Chances of Carswell Scholarship

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wake Forest University
1

Hello, I know this is a pretty specific request, but I would like to see if there’s any WF experts out there that can help me out with this. I am from Florida, but I love the East Coast area (Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, etc.). Much of my college search is in this area, as my top choices are UVA, George Washington U, UNC, and Wake Forest respectively. I have talked with admissions counselors and whatnot with the others, and I know my chances pretty well. Wake Forest, though, seems to be a little more difficult to get a feel. For this reason, I am asking what my chances will be for the Carswell Scholars program at Wake Forest. The description says that the Scholarship targets students with the top ACT/SAT scores who also pursue their passions at the region, state, and national levels. That is why I feel this scholarship is perfect for me (you’ll see below). I am a rising junior who is getting very involved in the admissions process early, and my credentials are as follows.
GPA: 4.5 currently, will have about a 5.1 at graduation
Class Rank: 1/395 in one of the top high schools in the Northern half of Florida
ACT: 33 composite, 34 superscore (taken it twice), but on latest practice tests I’ve taken I’m making consistent composite 35’s.
SAT: 2100 but I took it probably too early, as I hadn’t gotten the English prep I needed. On latest practice tests, I’m consistently getting in the 2200-2300 range.
Essay: Will be very strong, has always been one of my strongest attributes.
Recommendations: I have made a personal relationship with every teacher/counselor/administrator I’ve had or worked with, not only in the classroom but also having to deal with them often for student government. They will be very strong.
AP: By graduation, I will have taken and passed: World History, Environmental Science, US History, English Literature, Government, Macroeconomics, English Language and Composition, and Psychology.
Ceritifications: Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, Outlook), Autodesk Inventor, and will have much experience in Autocad.
EC’s: Will be Student Body President my senior year (previously served as class secretary).
Will be Mu Alpha Theta President my senior year (currently Secretary)
Will be National Honors Society President my senior year (currently Historian)
Have placed at the regional level in every math competition I’ve been in, and I’m trying to coax our sponsor to take us to state next year.
Member of the Varsity Golf Team
President and Founder of the ACT/SAT Prep Club (monthly meetings to go over tips, strategies, and take practice tests)
President and Founder of the Young Political Activists Club (monthly forum to discuss current events, attending political candidate rallies as a group, protesting at the courthouse, etc.)
Treasurer-Elect at the State level for FASC (Florida Association of Student Councils), so I will be State Treasurer my senior year.
Hosted the FASC state convention at my high school, where I organized all the speakers, entertainers, etc. and facilitated the budget for said conference (will be my senior year).
District Vice President for FASC
PTSA Vice President
Served on different district committees, including many with the school board where I was the only student there.

So there you have it. Anyone who has any idea with how this scholarship works, the help would be very appreciated. Thanks to everyone!

2

The scholarship targets those “who also pursue their passions at the region, state, and national levels.”

What exactly is your passion and how have you been involved with it at the state, or ideally, national level?

3

Thanks for the reply. My passion has been and will always be politics/government. I immersed myself in SGA the moment I stepped on campus by being one of the only freshman officers to go to just about every event. As I said above, I think I will be running unopposed for student body president my senior year. I will also be district VP next year (only six districts in Florida), and I will be the treasurer of the state my senior year also. Not to mention, hosting a 1500+ member convention where I will be in charge of a $50,000 budget is a difficult task that not many would want to assume. And finally, being the founder of the Young Political Activists Club where we make a difference and make our voices heard in the community has to count for something. What do you think?

4

I’m not really the person to ask since I don’t know the Stu Co sub group very well.

My take is that every high school has senior class president, so that isn’t a big distinction (well… not a big distinction when you are talking about a major scholarship), but I would think being heavily involved organizing a 1500 member convention and overseeing a budget of $50,000 would get someone’s attention.

As far as the Young Political Activists Club goes… anyone can start a club. What sort of difference has that club made?

Finally, you have to show a school like Wake how you intend to use your passion to get involved and support a positive environment on campus.

5

Completely get your point on the YPA Club; I mean, we mainly go to polls before voting to hold up signs about a candidate or a certain way to vote. And we go and protest when a egregious decision is made. Now, to the other parts. Now, hosting a convention doesn’t necessarily scream passion for politics, but I spearheaded the campaign to get it at our school (we campaigned to get schools to vote for us) as we were one of only 2 schools that was crazy enough to do it. And yes, every high school does have a student body president, but anyone in the school can run, so it’s a 1250 student pool. More than anything else, though, I think the state treasurer screams passion, as it is a HUGE commitment. Even as treasurer-elect, I’ll be making various trips to Pompano this year to shadow the current treasurers. Starting in February, the commitment level gets insane. With all that being said, there’s only 5 state positions each year and 25 district positions each year, and I’ll be holding positions in both. @cbrand