<p>speak_easy u kinda relaxed me w/ ur loooong post...
first i used to think that also but last week i was talking to my teacher about it and she was like "they don't have time to read essays for 13000 applicants so i assume that they read essays in the finalist selection"
idk what they do, but i WANT to get this scholarship!</p>
<p>my schools college counselor says that about 80% of the finalists actually end up being scholars, but then again that is just from her experience since she works with several schools. But from what has happened in the past with the students she works in she usually has most of her finalists being scholars</p>
<p>The scholarship is for seniors right? So juniors this year (class of 2009) apply for next year?</p>
<p>yes Olive_tree only seniors could apply, if you are a junior, take my suggestion and look at the questions for the essays and start now. The ones we did this year are the same ones from last year and I doubt that they will be changed</p>
<p>Yes. High school seniors, or the equivalent (GED), or someone who hasn't started college yet.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the majority of finalists will become winners. It doesn't make sense for them to have a huge amount of people move on since the first round is meant to find the "cream of the crop."</p>
<p>@haha, I'm glad my post was of some use. I didn't intend for it to be that long, but I wanted it to be coherent.</p>
<p>***I didn't really sit down and work on my essays until Christmas break, and the app was due 1/11. I pretty much did it in a day maybe a day and a half. And that was with many breaks, because I'm easily distracted. I had already finished filling out the other stuff and asked my GC to be my nominator and one of my teachers to be my recommender. I found it easier to just sit down and do it, especially since I knew what I wanted to say. It was just a matter of putting pen to paper. Also, I don't think a single one of my responses exceeded a page and half in a Word document.</p>
<p>wow, mine were all about half a page to 3/4 of a page max, my friend had the page and a half, guess length does not matter since he sadly didn't become even a finalist, even though he will be valedictorian. What really matters is your story and how well its written, he sadly procrastinated alot and did not move on.</p>
<p>I agree, mosvalublpelayo. Quality over quantity.</p>
<p>After finding that I was a finalist, I actually went back and reread my essays. I must conclude that these essays are probably the best ones I've written so far. So much of my life and heart went into writing them. I hope it will reflect to the GMS evaluators.</p>
<p>I also reread my essays and hope that the judges will grasp a complete picture of who I am.</p>
<p>my recommendor and my nominator finished their part way back in november or early december but i didn't do my essays until the last week - first week of january. none of my essays went over 1 page (single spaced) on MS word.</p>
<p>Hey one of my friend has a question: does weighted GPA counts for the GPA requirement? His weighted GPA meets the requirement but his unweighted does not.</p>
<p>On the form that I received in the mail it says your unweighted GPA</p>
<p>yeah it is unweighted gpa that counts...</p>
<p>Lol my friend was freaking out because he thought his unweighted didn't meet but it turned out that it did. Thanks for the prompt replies guys.</p>
<p>of what i have noticed, i think u hear back from gates about 9 to 10 days after u submit ur required documents. Am I right? cuz ppl who submitted their docs on 13th or 14th, they received notifications on 24th or so, right?</p>
<p>I think it's dumb that GMS asks for the unweighted GPA, but doesn't have a scale they want applicants to use.</p>
<p>I wasn't worried about my GPA not making the cut, but I would have thought they would provide some sort of scale to make the GPAs they receive uniform.</p>
<p>my hopes r going down :( i dunno why but they r...AHH
my efc is 0, 3.98 gpa, 6 ap classes, lots of community service, 3 leadership positions...idk if i'll be selected as a scholar or not...i really want to</p>
<p>My stats are about the same as yours. Nothing is ever a sure thing, but I'm not worried. Especially since I don't think we've heard from a single person who was a finalist and then rejected for a reason other than being ineligible.</p>
<p>DD is still waiting to hear also, she faxed her information late in the afternoon on the 14th which was a Friday, so we assume it did not get looked at till the 17th. I sure hope you are right Speak Easy about making scholar as long as one is eligible!</p>
<p>I hope you all get notified soon! I'm sure the wait is interminable.</p>