<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I thought about applying the this scholarship, but it seemed like the chances were practically impossible. Does anyone know of anyone who has received a scholarship and what the chances of acceptance are?</p>
<p>I was thinking about going more for local scholarships because I thought I would have a better chance.</p>
<p>I never thought I had a chance at the Coca Cola Scholarship, but somehow I got it. Statistically speaking, about 75,000 students apply every year for 250 awards which is about a 0.33% selection, but don’t let this deter you. The first round for the application is actually pretty easy to fill out online. After that they narrow the 75,000 applications to 2,100 and if you make it that far, the semifinalist packets become much more worthwhile to fill out. If you don’t make it to the 2,100 semifinalist round, you didn’t lose much, just a few minutes of your time. But if you do, there is so much to gain.</p>
<p>My sister and my brother and I all made Coca Cola Scholar. My other sister only made it to semi-finalist. My siblings were ranked 1st in their class and had tons of leadership and each had over 2,000 hours of community service. Great SAT’s. I am in top 10% of my class/higher SAT than siblings, Boys State, HOBY, Youth Ambassador to Italy and Mexico, and statewide leadership in 2 organizations as well as the usual: Stu Co, NHS, etc. Lots of extra-curricular. All-state in 4 sports. Raised & delivered money and supplies to another country to fund 7 orphans to attend school for 1 year, to support an orphanage of 123 children, and raised money for surgery to help one wheelchair-bound boy learn to walk. Over 1,500 hours of community service. I am not sure what they are looking at but it seems outstanding academics and extracurricular and commitment to community service. The proflies I have seen vary. The first application doesn’t take much time to fill out as there is no essay involved. Go for it! Best weekend of my high school career.</p>
<p>So, when can we apply for this scholarship?</p>
<p>I became a semifinalist and (regretfully) didn’t spend much time on my essays. If you take the time to fill out each part of the application, then you have a high chance of success. If you blow it off in an idiotic fashion as I did, then don’t even bother.</p>
<p>.“…each had over 2,000 hours of community service.” IMO community service is key.</p>
<p>Remember though, even if it is difficult to win, there are winners every year. This year, I knew a semi-finalist.</p>
<p>^^^ info on application period is posted elsewhere on this forum, and on the Coca Cola Scholars site. It is really pretty easy to find.</p>
<p>^As to the focus on community serivce, I don’t think quantity is as important as demostrated leadership and ideally something creative. Our D won and recieved a book describing all the winners. They weren’t all kids with high hours of community service, mostly they showed creative leadership ideas (and outstanding academics). Look at other threads on this forum and you will see posts by many high GPA/lots of CS hour kids saying they didn’t win.</p>
<p>I am questioning how difficult this scholarship would be to achieve…what is the winning combination that stands out?</p>
<p>Is getting semi-finalist based purely on numbers?</p>
<p>Semi-finalist is more than just numbers.</p>
<p>But isn’t it just based on the online application where you just list the clubs you were in? Seems kinda hard to show level of involvement.</p>
<p>I thought you meant grades and test scores. I did not look at the application; my daughter filled it out. Of the two kids I know who applied (the last two years), the one who made it to semi-finalist was very involved in music, but almost nothing else, and had top grades and good scores. She is a really nice kid.</p>
<p>One of my best friends was a Coke national sholar. She had good but not great test scores, good essays, top 5 in her class. She was a national officer of an organization, and had a lot of leadership, including some conferences on a national level ie: girls nation, USSYP, stuff like that.</p>
<p>Our D won the scholarship this year. From what we can tell of the talented people she met in Atlanta, all of them are proven leaders and pretty much all of them have very good GPAs. Compiling thousands of hours of CS isn’t as important as showing how you are a leader. Get that across in the initial submission and then you’ll have essays and references to support all of the other aspects of your application.</p>
<p>Good luck to all. This is a very worthwhile scholarship and our D is still in frequent contact with many of the Coca Cola scholars she met in Atlanta.</p>
<p>So what exactly constitutes a high SAT score? My super score is 2080 but I have over 2,000 community service hours with a list of officer positions and club participation at my school. Can anyone tell me my chances of becoming a finalist? I’m currently a semi-finalist and am working on my essays. Thanks,</p>
<p>They don’t receive your SAT scores.</p>
<p>Then why do they request it on the semi-finalist application?</p>
<p>I don’t see anywhere on the application where they request that. But, I do see a box on the secondary school report where your counselor provides your test scores.</p>
<p>Exactly, that’s where it is.</p>