Chances for RD/Danforth?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>Danforth scholarship I am doubtful of, but any feedback would be great, especially if someone is willing to share his or her experience with the application process, what his/her academic profile was, etc.</p>

<p>Grade:Junior</p>

<p>GPA:
Weighted-4.02
Unweighted:3.93</p>

<p>Class Rank: School doesn't rank, but I assume fairly high. I don't know what information they do give to colleges, if any.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Alexandria, VA</p>

<p>Gender: Male</p>

<p>SAT Super Scores: (May retake since I want scholarship money; necessary for CR+M score to get the 1550+?)
Math-770
Reading-760
Writing-800</p>

<p>SAT II's
Math II - 780
Biology M - 780
Chemistry - 790</p>

<p>AP Courses:
Sophomore Year:
-AP Biology: 5
Junior year: (Probably 4-5 on all tests)
-AP Spanish Language
-AP Chemistry
-AP US History
Senior Year:
-AP Spanish Literature
-AP US Government
-AP Calculus BC
-AP English Language</p>

<p>Rigor of Curriculum
All classes at TJHSST are taught at the honors level and above. We are required to take more math/science courses to graduate and have electives such as DNA Science, Bionanotechnology, and Organic Chemistry as semester courses (these three I am taking)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards:</p>

<p>-Biology Olympiad: Teaching Coordinator Junior Year, Semifinalist Junior Year
-Biology Society: Vice President Junior Year
-Varsity Policy Debate: Freshman/Sophomore Year, debating since middle school, qualified for Nationals both years
---Varsity LD Debate: Junior Year
-NHS Member
-National Spanish Exam Gold Medalist, 97th Percentile</p>

<p>Volunteer/Work Experience:
-Red Cross Blood Drives/Now regular blood donor, helped with "When I'm in Charge" Safety Training Program
-Regularly volunteer at school functions designed to encourage young children to pursue science
-Over summer, will do Reading for the Blind
-Volunteer at the National Institute of Health (NIH) during second semester of Junior Year, Work at NIH over summer for pay in Summer Internship Program (SIP) doing neural stem cell research, continue work through first semester of senior year for graduation requirement.
<strong><em>Due to my work at NIH, I will not have leadership positions in clubs senior year due to the fact that we have club meetings during a period planned into our schedules. In order to do the NIH internship, I need to miss these club meetings. Therefore, I'm only VP of Biology Society still, will continue participating in Debate/Biology Olympiad competitions. My counselor will mention this</em></strong></p>

<p>Recommendations:
Letters from AP Chemistry and English 11 teachers. Both have called me intelligent/hard-working, should be good. Also, I know my counselor well.</p>

<p>Grades:
Straight A's for sophomore and junior year. Freshman year/summer course in chemistry I received a B+/B, respectively. I think this was because I was getting used to actually "thinking" about science versus "memorizing" it, and science at TJ is difficult. My counselor will mention this development, and my AP Chemistry will talk about my performance in chemistry. I have gotten A's in AP Biology, AP Chemistry, physics, and all other science courses. Hopefully these classes will compensate, along with AP scores.</p>

<p>Interested Majors: NBB, Biology</p>

2

<p>Ha...also, I realize NBB isn't a major at WashU (wrong college :-P). I am interested in PNP though.</p>

3

<p>You'll most likely get in.</p>

<p>I wish I could've gone to Thomas Jefferson...could've taken a lot harder classes than just those for the AP's.</p>

4

<p>GuitarRckr:
I would be extremely shocked if you didn't get a scholarship with those stats... I am starting as a freshman at WashU this year (I applied regular decision also) and got an Annika Rodriguez scholarship, plus another scholarship (that I didn't have to apply for) and together they totaled more than full tuition, and my stats are not as good as yours.
I think for the Danforth scholarship, though, you have to be nominated. I may be wrong... but I'm pretty sure your counselor has to request an application for it. If you've been nominated, go for it! It's a tough scholarship to get, but your stats look really good to me. If you haven't been nominated, you should consider applying for scholarships like the Annika Rodriguez one or the John B. Ervin scholarship (scholarships which you can apply for regardless of what school you're applying to within WashU). Actually, you should consider applying for these even if you have been nominated for Danforth... there must be at least like five scholarships you can apply for that you'll have a great shot at with your stats, and money for college is definitely worth the effort you'll put into a couple of extra essays! I'll give you my stats below so you can get an idea of your chances...</p>

<p>As a senior:</p>

<p>GPA:
Weighted-4.68
Unweighted:3.88</p>

<p>Class Rank: School doesn't rank, but somewhere in the top 5 I think. Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart - Miami, FL.</p>

<p>Gender: Female</p>

<p>SAT: (I got two scholarships without breaking 1500 on CR+M - I got 1440.)
Math-750
Reading-690
Writing-800</p>

<p>SAT II's
Math I - 780
Math II - 780
Physics - 640 (not good, I know.)
Spanish - 800</p>

<p>AP Courses:
Sophomore Year:
-AP Spanish Language: 5
Junior year:
-AP English Language: 4</p>

