded! In fact I can’t think of what they’d be looking for that you don’t have. I certainly think you would be a serious contender for the Johnson. I would encourage you to interview, since W&L offers those, and hopefully you can have a campus visit. I can’t remember if they do any online interviews (if you can’t make it in person) or if they arrange for a local alumni to interview you (some schools do that). But you are really strong and I can tell you would make a strong impression in-person so make that interview work for you in any way you can. Good luck and congratulations on a stellar resume! I know many years of hard work went into that!

3

The Johnson has become much more competitive since my D was a recipient, but you look like the kind of student who would contribute much at W&L, and I would not be at all surprised if you were to receive an invitation to the scholarship weekend in the spring.

Other schools with some similarities to W&L where you would be a strong candidate for merit money include Sewanee, Centre, and Rhodes - may be worth a look if you haven’t already considered them.

4

Since no one has answered, I’ll go ahead. My daughter will be a freshman and she got the Johnson. She too attended a rigorous high school and her stats were excellent (she got into Stanford, Dartmouth, and UVA as well). Your academics and ECs look good. If you get to the finalist stage (or whatever the stage is where you go to Lexington), the interviews are important. She had an interview with two professors. Her other “interview” was interesting: she was in a group with other candidates and they were given a problem. The interviewers watched how they interacted. If you get to Lexington, your personality and communication skills are key. Also, I thought my daughter’s Johnson essay was excellent. It was a little quirky, but her interviewers wanted to talk all about it. So, try and make your essay unpredictable, but at the same time, let your personality shine through. I believe the reason she got into Stanford and Dartmouth as well is b/c she wrote some really good essays–they were relaxed (if that makes sense).

5

Your stats and EC’s are good, there is a good chance that you’d be invited for finalists weekend. With that said, interview skills are not something that tends to show up on an application, so it is hard to judge you based on that.

W&L wants students who are truly passionate about what they do. If you have that, make sure it shows in interviews. If not, it’ll be very difficult to have a chance based on statistics alone.