<p>I think it's about time we start an official thread for the graduating class of 2009. There's a lot of minor Gates threads floating around, so I thought it would be a lot easier if we compiled all gates related questions and discussions in this thread. Every graduating class seems to have one major support thread. I've read '08's, 07's, and '06's. (They were VERY long but very informative) So, I just got done with my French project and decided to check out CC before I go to bed. Anyway, let's get this thing rolling. Good luck to all potential Gates Millennium Scholars! I'm excited, but I'm trying my best not to get my hopes up. Let's go class of 2009/2013!!!</p>
<p>Yayy, finally. I have been waiting for a thread about our Gates Millennium Scholarship.</p>
<p>I am soo nervous. I was up till five in the morning putting the final touches on my essay when the website began running slow. It messed up one of my paragraphs, and I didn't get a chance to list a lot of achievements. Rather than waiting for it to work out, I just submitted it right there and then because I didn't want to take any chances.</p>
<p>It makes me super nervous, but hopefully they care more about what I wrote than the format of the essay... Especially since it was only one minor problem. Aghh, I am getting myself too nervous.</p>
<p>Anyway, what ethnicity is everyone?</p>
<p>I went under the Asian branch (Chinese, or Taiwanese, really).</p>
<p>Also, how many hours did you put into your essays?! :)</p>
<p>^ for these 3 days, i spent 11 hrs on them each day, not counting the hrs i workekd before =S. ..</p>
<p>I also worked hard on it for the past two days. Let's not get our hopes up though.. it's incredibly competitive..</p>
<p>yes i know,=P im just glad im on the run, its ok if rejected,at least i tried ;)</p>
<p>question, do i put YEAR for the coureses im taking for 1 yr? or the way its graded? cuz our school uses a semester system~~ FAST please,im submitting....</p>
<p>Yes I think so.</p>
<p>I have block schedule so I put semester for all of them.</p>
<p>I feel stupid. If I knew I could have still been working on my essays, I wouldn't have submitted it this morning. I just didn't want the system to go haywire on me. Aghh, oh well, what is done is done. </p>
<p>I actually put my college classes in the semester part, & actual classes I took at the school as full year. I guess it may just depend on the grade, because my full-year classes stayed consistent throughout the year. </p>
<p>I completely understand. This scholarship does seem pretty competitive, but it seems to be heavily based on essays. I worked numerous hours, also. From having peers edit my papers to writing the essays. I get so nervous writing about it.</p>
<p>how much did you guys write? I wrote about a page for each.. and the last one was like three pages lol</p>
<p>Most of mine were anywhere from 2-4 pages double spaced. My final one was only 2 pages double spaced. I tried to keep it short & simple, although I don't know if that was the right decision. </p>
<p>Hm, a lot of past scholars said there was no specific limit to how much they wrote. I guess it just varied on each.</p>
<p>Did you find it difficult to write your first paragraph?
I found it very, verrrrryyy difficult.</p>
<p>I tried to draw the readers in as much as possible, so hopefully it worked. :P</p>
<p>Wow...I cant express what a relief it is to get off my chest!
8 essays!
I commend everyone who had to suffer like me through these brutal essays.
Hopefully all who are deserving of this scholarship will be properly rewarded..</p>
<p>BTW- i sent it in 2 hours before the deadline without any lag on the gates server! I had to wait to the last minute because my nominator couldn't find his final submit button!!! haha</p>
<p>In regards to the previous questions i spend years on these essays :P No actually i started intensely working on them from about two to three weeks ago because previously i was caught up in to much stuff. Probable about 4 hours for each essay estimating...I had to get it rechecked and checked because my grammar and writing is very weak. And each essay was anywhere from 2 full pages double spaced to 5 pages. I tend to write in a informal fluffly fashion. Hopefully this won't kill me to bad XD</p>
<p>GOOD LUCKY EVERYONE!!!!</p>
<p>btw, do any of you guys know when the first status updates are and whether it is through email/mail?
thanks guys</p>
<p>*I can finally breathe my la's smogy air again!</p>
<p>Hey, do y'all know when they get back to us?</p>
<p>lol! I started working on my essays back in August and didn't submit them until last month. I kept revising them over and over and over again. I wanted them to be as good as possible. I'm a little nervous now because my writing style is a little "different." I hope they don't dock me for it. All of my essays are at least a page and a half single spaced and I think one of them took up almost all of the allotted characters. I'm so anxious! How did everybody hear about this scholarship?</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and I applied under the UNCF!</p>
<p>oh yeah, and they said they'll get back to us in early March. So, probably the week of March 9.</p>
<p>Actually, I think it would be better to have a unique writing style. It'd make the essay stand out more, since they have to weed out so many applications. I wrote in my own format, but I talked w/ a past scholar who said she did the same thing. </p>
<p>Wowwww, August?! That is soo intense. I don't think I'd have been able to write that early. I work a bit better under pressure, I guess you could say. I actually heard about the scholarship through Upward Bound, a program I am in. My close friend's brother was in the program and was a scholar from last year.</p>
<p>Also, I think they will get back w/ us around March or April, but maybe they will confirm the submission process ending today, or something.</p>
<p>I have a question. I had another friend who attending Upward Bound w/ me and she was listed as a semi-final, last year. Somehow, she didn't end up getting the scholarship. From what I heard, she turned in every document asked for and she received the Pell Grant. If everything she submitted was true, how could she NOT have won the scholarship?? Any ideas?</p>
<p>^ I hope you're right. Our school had our first Gates Millennium Scholar last year. She and I are pretty close so she encouraged me to apply for it. As soon as the application was available in August, I started writing the rough drafts of my essays. I kept rewriting them until I was pretty content with them. If I don't get selected, at least I know I tried my best.</p>
<p>I guess just because somebody is selected as a finalist, doesn't mean that they are guaranteed the scholarship. I didn't know how the elimination process works, but I guess the Gates folks were probably looking for something else. Too bad she didn't get selected. =(</p>