<p>Intheno,
Rejection letters may be going out, but not all finalists will get notification by email. Some will get letters. One of the people just said that themselves. So that if you didn’t get an email you can still become a finalist.</p>
<p>@Narome</p>
<p>Only reason they’d not e-mail is if someone didn’t have an e-mail (I think you have to give one to register, right?), if someone used a fake e-mail, if it went to spam or if it was rejected by a filter. Unlike what some suggest, it doesn’t matter how you applied. </p>
<p>Better to say they attempt to e-mail everybody selected as a Finalist, then send a letter and then, just in case, make a call. Either way, the Gates people will let you know if you’re a Finalist so you can respond.</p>
<p>And the 0-5 thing, the threads say they reset that a couple years ago. They got all these calls from people trying to figure out if their message was different from somebody elses and what that means. Now all get the “we’re sending you a letter” thing until later when people start sending the documents and want to check if Gates got what’s necessary.</p>
<p>Intheno,
True enough. Though if someone sends it by letter form they might not need an email.</p>
<p>@Narome</p>
<p>Spring break, FAFSA reply, waiting to hear from schools. All make for not much time to get the confirmation paperwork back to Gates. I’m guessing they e-mail to give more time and then send the snail just in case.</p>
<p>Ok I’m a finalist and my EFC is 0. Does anyone know how much Gates will give me if I end up being a scholar?</p>
<p>i am not understanding what efc and pell grant are…i did fafsa and everything… and got some numbers for both… how much do u need for both inorder to be qualified?</p>
<p>efc stands for “expected family contribution”. As long as your SAR says you are pell grant , which it should, your EFC number should be fine for GMS. I believe it says whether or not you are pell grant eligible on the bottom of the first page of your SAR.</p>
<p>@anotherindiankid. Gates will give you what you need. So for example, my friend, who is a scholar last year, told me that someone got an $8 check from Gates because she simply has a full ride from another scholarship already. So yeah, the amount varies from one person to another.</p>
<p>About how much of the 1,900 finalists are eliminated per year simply because they aren’t eligible or because they lied?</p>
<p>how do u know there is 1900 finalists?</p>
<p>Hey everybody I’ve been a long time reader of this forum but never registered but I finally decided to get an account haha.</p>
<p>I was notified on the 8th that I’m a finalist! Another person from my school applied but apparently they haven’t heard back from them yet.</p>
<p>That’s how many finalists they’ve had last year. It should be around the same this year. idk. Even if you are a finalist, the chance of you becoming a scholar is ~50%, assuming no one lied and everyone who was selected as a finalist was eligible.</p>
<p>I don’t really agree with that. Only 1000 people per year become scholars, so whatever 1000/1900 is, that is your chance.<br>
If you are confused how much Gates will pay you…It’s basically like this.
Your institution has a Cost of Attendance/CoA for you (including tuition, room/board, books, etc)
You have “other aid” you already get from Pell Grant, other scholarships, university fin aid, other grants.
You have your Expected Family Contribution to pay.
Gates will pay CoA-Other Aid-EFC
ex. If your CoA is 30,000 and your other aid is 20,000 and your EFC is 5000 then Gates will write a 30,000-20,000-5000=$5000 check to your institution</p>
<p>I just got my rejection letter today :-(</p>
<p>@finishmydrink email letter or actual letter? And where do you live (what state)?</p>
<p>My notification email stated that a letter was sent out on march 7th. I was accepted for the next part of the scholarship, and this letter said exactly what was on the email. Only one other girl and I out of 7 students made it as finalists. The rest didn’t get any emails, so I suppose they didn’t make it. Yet they still received a letter.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the finalists. I also received the letter today, sadly I am not a finalist. Time to stock up on other opportunities.</p>
<p>got all my stuff together my mom’s at the post office…I’m praying that I get this… now got to wait for the 30th…</p>
<p>Just got my letter in the mail, sadly am not a finalist. 
So disapointed, seriously want to scream.</p>
<p>@Bee 579 where do you live?</p>