<p>I am a Senior in Chicago an am interested in Kentucky. I heard about the presidential and singlertary scholarships and wanted some opinions as to whether or not I stand a chance at either.</p>
<p>ACT: 32 with 10 writing
GPA: 3.91 UW, 4.47 W
AP Tests and Scores: Human Geo-4, World History-5, Language-4, US History-4
Current Classes: AP Lit, AP Economics, AP American Government, AP Calculus, Sociology of the Service Learning and am teaching myself AP Comparative Government
Past Classes: With the exception of my first year in Spanish and my Sociology class this year, all of my classes have been honors or AP
Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, Illinois State Scholar, A Honor Roll, All-Academic Softball Team and Prairie State Achievement award in Math, Science, and Reading</p>
<p>Extra-curriculars-
-Two Jobs
-Vice President-NHS
-Historian-Student Council
-Project Coordinator-Sociology of Services
-Softball for 6 years
-Co-Captain of Volleyball Freshman year (before I had surgery)
-principal's Advisory Council
-Leadership Council
-Economics and Geography Tutor
-Teaching Assistant for Social Sciences</p>
<p>Volunteer Work
-over 400 hours with
--vacation Bible School
--Second City Adoption Agency
--Byrd Elementary School Learning Nights
--Various Sociology Projects including
----Head Coordinator for Saint Baldricks
----Founder of Special Needs Beauty pageant</p>
<p>Essays: Pretty good quality
recommendations: Most Likely Excellent</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>From what I have heard, and I am not sure of how accurate this information is, many people who were awarded the Singletary last year were likely to have a 34 ACT and be a National Merit Finalist. I have not heard anything about the stats for the Presidential. This year they do have some nice automatic scholarships, which should bring your cost of attendance down to the cost of many IL schools, even if by chance you do not receive a competitive scholarship. You sound like a very well rounded and capable student. Hopefully the people deciding on scholarships will see what an asset you would be to the university. Do you attend a Magnet school?</p>
<p>My son had a 34 ACT but was not National Merit and he got the full tuition OOS scholarship (I think that’s the Presidential). He did not get the Singletary though. There is an interview for the Singletary and Presidential. It is hard to say for sure but don’t count yourself out especially for the Presidential. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>It does thank you! I got a call for an interview but I highly doubt I will get the singletary so I am hoping for presidential. My question, however, is that will that cover oos tuition? The website says no but in state is 10,000 which I already have taken off from my automatic scholarship.</p>
<p>@lavenderjewel, How did your interview go? When did you apply to Kentucky? I was hoping my daughter would get a call for an interview, but nothing so far. She applied in mid December. Your stats look good, so I think you have a good chance at the competitive scholarships. Good luck!</p>
<p>@ILfather … We are in-state. DS applied to UK mid-December. His acceptance letter/package came on January 10. He hasn’t heard anything else from admissions, but has 2 friends who interviewed for Singletary. Of those two, one was a Kentucky Governor’s Scholar, 30+ ACT score, balanced EC/volunteer work, and takes as rigorous a schedule as possible at our HS (not sure of her GPA, but I’m almost positive it is not 4.0). She is NOT a National Merit Semi-finalist. The other attends a big, well known HS in Lexington, solid student, but not in an off the charts way. </p>
<p>DS is hoping for a call for interview, but I think it will go either way for him. 32 ACT, 3.8 GPA, strong coursework, and solid EC/volunteering. </p>
<p>Thanks, @ceciliaky! Congratulations to your DS – sounds like a very strong candidate for the Singletary, so I hope he gets a call. Since my daughter is a National Merit Semifinalist (likely to be finalist), she is likely eligible for the Patterson scholarship, which is a really generous scholarship. I was hoping for a chance for her to compete for a Singletary scholarship, not trying to be greedy. </p>
<p>Whether she is offered a Singletary scholarship is not as important since the Patterson scholarship is very likely. I think it’s extremely fair of UK to offer both scholarships, and I really like that they seek out non-NMF applicants for the Singletary scholarship. Good luck to your DS and his friends.</p>
<p>@lavenderjewel, you sound like a very strong candidate for a merit scholarship at UK, including the Singletary. We know two people who interviewed for competitive merit scholarships at UK this year and both were told that once a candidate has met the minimum requirements (31 ACT, 3.5 unweighted GPA), it is a toss up from there. Essays and recommendations are important, but the interview and what the student can bring to the campus is even more important. Perfect scores on entrance exams, NM finalists and semi-finalists, Governors Scholars, Valedictorians (and other highest honors) are certainly a plus, but not a necessity. Good luck to everyone hoping for merit aid :)! </p>
<p>When we went to Collegian Day in November, Dr. Capilouto announced that last year they had over 1000 students qualify for Singletary & interviewed over 300. (I think I have that right. LOL) In years past, they had more applicants than anticipated. </p>
<p>I’m crossing my fingers that it’s taking time to go through all the mid-December through mid-January applications … the offices were closed for the holidays, then closed again for snow. We’ll find out soon enough. 
</p>
<p>Thanks for the information, @ceciliaky. That rings true with the [scholarship</a> FAQ](<a href=“http://www.uky.edu/financialaid/academic-scholarships-faq]scholarship”>Academic Scholarship FAQ | UK Student Financial Aid and Scholarships) that UK interviewed over 300 candidates for the Singletary Scholarship. Makes me feel better about my daughter not getting an interview if the potential pool was over a thousand. So, I’m choosing to believe your memory is correct! 
Here’s hoping your DS gets a call today…</p>
<p>It makes me feel better too. My S is OOS and applied December 14. He has a 34 ACT, valedictorian, lots of EC’s and he has not been called. I was a little surprised but if over 1000 qualified last year for 300 interviews, then I can understand. </p>
<p>Cheers, @neonpinklime! I hope your son has his pick of schools with ample scholarship monies.</p>
<p>You too ILfather, for you and your D I mean, we all need the money!</p>