Hi all! I’m applying to school of media and public affairs and wanna know if i can get in with a scholarship (at least some form of presidential scholarships maybe)
GPA: (weighted only) 3.9-4.0, most likely 4.0 after this first semester
SAT/ACT: test optional yayyyy
SAT II:
may not even send, but
US history: 730
Lit: 700
Bio: 800
only have taken a few regular courses and had mostly honors/AP all four years
AP:
Junior year: APUSH, Psych, Lang, Comp Sci (all 5’s and 4 on lang)
Senior year: Lit, Gov, Human geo, statistics, enviro sci
EC’s: loads, taekwondo black belt w/ teacher position and instructor of kids w/ special needs. part of a choir that is outside of school sings several big places. lots of school clubs, leadership positions in 1-2 of them plus i’m founding my own club, chapter of alex’s lemonade stand.
Awards: ap scholar w distinction, scholastic art&writing, rutgers summer scholars merit, penn state summer program merit, oxbridge academic achievement, my schools community service award, model un awards
The presidential scholarship is the only scholarship that everybody is qualified to receive. The only other ones are for special people (there’s one for D.C. high schoolers, one for jewish students, RA’s, major specific awards, etc). During the process, if you’re selected for admission, you’re automatically sent to a separate committee that decides if you’ll get the presidential scholarship, and what your $$$ will be. The scholarship gives anywhere from 5k - 30k annually.
Your GPA is great, and your EC’s look pretty good too. Based on what I’ve seen, I’d say you’re likely admitted. But when it comes to obtaining a presidential scholarship, and especially a large one, there are a couple of things working against you;
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GWU likes to give scholarship to people who have demonstrated commitment and experience in their intended field of study. You want to apply to SMPA. Have you been a part of the school newspaper? Have you ever done any sort of official writings for competitions or publications? Have you held any communication roles on clubs? The only possible thing that I see on your EC list is “scholastic art&writing”, which is unhelpfully vague. If you’ve done anything in the world of writing, journalism, or communications, emphasize it on your application, and maybe do a thing or two more you’re senior year here.
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Both programs in the SMPA (journalism and political communication) are called “limited enrollment” majors. In a nutshell, a “limited enrollment” major means that the program has unique classes that need to be taken in order to graduate with that degree. In order to keep these relatively obscure classes available to those pursuing limited enrollment majors, the GWU admins artificially cap off the number of students allowed to declare a limited enrollment major. So if you apply to study in a SMPA program, it automatically is more competitive than the rest of GW’s programs (except for the Elliott School, which is even worse).
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While GW is test optional, it traditionally has been quite harder to obtain a presidential scholarship without submitting an ACT/SAT score. I’d recommend you really try to get that score as high as possible and submit it. If you can get a 1400 SAT or 30 ACT, you’re in a good spot.
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While there’s nothing you can do to change this point, it’s something to be aware of. Part of the decision to give scholarship is based on if you’re a minority, from states that aren’t typical, and sometimes if you’re male (GW has an unequal m/f ratio). If you’re white, female, and from New Jersey, you’re going to have a harder time compared to a black male from Wyoming.
Keep up your GPA, do your best to mitigate those first three concerns, and you’ll be in good shape. I’m a current GW student, so feel free to utilize me as a resource throughout this process.
Good luck!
Thank you so much @gdubya! I can be a little more specific about my experience in my intended field. i am part of the school newspaper and in addition i’m writing for the school’s political review club this year. i have had two journalism/communications related internships and probably have one more this year. i’m also working on publishing an editorial in my towns local newspaper and i hope to have more as well.
as far as test scores go, mine aren’t the best- my highest SAT score is a 1320. so i’m kinda hoping for the test optional thing plus i went to a presentation when i visited a month ago and they said they would rather just see my gpa and ec’s and essay rather than just focus on scores
and as for my background factoring into my scholarship, i’m a female of Indian origin from the east coast. idk how that will hurt/help lol
thanks again! i could really use you as a resource!! 
@apushlover456 (I thought I was the only one who liked that class 
)
No problem! I’m happy to help.
- Those experiences are great! Much better geared toward your major than your original post seemed to imply. Make sure to emphasize those on your GW application and you'll be in great shape.
- I've worked the desk and have gotten coffee in the admissions office previously. So I don't know all of their inner workings, but I've picked up on several things... One of which is that your SAT score won't matter too much-- sent or not-- in terms of gaining admission. Getting a scholarship though is a different story. ECs and GPA are definitely more important, but I've noticed a SAT score can help when deciding the on the scholarship. It's not impossible to get one without submitting though, so don't be discouraged.
- Being a female and being from the east coast aren't going to do you any favors, but being indian could! But this isn't something you can't change, so don't waste time worrying about that.
Let me know if you have any other questions!!!