<p>I understand your frustration to a certain extend EiChef. But you got to realize the number of people who apply to Gates Millennium, doing a case by case calculation might mean we be hearing from them after we graduate college. Their generic calculation is far from perfect, but it allow for a faster and if not efficient method. I agree with you that the current administration fail to improve the standard and award of the Pell Grant, and other federal aids. But, they spend all the moneys on smart bomb and have none left to spend it on smart kids. What can you do, too late to vote him out of office.</p>
<p>i dont think that getting too much money from your school was the reason you didnt get it. my boyfriend got it and he is gettin 44k out of 45k from his school</p>
<p>So where's this leadership conference at ?</p>
<p>HEy mdtracie, is there for sure a leadership conference? if so, where did you hear about it because it did not mention it in the letter?
Oh and thank you Dani!</p>
<p>oops sorry, it does mention the conference in the letter, i guess just not in detail..</p>
<p>HI IS ANYONE WITH T-Mobile? e-mail me so we can meet at the conference...I will probably go to the one in VA. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:brandedbison@tmail.com">brandedbison@tmail.com</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:nubianprince05@aol.com">nubianprince05@aol.com</a><a href="AIM">/email</a></p>
<p>Congradulations everyone!! <em>warm fuzziness</em> =)</p>
<p>I'm actually switching to T-Mobile. . .but i have to wait till December =(</p>
<p>hey threepointnineseven you mentioned that you will probably be going to the leadership conference in VA..does that mean that there are multiple conferences? im just curious because i havent been able to log onto the site yet to check out the details of the award because the GMS lady said i had to wait until Thurday the 19th to log on..?? Oh and i was once on T-Mobile but we cancelled the cell phone and i will not get a new one until before i go to college.. oh and when is that conference? Well thanks to anyone who can help :)</p>
<p>I am sooo excited because i told my career councilor today that i had received the scholarship and she was so excited saying that i was the 1st person from our school to ever get it..i thought that was awesome since my school is one of those that does well in many areas but never gets recognized because we have a reputation of having a lot of gang and stuff but i am glad that now our district cannot deny that the teacher at my school are amazing! i just that that was great news for my family as well as for my school! EXCITING</p>
<p>I know how you feel Marpo; one other girl (she's posted in this thread :O) and I were the first to get it at our school, too. </p>
<p>And to answer your question about the conferences, there's one in Chantilly for east coast people, and one in LA for west.</p>
<p>EiChef - this post is mainly for you, since I don't think anyone else who still reads this thread really would care. They've all got their scholarships and will either disregard this post or use it to boost their self esteem.</p>
<p>I was very disappointed when I was rejected from Gates, and bitter on the inside. See, I am Pell-eligible, and I have maintained my GPA, and I have good stats and so forth. So for me, it was a real let-down to find out that I had been magically eliminated.</p>
<p>However, today, I was in DC for another scholarship, and actually met Bindhi Patel & Ann Lane, two Gates office people. I asked them to explain to me the process, without revealing who I was, and they told me that the process is very superficial. Basically, the applications are only read once, and a very vague rubric is used to score the applications. Students who score high move on to the next level, and for the second round, after all the documents have been collected, a cutoff score is elected and all students who make ti move on. The end result is actually that each year, only a few hundred move on.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I am still somewhat disappointed, but it doesn't bother me much anymore now that I realize it was a fairly random process built on arbitary standards, without any real bearing as to my merit as a person. Perhaps I'm childish to not have realized it earlier, but I think I did well figuring it out on my own, without parents or friends advising me. Best of luck to all of you.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that 1000 students receive it each year not "a few hundred". . .</p>
<p>hmmm, i guess you just had to be lucky enough to happen a long a person who liked your app.</p>
<p>I'm very sorry that you didn't get it. I know what it's like to be dissapointed. =( We have to get up and push onward even stronger. . . that's what I tell myself anyway. Good Luck to you too gphoenix.</p>
<p>Random process? Sounds like college admissions. And everything else in life.</p>
<p>you got that right caballero05</p>
<p>Sorry you feel that way gphoenix - i really thought we all here were rooting for each other. I dont know about the rest though, but i feel really fortunate to have been selected - but Im not about to call it "random". Sounds to me like you have some good things going on in your life - DC and everything - do you feel like all that was random? If it makes you feel better to think it was arbitrary then so be it. As for me, I think everything happens for reason.</p>
<p>Don't worry. I'm rooting for you. Like I said, good luck to you all. I'm just realizing it won't work for me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As for me, I think everything happens for reason.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So, I am now scheduled to take on lots of debt for what reason? God hates me?</p>
<p>No of course not - just think that maybe there's bigger and better out there for you - hang in there and keep fighting the big fight. Youll see... itll all work out.</p>
<p>gphoenix, were you in DC for APIASF thing? What happened there?</p>
<p>gphoenix, thanks for responding. Soon after posting, I came to the realization that many on this thread were too excited to give a damn. and rightly so, perhaps. So congrats to all you winners! It's an awesome feeling to win something you want/need this badly, and I'm genuinely happy to see more of mi gente prospering and doing well.</p>
<p>At the same time, any feelings I harbor, however, are directed at Gates Millenium Foundation, if for randomness more than anything. I think (randomness) is a mis-service they're doing. If I were Bill Gates (rich as I would be), I would be making sure that my money were being awarded as responsibly (and broadly and equitably) as possible.</p>
<p>I'm gonna hop over to the Gate's college thread to see if i'll be going to school with any of you guys! hope there will be many elis in the bunch!</p>
<p>Reddune relpied to you EiChef. It's not that no one cares, it's just, what do we say?? Personally, hearing "i'm sorry" from people when i'm upset p i sses me off even more because they're not sorry. They cannot comprehend how one feels in that position.</p>
<p>You guys (gphoenix and EiChef) need to shut up because i'm getting offended now. The process is NOT "random"! You're implying that ANYONE could have gotten it, and that is just not so. There are guidelines. I know it hurts to get rejected, but you're gonna have to deal with it. Stop trying to make us feel as if we didn't deserve it, that we were chosen "randomly" and not on our merits as well as financial need.</p>
<p>Why would they claim on the website: "The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for thousands of outstanding students with significant financial need to reach their fullest potential."</p>
<p>What's the point of giving a scholarship randomly?</p>
<p>Anyway, gphoenix sort of has the right attitude, this shouldn't higher or lower your ego. It really doesn't gauge your intellectuality; college, and how well you do in it, will.</p>