<p>We were away on vacation when the DHS letters came out. I knew that my D did not win one because I had my neighbor checking for the "envelope" and she emailed us that nothing came via UPS or FEDEX. However I just got home to a VERY nice surprise - my D was named an Honorable Mention Deans Scholar in the amount of $28,000! I was not aware that there was any such award but was THRILLED to receive the very nice letter with this info. She had previously had the $22,000 scholarship. Congratulations to all DHS winners! Did anyone else get an Honorable Mention Dean's Scholar award?</p>
<p>Never heard of this before! They are getting creative I guess with scholarship $$</p>
<p>I got a PM about a week ago from someone that got this also. I had never heard of it either, so yes, must be a new wrinkle.</p>
<p>Super congrats, mumof2. An extra $24K for 4 years nothing to sneeze at.</p>
<p>What were your D’s grades, act, rank and such like if you dont mind me asking?</p>
<p>Congratulations. I too, would appreciate any information about your daughter’s stats.</p>
<p>Hi our HS is VERY competitive and one of the top public schools in the state (MA).
They do not give an exact rank. Her class size is 275. She was NOT in the top 10% but was in the top 15%
Weighted GPA was 5.4 out of scale of 6.0
SAT: 750 CR 680 M 780 WR ACT 31 composite
Lots of EC’s, leadership, community service</p>
<p>And she is VERY excited to attend Tulane!</p>
<p>She really got that CR score up in the retest, didn’t she mumof2! I seem to recall that was a weakness initially, like a 600? But I think I also remember you saying she was pretty ill that time as well. I have to say without that huge improvement in the CR score, I don’t think you are looking at this merit award. Thank goodness she took it again! Weird to think that a $100 test (or whatever they charge these days) turned out to be worth something like $24,000 to you!</p>
<p>Again, many congrats to her and your family. Always exciting to have another future alum coming.</p>
<p>This whole scholarship thing gets more and more confusing to me. My daughter had a 33 act, 2110 SAT(which more and more Im thinking she should not have sent) top 5 percent of her class(school is ranked in US News and Newsweek top public in country,) 4.8 GPA on a scale of 4,unweighted 3.98. She has to commute to school (car to train and back again= a very long day) Her electives are actually not really electives but required art classes and she managed to take like 14 or 15 ap classes(several on line during the school year and summer) earning ap scholar with distinction. Extracurriculars and volenteering were also good. Her dhs project was in my opinion exceptional…but no extra $ for us. I congratulate the students who got the dhs and the extra scholarship money and Im sure they had something my daughter didnt. I just wish I knew what it was. I like things neat and tidy in my mind. This is a tangle.</p>
<p>My son had 34 ACT, 2180 SAT, lots of AP classes and EC. DHS project was good…but nothing for us either. Presidential was not enough to offset the free ride at public universities as much as he loved Tulane.</p>
<p>Hi, Fallenchemist, yes, you have a great memory! She went from a 590 in CR to a 750! She started with a $20K scholarship to $22K (after she submitted the new SAT’s) and fianlly to $28K for the DHS honorable mention. That extra try at the SAT was worth $32,000!</p>
<p>I am so happy that I pushed her to take it again as she fought me on that one. Her one condition was that I had to promise not to say “I told you so” if she improved a lot.</p>
<p>Malami, I am sorry that there was no extra $ for you, it does seem that your D’s stats were great. Which scholarship did she receive if you don’t mind my asking?</p>
<p>mumof2 - Oh that’s right, I forgot about going from the $20K to the $22K, so you are right, $32K total value in that retake. Wow. So the big question is, did you say “ITYS” anyway?</p>
<p>malaml and proudmsmom - I wish I had some magic explanation as to how they decide what they decide, but I don’t. I know you weren’t asking for that, I just wish I had it anyway. Like you, I find it more settling, if not exactly any easier, when there are logical reasons. But as we all know, it isn’t a math equation for the DHS, there are judgment factors involved, subjectivity. It makes it more maddening in a way until you realize that it just is out of your (or your child’s) control.</p>
<p>FYI proudmsmom, If she had not gotten the DHS (there was no Honorable Mention then), we also would have been faced with choosing the full ride at a “lesser” school vs. the Tulane $24K (which was the Presidential her year). For families with tight budgets it is an inevitable issue.</p>
<p>I always wondered things like “What if the person who is reading this just had a fight with their spouse” or “What if they just happen to have a phobia about X”? My D didn’t even make it to the finals of the WUSTL scholarship she applied for, and she was 2330/3.9 (UW). I know some people that had lesser stats that got that one. You drive yourself nuts trying to make sense of it. I prefer the Hand of Fate explanation. Makes it much easier.</p>
<p>mumof2, she got the Presidential. Initially, we thought the DHS was a stretch but the more I looked into it the more I thought it was a good possibility. We were dissapointed of course and felt a bit silly for working so hard on the project especially when some of the winners in the past had said they didnt do anything spectacular. Oh well. In all probability she will probably not be able to attend for the same reason as proudmom. Our flagship public is too good to justify the difference in cost. It may not be as good of a fit, but even with the Presidential the estimated cost for Tulane at 58,000 as opposed to free, is too big. She also applied to several other schools, including some Ivys. That would be more do-able because they give their financial aid in grants instead of loans. Our expected family contribution is pretty big but we could make it possible. Of course the Ivy admission process is even more tangled in my brain. The whole thing seems like a crap shoot.</p>