<p>Over the summer I was selected to go to a fully paid for retreat at a university. It was fun, but you could tell it was a pre-sell you kind of a vacation. Although, it wasn't a lock you in the dorms all weekend and take a trip around campus. It was fairly extravagant (at least in my opinion) and we did have a lot of inspiring lectures. Only about 60 HS Juniors got selected to go. Only certain Juniors were selected, so I'm suspecting I might have been chosen for academic relations</p>
<p>So today I got a call to go to a similar deal at the same college. This time, instead, it's a High School Leadership Conference for Juniors. It looks alright and somewhat fun, but it costs $85 (which I'm fine with). It really surprised me because it is next month!</p>
<p>Anyway, other than it being pre-sell you into going here trip, does this college like me attending? Does that mean that they are interested in me and <em>possibly</em> looking into giving me scholarships? (They have a couple leadership scholarships) Is this conference even worth going?!?</p>
<p>Be aware that they might have invited 200+ HS juniors and only around 60 showed up.
I have received so many “leadership conferences/invitationals/retreats” from various universities, some I’ve never heard of and I find quite sketchy.</p>
<p>You never know, they might just be in it for the money. I don’t want to discourage you from attending because of my own experiences, but the least you can do is do some research and find out if the trip is directly affiliated to the university. If it’s held by another organization, using the university as their venue, be wary.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Just curious, do you have some other “hook” for the college? Are you a minority?</p>
<p>If you are interested in applying to that college and it is really offered by the college, I would go. It demonstrates additional interest on your part, which can be helpful in admissions and scholarship money.</p>
<p>^Yup! I’m part Hispanic. On my PSAT I put down that I am Hispanic and listed this college as one of my choices, so they might have gotten a hold of that information. Although, the first retreat I went to with them, there were a few Hispanics and one Asian but the rest were Caucasians. </p>
<p>A lot of my family goes to or has gone to this university, so I’ve always been interested. It wasn’t until last year that I found they have a major that I really want to take. Pure luck!</p>
<p>I’m going to guess that at this stage they are not going to be thinking about specific scholarships. But as I said above, you can improve your admissions chances by showing interest, so I would go to this session you are invited to. It can also help with the “Why <name of=”" college=“”>? essay if you have to do one!</name></p>
<p>You should also look at the admissions and financial aid section of the college website and see what they say about scholarships. They often list the criteria for their scholarships, and that is useful to know as you are applying.</p>