Do everyone assume that ALL the emails have gone out? We did not receive anything. We are also hoping for an invitation.
I’m assuming that no news is not good news. I know last year, they staggered the emails so they were coming out throughout the week. But honestly, @summerhazed is the only person I’ve seen so far that has been invited, and that seems odd that no one else here has been invited. Usually you get at least a few that have. So that gives me some hope that S18 might get an invite. I would be shocked if he didn’t, but I’m not holding on to much hope at this point.
@moosiechica88 Can you elaborate on what you mean by “I would be shocked if he didn’t”? I feel the same way about my daughter. Not sure if I am way off though. My daughter:
- ranked 1 out of 430 in highly ranked PA high school
- 4.0 unweighted/4.9 weighted
- Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences
- 1540 SAT (800 math/740 CRW)
- 3 dual enrollment classes (Calc 3, ODE, Linear) - highest student in all 3
- AP Calc BC, Chem, Physics 1 & 2, Stat, Econ - 5’s
- 2-sport captain - state qualifier
- technology club president
- vice-president national honor society
Am I crazy to think she could/should b e distinguished?
100 invited out of 27,000 applications. Both of your kids are deserving. My daughter also has great stats and EC. However there are so many high stats kids. Can’t count on any of these top scholarship opportunities or admission to the top schools
I think that they’ll still email kids in the next few weeks. I mean, by the looks of it @elite150 your daughter is a much better applicant than myself yet I received notification already. However, there is so much more to the application than simple stats and extracurriculars. Recommendations and essays play a major role, which I guess definitely helped me get finalist status. She definitely looks deserving, but the admissions committee may think otherwise. The email says that everyone has to register by February 19th, so the last of the emails will probably be sent out a few days before then.
I received an invitation last night around 8:30pm. Super stoked. My stats: 1570 SAT; 4.9 weighted; president of robotics club, on board of technology club and makers club, many robotics and science competitions entered, some won; 11 APs, nine 5s two 4s; Ranked 25 in a class of 500. Reasonably good essays, no optional ones, and probably ok recommendations.
I feel like I probably had a good chance to qualify, but I’m still incredibly glad to have received the invite because you never really know and it feels like this validates a lot of the effort I’ve put in over the past decade.
My D got her invite on Friday, 32 ACT, 4.8 WGPA, no rank, Fashion Design Major. I’m guessing they spread invites out through many different majors, otherwise it would be all the super high scoring/gpa admits of engineering or science/math folks. Is it a test? Interviews? Hard to tell from the invite what happens. We would have to fly in, and not sure if it is all worth it.
For future applicants–Perfect standardized test score, all As, 8 APs, 1st in the class=no invitation. The high school is a non-traditional school where it’s hard to quantify leadership based on the usual metrics of captain, president, etc.
We thought our son would might have received an invitation for Distinguished Scholars too. He’s taken 9 AP classes, 1530 SAT, lots of extra curricular - Eagle Scout, president of two clubs, community service, plays in the band, non-ranking high school but his GPA is very high. Unfortunately, we have not received an invitation. This may or may not mean UDelaware is out of contention. I feel like the competition is fierce and I’m thankful he has other choices. I wish everyone the best. This isn’t an easy process and it doesn’t always seem clear how some are chosen and others are not.
Congrats @Sprout42 and @mwmomtwins!!! I hope to see you at the competition weekend.
I just received my invitation via email tonight! So I guess if you haven’t received one yet there still could be hope.
Is it known if there is a minimum award given to all who attend the weekend?
Congratulations! My son received an invitation tonight as well. We tried to register but received a message that access was denied.
I think the minimum is $22k but I’d check their website @18mddog. Also, can people who received a letter please share their stats I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
My child received an invite last night as well. She is beyond thrilled as this is one of her top choices. @ririgirl–also had the access denied error. She’s going to try again today and then call if there is still an issue.
D received invite email last night and is very excited. Stats: 3.93 UWGP, 4.47 WGPA; ACT 34; #2 of 193; lots of AP, EC, summer internships, christian service. Coming from Dallas - which airport is better to fly into?
@st3313 Philly is the way to go.
BWI is another option.
Congrats to all those who were invited! I’m kind of sad that S18 did not get an invite - 4.0UW, 35 ACT, 800s on all SAT subject tests, HUGE leadership extracurriculars and a lot of service hours, three sport athlete (recruited), URM, US Presidential Scholar candidate, NMF, etc, etc, etc. His essays and LOR were amazing. I honestly have no idea what their criteria are for selection, but it must be more holistic than simply academic. Oh well, this is too bad as UD was one of his top choices and now it’s just not as affordable as other options. I just tell myself that someone else needs it more 
@moosiechica88 Your S18 sounds amazing. I think it is hit or miss with all of the schools and their selection criteria. My D has been nominated at some schools and then NOTHING (not even a token amount) at other schools.
@st33l3 Thanks! Yes, I’ve found that to be true as well. Not just in our experience but also with S18’s friends. He has a friend who is a NMF being pursued by many NM participating colleges, and yet one non-selective college did not select her for their honors college! I couldn’t believe that, especially since I know kids who got into that honor college who have much lower stats than she. It’s just become so arbitrary, it would seem. And yet, to those making the decisions, it must make sense somehow. I think it’s becoming obvious that the holistic method is being used more and more across the board.