<p>The application is so long!! I doubt it’s even worth it as I more than likely won’t qualify…</p>
<p>Although I agree that it is fishy that Loco has only been around for a few days and therefore it may not be the greatest idea to ask him (or her? I don’t know) for advice, that when you think about it could apply to any of us. How do you know that I myself am being truthful, that I’m actually a Gates scholar, etc? (Though I assure you I am and I haven’t lied here). I think, though, it can’t really hurt sending your essay over to anyone willing here, and as Loco said, if you don’t like it or you find it untrustworthy you don’t have to accept the edits. It’s all up to the applicant’s own amount of trust in strangers.</p>
<p>Roseandraindrops: I could for you, but I don’t understand why it needs editing. From what I remember (though my memory could be faulty) isn’t it just listing the activity and if you had any leadership position in it? It’s hard to edit what is just facts. So I’m not sure I understand what you are asking either, but I can try to help. PM me if you still want to send it over for me to edit.</p>
<p>PrinceMuzic: If you think about it, by applying you have a chance at a full-ride or nearly-full ride college education (depending on your EFC). It takes a lot of stress off. But if you are worried you won’t qualify, why do you say that? Do you have high family income or something? Now if your family income is something like $150,000 a year then yeah definitely don’t apply, but if it’s something more like $60,000 then I think you would likely qualify and have a chance.</p>
<p>PrinceMuzic: You should give it an attempt. This scholarship pays for all unmet need. The Gates Foundation/Microsoft has many great scholarships like this one. Follow the link if you are looking for more:</p>
<p>[Microsoft</a> Undergraduate Technical Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.free-4u.com/microsoft_undergraduate_technical_scholarship.htm]Microsoft”>Microsoft Undergraduate Technical Scholarship)</p>
<p>My school doesnt offer alot of advanced classes or clubs… will this affect me?</p>
<p>and also the clubs i’m just in but dont hold in office, where can i list these?</p>
<p>jla7903: It will not affect you because each student is graded according to availability. However, you should have participation in atleat 1club to sign up for a scholarship like this.</p>
<p>If you are only a member, simply write member as your role. Whats important is your hours and what you do in those hours.</p>
<p>Im kinda confused. When do we send over our transcripts, fafsa, and our sar report? </p>
<p>And is it safe for me to talk about a volunteer internship with my county judge in essay question 6 (which talks about our community service and how it influences our goals) because I volunteer a lot but out side of volunteering at my local court house, the internship is the only thing that’s really influenced me into studying law.</p>
<p>I ask this because iv been told that volunteering at animal shelters and can food drives looks better than interning but i got nothing else that relates to my future career in law.</p>
<p>I think you send over your transcript after you’ve been selected. not sure tho</p>
<p>Hey class of 2011!</p>
<p>So, @ NYD…when you got the scholarship, how long were your essays?
@loco…what ethnic are you?
@everyone else…how’s everyone doing on the gates application, almost finished?
Do any of you know when you turn in pell grant info to the gates because my parents havent received their IRS papers for 2010 (this was when they got laid off)</p>
<p>i need for more essays :(. I hope I’ll make it in time.</p>
<p>same here imagine18. i need to severely revise 4 essays, and do 3 more essays. I also need to get my two recommendations.</p>
<p>LocoArts or anyone else feel like reading some essays. You guys all seem pretty accomplished lol and I want to see what I can do to make my essays the best they can be.</p>
<p>So…How does FAFSA work? Do we send it to GMS or what??</p>
<p>Thanks LocoArts!!! and I hold offices in about 5 clubs but there are other clubs im also a part of!</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>how should we calculate the GPA in the academic section?
and for the grades do we report them as seen on the report card or take off the extra points and give it unweighted?
and are AP classes considered honors?</p>
<p>Wabashbound: PM me and I’ll give you my email and you can email your essays to me and I’ll look over them. (This is what happens when you go to a semester uni and all your friends go to quarter uni’s and you have nothing to do and nobody to hang out with…you start reading essays…lol)</p>
<p>imagine18: NYD? I haven’t seen an NYD posting on this thread. Who do you mean? For me personally (I got the scholarship last year) my essays all ranged from 6000 characters to 7770 characters…but it’s quality not quantity. Some people have gotten the scholarship with shorter essays, so it’s about what you convey, not how wordy you get conveying it.</p>
<p>@Jsea11: I think that internship experience would be great in response to the prompt for essay #6 since it’s volunteer and for the community (since it’s a county judge). It’ll make you sound a little more unique too, which is good for Gates.</p>
<p>Since everyone has been asking…what happens is that if you become a finalist (in the past years it’s been around March 8), they will ask you to send over a school transcript, a school profile (that basically says how many AP courses there are, how many students there are, etc), your Student Aid Report/SAR (the report you get after filling out your FAFSA), a letter of acceptance from a university, and an Unweighted Cumulative GPA form (filled out by your counselor). Your SAR will note whether or not you are Federal Pell Grant Eligible (as determined by the information you entered on FAFSA). If it says you are not eligible for Pell Grant, you can’t receive the scholarship, since one of the eligibility requirements is being Pell Grant eligible. Therefore, you do not need to send your FAFSA application anywhere after filling it out, you merely need to send over your SAR after being notified of your finalist status. Also, be sure to fill out the FAFSA by the date that was said on the GMS website/application (I believe it is Feburary 15th, or at least that’s what it said last year). </p>
<p>And a word of advice to all applicants: Send in your application early! A lot of people attempt to submit their application on the day it is due, and the website tends to crash. Last year, I submitted my application early but my nominator (my AP Spanish teacher) did not try to submit his form until the day before…and the website had crashed the day before, and it was so stressful (and awkward having to call and text my teacher so much). So even if you feel that it’s rude, hound your nominators and recommenders and yourself to turn it in early, because it’s better than stressing about it in the end.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>also do we include allllllll classes like electives and everything into the GPA? or no</p>
<p>Just a note to expand on something NYSP2010 said,
you don’t have to send in an acceptance from the school you ultimately end up at. Many students have not made up their mind by the time Gates requests you send it in, so you may send in any acceptance letter and change your mind later. I just mentioned this as it has been a FAQ in the past years.</p>
<p>Question about the renewal quality of the scholarship.</p>
<p>Say we are not eligible for Pell Grant during sophomore year of College, can we still get Gates funding?</p>
<p>imagine18: Im from Puerto Rico. But I applied as multi-racial since I have a very diverse background</p>
<p>Thispakistanigir: I assume like all other scholarships, If you are eligible for this scholarship your first year–and you indeed are selected as a winner–the you continue to recieve it until your ride expires(all four years). So yea, you should be ok.</p>
<p>salzahrah: It depends on your school’s policy. If the electives make up your total unweighted report(as shown in transcripts) then yes. Some schools–like my current one–include activities into gpa. others do not.</p>
<p>and yea, AP is considerd as Honors. (It is a special kind of Honors constituting AP,IB,DA, and some others I dont remember…</p>