<p>My d was similarly disappointed and is feeling about the same way - why the whole semi-finalist deal? Hope Interesteddad won't mind if I post something he wrote on the old forum that makes a lot of sense:</p>
<p>"We felt that she had little or no chance of getting real money out of the Emory Scholars program, but there were admissions reasons to pursue it above and beyond the potential merit-aid -- specifically to communicate serious early interest in Emory without submitting an Early Decision application. They claim that the Scholar's process is completely independent of the admissions process, but I don't believe that for a New York minute. The whole point of Merit Aid programs is admissions and yield related.</p>
<p>Even if they don't throw money at you, Emory presumably uses the Scholars program to increase their yield of strong applicants (I would!). I feel that they might well have strung my daughter along as a "semi-finalist" to schmooze her a little bit."</p>
<p>btw, his d withdrew her app when she was accepted early at a top LAC (think I've got that right). </p>
<p>Now, none of the kids who didn't progress to finalist status are feeling especially "schmoozed" right now, but for my d at least, the early acceptance did generate a degree of excitement/interest in Emory that hadn't been there before. If we could write the check (which we can't without some help), she might well have chosen to go, even without the scholarship. It's encouraging that Emory considered you all strong enough to be in the initial pool - that probably bodes very well for future acceptances. After reading about your accomplishments, I know great things are in store for all of you.</p>
<p>Wow--with all of your great stats here, it's hard to imagine what they are looking for! Essays? Recs? From the postings, it would appear that e-mails were sent to semi-finalists who will not be invited to the interviews. My D is a semi-finalist and no e-mail yet. Could this mean there may be good news in the mail today?</p>
<p>Congrats to gmf05! And to the others, please don't be discouraged. With stats like yours, you will undoubtedly be successful wherever you end up!</p>
<p>From what I have read on boards, the first cut of Emory Scholars is based on scores, gpa and possibly class rank. After that cut, however, community service and leadership are extremely important in determining who gets the scholarships. The scholarship seems designed to attract students away from places like HPYS, so students need to have stats as well as something else that is very strong.</p>
<p>i've been pres of class, vp of school, started charity walks, captain of track team, and the list goes on...am ranked 10/530. 4.0 uw, 1480 SAT. what else could they want. i really believe it's cuz i didnt' visit.</p>
<p>i've won 1st place in regional math competitions, pres of mu alpha theta math honor society, national merit finalist, 2nd place state for Future Problem Solving, 150 hours shadowing doctors over summers, chosen for a free week-long medical camp, 250 hours community service, representative of class of 05 on school advisory committee, VP of student government, minority whip (leadership position) and best portfolio in model student senate, u of rochester social sciences and humanities award, academic team, etc.</p>
<p>I know my ECs and awards aren't the greatest, but, like dissbs, I really thought I would at least make 2/3 tuition. I really want to see the stats and ECs of the people who made finalist.</p>
<p>slipstream99--my kids do FPS, too! My youngest is headed back to International Conference at UK in June. We are down to just scenario--the district doesn't really support team solving anymore.</p>
<p>Hmm. Maybe visiting and other signs of strong interest do play a huge factor in getting it. Perhaps Emory only wants to offer the scholarships to students who are likely to go to Emory if given such an opportunity.</p>
<p>Slipstream did you visit Emory? As was the case with dissbs' background, your background, too is impressive.</p>
<p>I'm a current Emory Scholar, and I just want to say a few things. First off, congratulations to all of you who either received the 2/3 scholarship or were invited to the weekend. For those of you who were not selected, congratulations on having received admission to Emory. I honestly don't think it does any of you any good to call the admissions office or pull out your hair wondering why you weren't selected. You aren't going to get a satisfactory answer, and I don't think anybody here knows exactly why they were selected to be scholars. I also wanted to talk about the idea that some people have been putting forward that you were "strung along". I completely disagree with that idea. Going into this process, everybody knew that half of the semifinalists weren't going to get any money, and that's just the way it works. Emory puts that fact out into the open. All of did get admitted to Emory early, and that's an honor in itself. I know of several other people from my high school who would have loved to receive early admission to Emory without having to apply early decision. You have to realize that while your statistics may look fantastic on paper, the semifinalists all have statistics like that, and Emory can only choose half of those people. I had very good statistics in high school, but I can tell you that I am certainly not the most impressive scholar here by far. There are people who have done amazing things in high school that are hard to imagine. With all that being said, don't worry about the whole Emory Scholars process, and best of luck to you with the rest of your admissions.</p>
<p>hey giants, i remember you from the previous board. I am also a current Emory Scholar (first year student). Just out of curiosity, are you taking history of the new south this semester? If not, please disregard this random question.</p>
<p>giants, no offense intended in quoting the "strung along" post, as I certainly don't think there's anything remotely unethical in how the Scholars are announced or determined! I was trying to respond to those wondering why the Scholars program names semi-finalists instead of simply selecting finalists. And, of course, I have no idea why - I just remembered Interesteddad's comments from last year and thought they made good sense. There's nothing wrong or underhanded about a school using merit scholarship programs to create interest and enthusiasm. It certainly worked for my d. If we hit the lottery tonight, she might well send off a deposit tomorrow!</p>
<p>I'm not offended at all. I can certainly understand why people are disappointed. My only point was that there is nothing "underhanded" as you said about the process. Best of luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>My D was also eliminated from EScholars - she was a legacy (both parents) with 1520 SAT, 2nd in class with GPA 3.98uw, 4.75w, district and state bands all four years of high school, first in district, region and state science fairs, Gov Honors in English, 13 years ballet with many solos, 5-6 hours weekly of community service, standard high school clubs. Being alumni, she has been on campus many times in her life, official and unofficial - met with faculty and everything - she's very disappointed. Call me a skeptic, but I would like to see a list of scholars cross-referenced by what faith they are - other than buildings, I don't think the campus has changed that much in the last 25 years....</p>
<p>Sorry about the previous post. I've been feeling those "sour grapes" all day, and it's time to be done with it. I didn't want the students who did not visit to beat themselves up - there is probably nothing more that any of them could have done to improve their chances - at this level of competition, it's all a crap-shoot. I am also done looking at this site - it gets addictively depressing....</p>
<p>Northstarmom, i did visit the campus over the summer and had a personal information session with an adcom at my school in the fall of this year.</p>
<p>giants, gmf05 is the only person on this board who has been selected so far - and he only got the 2/3 tuition (which, don't get me wrong, is very impressive). I just think it's odd that of the strong people on this board, only one got a 2/3rds and 9 got nothing. Using a little math, there's a .03 chance of so few of us being chosen [binomcdf(10,.425,1)]. Something just doesn't seem right.</p>
<p>texastaximom - that's awesome! FPS is so much fun. I wish your youngest the best of luck at internationals!</p>
<p>It might not seem right, but that's the way it is. I don't know exactly how the people are chosen to be finalists, but obviously the committee didn't think that the people on this board were what they wanted. It also seems to me that some people think that they were somehow entitled to either become finalists or to get the 2/3 scholarship. I wasn't necessarily expecting to become a semifinalist back when I applied, and I didn't expect to get a scholarship when I did become a semifinalist. You can't assume that you are going to get a scholarship just because you have excellent statistics.</p>
<p>then perhaps emory just wasn't meant to be. good luck to all of you wherever you decide to go. you are all phenomenal students and people and deserve to have an awesome four years ahead of you.</p>