<p>I worked damn hard for what I have, and even with your claims of randomness, I still feel that I got it because, most of all, I wrote some pretty damn good essays and i've excelled academically</p>
<p>Ditto Lunknot - I take offense too - but its ok really. I have had 21 rejections letters re scholarships and it really really sucks. I just always think someone else needed it more. I think what I hate the most is how they keep implying -stating - that this thread is "to boost our ego" and that "we dont dive a damn". This has been one of the most supportive threads in the bunch. Of course there will be winners and those who dont - we knew that when we started posting. So what, we're supposed to quit reading the thread now? Or does that somehow make us egotistical? Dont be haters - disappointment is totally understandable -but how you handle it is the true sign of character. Same goes for the winners, I mean, I dont really consider anyone of here "bragging" about winning - just posting we did - as we asked everyone to do. As we ask everyone to do on ALL the scholarships. What we need to do now is as they said in "Saving Private Ryan", "Go out and earn it." A lot is expected out of GMS - the best defense to disprove the "randomness" is to disprove the randomness.</p>
<p>
[quote]
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.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You do deserve the scholarship. </p>
<p>But I'm saying that I deserved it too. I don't know if I deserved it more than you, because I don't know you as a person, and even if I did know you, probably couldn't say if you deserved it more. Judgment is a difficult thing, and saying that one is inferior to another is a hurtful process, even if only implied. I suppose I am whining, but it strikes me that only insensitive threads would put me down for venting.</p>
<p>The process is very random at the last stages. The difference between one applicant's acceptance and another's rejection is literally one point, as was my case. What are these points based on? One single reader's opinion. Yes, there are guidelines and yes, there is a rubric. But it's very vague and subjective, and that makes it as random as college admissions and the rest of this painful process.</p>
<p>I apologize if you interpreted this otherwise, because it is by no means libel of your hard work. However, I still stand by my original statement: that the process is random, and that it is not a reflection of my merits as person. Time to move on. Best of luck, all.</p>
<p>Yo Lunknot, no need to feel offended. I really don't know what the actual mechanics of the selection process are. My use of the word "random" was strictly in reference to the above post about what gphoenix was told by GMS people. </p>
<p>I really don't mean for you guys to be offended. After all, there were indeed guidelines to receiving he scholarship and you guys deserve to feel proud about your accomplishments and this awesome college money. I would.</p>
<p>But I, too, stand by my earlier opinion that the <em>financial</em> guidelines by which GMS awards its money, though seeking efficiency, are too narrow and restrictive, and that I know Bill Gates would be able to afford to hire enough people to get the job done without putting it on HSF and the other ethnic organizations. It really is an enourmous task that they must carry out.</p>
<p>Again, congrats to you guys and forget all this stuff about randomness. No one is a hater and we should all be happy for each other. I genuinely am.</p>
<p>At my school a 92 is a B. 93+ is an A.</p>
<p>Let's say that someone who takes the same class at a school where a 90+ is an A gets a 90. Does that mean that person is smarter than me because they got an A (90) while I got a B (92)? </p>
<p>Yes. It's not fair, but I have to live with it.</p>
<p>Having a cutoff number doesn't make it random, it makes the process selective.</p>
<p>Thank you Dani for your reply about the conferences.. I live in Oregon and so i am planning on attending the one in LA, how about you? i just need to wait for the new GMS handbook so that i can see the details becasue i am going to be going to a school in Oklahoma and so i dont know if that changes anything at all...???
Well to everyone on this thread, congratulations on putting your best effort into your education, whether you got the scholarship or not doesnt matter as much as whether you know that you have worked for where you are and that you will continue to work..Believe me, i have had far too many situations in which i was not lucky or just did not get something i felt i had worked for, but i pushed on and here i am having recieved some money for college through small scholarships that are beginning to add up..anyways keep working hard you all deserve the best in life!!
Marcy Poton
<a href="mailto:Marpo13@yahoo.com">Marpo13@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>e mail me if you would like to say in touch!</p>
<p>Hey does Gates cover off campus expenses like living in an apartment instead of a dorm?? Do they pay you in cash then?? How does that work??</p>
<p>Marpo13: I'm pretty sure the conference you go to depends on what coast your school is on. I'll be in PA, so I'll be going to Chantilly.</p>
<p>SO do the Gates people give YOU the money, or the school??? I'm confused about that. I might wanna live off campus</p>
<p>mdtracie - you need to find out who your Gates coordinator is. I communicate with mine all the time now because there are so many questions. They are very helpful and probably know the answers to your questions a lot better than any of us here.</p>
<p>mdtracie - Gates sends a check to you in july, but you have to cash it at your school, which sucks. I think the school gives you part of it each semester. I'm pretty sure Gates wouldn't cover living off campus (but don't quote me).</p>
<p>They do though - its covered under "room and board". They know you have to live somewhere. Have you guys talked to some of the existing GMS guys on that site? Some of them have emails listed where you can contact them directly. Thats what I did. Being that they have been in the program -some of them all five years - they are familiar with how things work. Thats what I have been doing and Im learning a lot that way -- really, there just is no down side to this at all.</p>
<p>Hi guys!</p>
<p>I live in San Antonio, Texas and was selected a GMS Scholar and received an award of $8625 per year for the college im going to attend. I think the total cost for my college is about 27,565 per year and my EFC is 0. I was only able to login to the GMS scholars website once (the day i got my letter) and haven't been able to login since...I called GMS and was told that the people that are in charge of maintaning the website have not yet activated all of our accounts and they told me to try again friday. If it didn't work then they told me to call them again to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>Again guys, I couldn't believe i got the scholarship cause i was this close to not bothering to do it. Oh i fall under the hispanic scholarship fund.
Congrats to all the 150 recepients!</p>
<p>Any other scholars from Texas?
Those anyone now where the GMS leadership confrence will be held in the fall?</p>
<p>Thanks,
Victor</p>
<p>want to contact me: <a href="mailto:vtandjt@sbcglobal.net">vtandjt@sbcglobal.net</a></p>
<p>I think there is a few from Texas - myself and MDtracie are two. And look back in this thread and theres discussion re the conferences. I think it comes down to where you will be in the fall - meaning, not according to where you live now.</p>
<p>I'm from Weimar TX - between San Antonio and Houston</p>
<p>Im from Victoria, Texas - also between San Antonio and Houston.</p>
<p>What is the link to login to your Gates account? I have tried <a href="http://www.gmsp.org%5B/url%5D">www.gmsp.org</a> but cant find it on there (im under HSF also)</p>
<p>You should have received it in your letter.</p>
<p>I'll double check it. Thanks!</p>
<p>to login:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gmsp.org/scholars%5B/url%5D">www.gmsp.org/scholars</a></p>