<p>Rigor of Curriculum
All my classes freshman & sophomore year were honors classes with one AP, and all my classes junior & senior year were IB (International Baccalaureate) classes, one which was also an AP class (English).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards:
NHS Member
NEHS Member (English)
NSHS Member (Spanish)
Honor Roll all four years
Several "Excellence Awards" (like "Excellence in Mathematics, Excellence in Spanish, etc. throughout the four years)
National Merit Finalist
National Hispanic Scholar
Varsity swimming (freshman/sophomore years)
Cornell Summer College Introduction to Architecture, summer of 2007 (6 week summer courses at Cornell for credit)
Robotics club member for four years (design and build robots for battle w/ Battlebots)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Work Experience:
Key Club member all four years - lots and lots of hours, various service activities
Volunteering at Miami Children's Hospital (junior/senior years)
Volunteering as a summer camp co-counselor @ Miami Seaquarium</p>

<p>Recommendations:
Really good from what I heard - One from my math teacher, the other from my english teacher.</p>

<p>Grades:
Mostly straight A's, one or two B+'s, one B at the end of senior year (after being admitted).</p>

<p>Interested Majors: Civil engineering, Business. Architecture as a grad student.</p>

<p>So as you can see, you basically surpass me with your extracurriculars, service work, grades, test scores...... so you really should have no problem getting that scholarship! Good luck, and remember it's best to apply for more than one - don't limit yourself because a scholarship sounds like it may not suit you perfectly (for example, I know a lot of non-Hispanic students who got the Annika Rodriguez scholarship, and I know a lot of non-African-American students who got the John B. Ervin scholarship, even when they didn't think they would.)
Good luck; you'll do fine!</p>

5

<p>as a danforth finalist (who had to turn down the scholarship to go elsewhere)</p>

<ol>
<li>Get nominated by your school.</li>
<li>You will get a letter in the mail from Wash U stating that the school nominated you</li>
<li>You will get an application in the mail for the scholarship that is due Jan 15.</li>
<li>Fill out the application (the essays are the most important!) I repreat...the essays are the most important...they are valued the most along with test scores and grades</li>
<li>If you are lucky/deserve it...you will get a phone call around late February from Dean Stahl (herself) who will notify you that you are a semi-finalist.</li>
<li>You will get a round trip flight to St. Louis and back for a Danforth group bonding/interview for the scholarship</li>
<li>Hidden Secret: ALL THE SEMI-FINALISTS BECOME FINALISTS!</li>
<li>Hidden Secret: Should the Finalsts accept...they become danforth scholars</li>
<li>All the scholars are guaranteed 1/2 tuition (unless you act stupid)</li>
<li>Go home and await the money offer</li>
<li>Accept the offer</li>
<li>Go to Wash u!</li>
</ol>

6

<p>oh yeah abt 40 out of 3000 applicants are semifinalists</p>

7

<p>DevilKnight - unless something has changed - all semifinalists do not become finalists. About 30 to 40 are invited to Scholars weekend for the Danforth and an average of 16 - 20 Danforths are awarded each year.</p>

8

<p>Don't even think of retaking a 2330 SAT. That's just not worth your time or energy.</p>

9

<p>st2....i think the danforth thing has changed now....b/c dean stahl told us that we were all scholars even before the interview....the 16 to 20 number is probably the number of people that accepted the scholarship. Thas why the original 40 became 20 because 20 of us declined the scholarship,etc...</p>

10

<p>DevilKnight - Unfortunately not true. I have been involved with the program for a few years and there have not been major changes during that time. About 50 to 60 % of the semifinalists achieve finalist status. All finalists are offered the option of becoming Scholars. Not all finalists get 100% tuition, with some receiving 50% tuition. Every year there are a few people that choose another school instead of WashU, thus turning down the Danforth. But the operative word is a "few". You might want to check your facts before posting "Hidden secrets".</p>

11

<p>st2...first off...stop being so mean...</p>

<p>second off....dean stahl, at her home (she takes us to her home the first night) told us that all the semifinalists were scholars should we choose to accept the offer....and i didn't say anything about everyone getting full tuition! everyone gets at least half tuition..</p>

<p>believe me...i didn't deserve that wonderful opportunity...if so then i was lucky that i got the 1/2 tuition then...and i was one of the few that had to turn down the scholarship b/c of family reasons (mother needed me to be at a closer college due to illness)</p>

<p>I know i am right b/c 27 people accepted this year....i am sure all the 40 were offered at least 1/2 tuition...prove me wrong...i really want to know why i am wrong</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone. Even if there is some conflict over the information, at least I am more informed overall, and the important thing to me is how the early process works, at least for now. </p>

<p>I'll keep my fingers crossed until then :-)</p>

13

<p>Hey everyone, I was notified by my AP Chem teacher that he nominated me for the Danforth Scholarship (which I am ecstatic about :-) ). He said I should be receiving an application/notification of this officially within the next few weeks.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if there is a separate application (or rather an additional one) that I need to fill out for the program? I just want to know if there are more essays. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

14

<p>So what is one's chances for the Moog (Biology) scholarship if you haven't already been involved in research? Do you just write an essay on what kind of research you want to do?</p>

15

<p>I go to school with one of the Danforths. Funny guy.</p>