btw finalists, what did it say in your email? did finalists and non-selects receive different emails? (or receive follow up letters) I can’t tell what the status of my application is! 
@justcurius My letter said that the subject was GMS Finalist and it tells me that I have been selected for the second round of screening. I got my email and the official letter in the mail on the same day
Finalist from Arizona!
I found out by an email GMS sent that had “Finalist Information” as the subject! Good job to those that were finalist!
Many of the most recent posts have questions that were answered by earlier posts. Definitely worth it to read the last 10 pages or so before asking your question. It would be great if this site organized replies directly under the relevant questions, but it doesn’t, so you just have to do a bit of backtracking to discover whether your question has already been addressed.
Suggestion to the (approximately 2,000) finalists: it is very tempting to relax and hope that you become one of the 1,000 Gates Scholars in April. Resist that temptation and keep applying for other grants and scholarships. Last year, the high school where I volunteer had six finalists and three winners. I continued to assist one of the finalists who learned a month later that he had not been selected as a Scholar. In mid-May, he proudly showed me the award letter from the university he would attend. Cost of attendance (COA): $25,900. His award, with not a penny in student loans: $25,900, with almost all of that renewable for three additional years. Take advantage of all the hard work you did in crafting your eight essays and compiling all those hours of extracurricular activities, leadership experiences, and community service. Using your Gates essays as a source, draft fresh, new essays that directly answer the prompts of each particular scholarship. It’s wonderful to be a Gates Scholar, but there are other ways to finance your college education.
Got the official email! Proud to call myself a QuestBridge scholar and Gates Millennium Finalist! 
good luck to all of us! For those who did not make it this time- do not give up! There are other scholarships out there and just keep applying! You will see positive results and you’ll end up where you belong keep moving forward!
any Native American finalists out there?
Good luck guys
@meringuep300 I have an AK Native friend who’s also a finalist
Hello! Finalist from Guam!
hello i am a finalist from chicago. I was just wondering what are my chances when my EFC is 0 because i am living with my mother, who has no income and we were living in a homeless shelter a couple of month ago but not any more and a unweighted gpa of 3.6 . Also an acceptance letter from morehouse. I am african american if anyone wanted to know. And also my school does not have school profile , is that ok or hurt my chances of getting it. Congrats to all of the other finalist
Honestly, I don’t believe that holds much weight. From the research I did when my son was named a finalist (scholar 2013), all indications are that the applications have already been ranked (graded) at this point. Now you just pray that you are ranked high enough not to fall off the verification ladder.
Is it true that i am only competing with my ethnic group of 500 African American finalist or every applicant of 2000 finalist of all four ethnic groups because i just wondering
Botched! Received a letter in the mail stating I was a finalist.
I’m praying that I receive the package.
I would like an answer to @ttruss158 second question too.
@ ttru158 & NIHHIHH: Yes, you are only competing against those with the same ethnic background as yourself; however the exact number of finalists per ethnic group is not specified that I know of.
I’d like to know as well @NIHHIHH
Thanks @ScubaMom9026
I know it’s wrong to wish this, however, I hope I have one of the best scores for me to be named scholar
Finalist from SoCal, hoping for the best as well! Good luck to everyone…
Does anyone know notification dates? Even from previous years?