<p>Hey everyone!
I am going to apply to W&L come this fall (ooh...applications...scary thought ;)) and was wondering how my chances seem to fall if I apply RD Anyway, here are my stats:
RACE: Caucasian</p>
<p>GENDER: Female</p>
<p>GPA: 4.3 Un-Weighted / 4.6 Weighted</p>
<p>RANK: Top 10% (No ranks, unfortunately)</p>
<p>SAT: 1380/1600; 2090/2400
Verbal 730
Math 650
Writing 710</p>
<p>ACT: 29
English 31
Reading 35
Math 27
Science 24 (bleh)</p>
<p>SAT II: Taking Literature and US History in October</p>
<p>Significant ECs:
Literary Magazine
Head Poetry Editor-10, Editor in Chief-11
National Forensic League (NFL)<br>
Placed 5th for Best Speaker in Committee;Academic Varsity letter in debate
Volunteer at school library (50 hours/semester) 10
Volunteer with the Mayor for various community service projects
Volunteer on political campaign
National Honor Society 11
National French Honor Society 10, 11
Quill and Scroll Honor Society 11
National Beta Club 10, 11</p>
<p>As far as grades, I have taken 2 AP classes this last year and hope to take 4 this coming year. Honors classes have been consistent throughout.
I hope to major in English, which, unfortunately, seems to be a fairly common major among applicants. :P But I love it!</p>
<p>I normally don't comment on chances threads but you're looking pretty good assuming you continue your ECs into senior year and do well on those SAT II's. You might consider applying for the honors scholarship, though your test scores are on the low side for that.</p>
<p>Honors Scholarship competition is stiff. If you retake the SAT and get above 1450, then it might be worth your while to apply for it. That being said, you are definitely on the right track to being admitted. Keep it up!</p>
<p>Don't even write the essay for the honor scholarship if you don't have "need" I really believe that is for kids who need the money. My daughter tried and didn't get it and she had a 790cr 750m 700w 800eng lit, 770 mth2, 780 fr. She also had a 35 on the act. She had everything else to go with the scores too. Good luck with senior year!</p>
<p>mylifeisgood,
I don't think that is necessarily true. I was fortunate enough to receive a GW Scholarship and had no demonstrated financial "need" (although I certainly needed the scholarship to attend; my mother earns about 100k a year...W&L costs an estimated 47k/year). I didn't even fill out the FAFSA or CSS Profile. W&L had no way of knowing my financial situation and that I needed a scholarship to attend (I did briefly mention finances in my CommonApp essay when I was discussing my work experience). I think the stats (SAT of maybe 2200+, excellent GPA) get you in the door, but the interviews and scholarship essay are the criteria upon which an individual scholarship award is based.</p>
<p>The admissions office decides who gets invited for the scholarship competition. The financial aid office is the one that sees your need. Soon, they won't even be in the same building. No offense to you mylifeisgood, but I would recommend prospective students ignore your advice, it may cost them quite a bit of money.</p>
<p>mylifeisgood,
There is no doubt in my mind that your daughter is a highly gifted individual. As I don't know her personally, I can not tell you why she did not receive a scholarship (for I had nearly identical stats and received one). Perhaps her scholarship essay was weak and/or the topic was not what they were looking for. I'm convinced that the essay itself is the most important factor (except for the interviews) once one has been chosen as a finalist. She will do well at W&L regardless, and she seems to be a great addition to any college.</p>
<p>Dima is right. S received scholarship without fitting any of the above profiles. They truly look at the individual and his/her application. The "numbers" vary greatly from recipient to recipient. Be yourself and give it a shot if you are willing to put in the effort and heart. What's the worst they can say -- no? That's the same answer you'll have if you don't try. If they say yes, then you could be "livin' the dream" along with my S.</p>
Well, certain numbers do. Honors Scholars come from all walks of life and are definitely a much more diverse group than W&L students in general in all but one way. They are all ridiculously smart. You're not going to see any of them with scores around 1400 or below (old scale) on the SAT, and perfect or close to perfect scores are not uncommon - I think this past year the average SAT score of Honors Scholars finalists was around 1520 - a very high standard.</p>
<p>My child got the scholarship and it was not need based. We never filled out a FAFSA or any other financial information. It is a merit based award and I would say pretty tough to get.</p>
<p>Dima is right again about SATs needing to be >1400 for GWHS. I just meant to say that, after qualifying GPAs and scores, there is individualized consideration so that awards do not necessarily go to just the candidates with perfect/near perfect scores. And this individualized, in-person evaluation is one reason it is tough to get.</p>
<p>Exactly, Esquette. As someone who recently went through this process and came out on the winning end, I can say that Dima, Esquette, and phrunk are correct.</p>
<p>Well I did forget to mention that she was EDI which we were told would not decrease her chances. We were very suprised that she didn't even get called to interview for the scholarship. Her essays were great. They knew she had no need. I can only go by her experience and say don't go EDI and and hope to get scholarship money unless you have need. Sorry if I mislead anyone when I left out the EDI part.</p>
<p>I'm running away now! I wasn't trying to be icky. I was trying to make the situation more clear by pointing out that she had gone EDI and that we've learned that that was a mistake if we really wanted to have a shot at scholarship money. Look back at Dima's old posts. He points out that kids are at a disadvantage if they have no need and go EDI. That the scholarship money is "used " to get kids to pick W&L instead of some other school. I know that Dima is not the person that hands out the money but he does have great info and is highly respected on this board.</p>
<p>I was admitted EDI and also applied for the GWHS and another scholarship through w&l that i felt i was highly qualified for and didn't even make it to the interview stage, which was very disappointing....the number of ED kids that make it to an interview stage or getting a scholarship is not very high. while (in general, not always (pun not intended)) the strongest students might not apply ED because they know they can get in RD, and all those other reasons that a RD candidate (again in general) would be more qualified for a scholarship, the fact still remains that the number of ED kids getting scholarships is not much higher than 0. if you think you have a good shot at getting a scholarship, i highly recommend applying RD.</p>
<p>first --a school is a business entity. always keep that in mind. the awarding of scholarships is not necessarily a charitable event.</p>
<p>if some kid applies ED he/she is committed to attend. why would you use a scholarship in this situation?
if the school has a limited number of scholarships and is in competition with the ivys or other top 20s, why not save your ammo to land this applicant?</p>
<p>if you apply RD the admit rate is close to 30%. if you apply ED the admit rate is higher.
this is also a school that has a definite profile that they like to admit. they also appreciate an applicant who applies ED.
there's a lot to weigh--especially if you want that GW scholarship.
nonetheless, the financial aid need granted is generous/</p>