Anyone apply ED and get a Johnson Scholarship? Admission Office says ED and RD applications are considered equally. But I’m skeptical and would feel better if I heard feedback from students or their parents.
D was a Johnson, as were several of her friends. None applied ED; they wanted to be able to compare awards so applied to a number of schools where they were competitive for merit. In fact, D first met a couple of them at Sewanee’s merit weekend a few weeks before the Johnson competition.
Thank you for your response. I’ve read all of the threads about the Johnson, and it sounds like everyone did RD, which makes perfect sense to me. However, D is pushing us to allow her to apply ED and we are afraid it will hurt her chances for the Johnson.
I’m not convinced an ED app hurts Johnson chances per se for a very strong candidate or a candidate with a hook, but we have seen that W&L increasingly is using the Johnson to draw applicants whose stats make them competitive for higher-ranked schools. As a W&L upperclassman, D was involved in panel interviews of candidates during the competition and said she did not think she would have made the cut in later years! As the scholarship has become better-known, the number of applicants for it has also increased dramatically since she applied, resulting in stiffer competition. If your D is a realistic Johnson candidate, she won’t need the ED admission bump. I appreciate her desire to be done with the process and have a decision by December, but I also understand your concern.
@yauponredux Thanks for all of your insight. What would potentially be a hook for the Johnson?
I think of a hook as a talent or interest meeting a need the school has, whether playing a sport, interest in a major that is undersubscribed, experience and passion in an extracurricular activity, etc. I sometimes also see that term used to refer to things like URM status, geographic diversity, alum connections, etc. Important to note that the Johnson is not solely about academics; it is also about leadership and service. Look at the profiles of past Johnson scholars on the W&L website to get a sense of some of the kids who have been successful applicants in the past: https://www.wlu.edu/johnson-program/the-johnson-scholarship/annual-reports