<p>If you are actually that accomplished and your GPA isn’t bad… exactly how weren’t you able to at least get a full ride at a community college? I’m sorry you’re bitter, but if you can’t even get a full ride from a COMMUNITY COLLEGE then you probably don’t deserve such a prestigious scholarship either; you obviously are hiding something if you couldn’t go to SOME college for free with with a great GPA, good extracurriculars, and low income.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you’re hateful but please don’t make everyone else feel like ****/hopeless.</p>
<p>Hey, I decided to look at the application today and under academic records it says “College Preparatory and/or Academic Electives”. Does that refer to AP Courses or am I wrong?</p>
<p>Hello everyone! Lol i understand that this application can be nerve racking. I understand that it will be difficult. I understand how hopeful/hopeless we might feel, because i’ve been there. I too am applying for the 2013-2014 GMS scholarship. My hopes are high and i hope i get it, however if it doesn’t work out, i know something else will. I started my work on the scholarship at the end of Junior year (yes, since the beginning of the summer). I have finished 6 essays out of the required 8. I have also done some extensive research, and this is what it all seems to boil down to:
It is never to early to start writing. The more time you have, the better your essays will be.
Do not fluff up your essays in an attempt to impress. When answering the essay questions, don’t just list out your accomplishments; mention your experiences through these accomplishments and how they have changed you as a person/influenced your goals.
Your community service/leadership sometimes weighs more than your academic record.
The Gates Millenium essays are the beef (most important) of the whole application process.
Have your language arts teachers/professors read over and offer advice on your essays.
Have teachers that know you as a student, and more importantly as a person, give you recommendations/nominations.
<p>Do not be discouraged Krazed2014, take it from a GMS scholar. You have plenty of time to invest into your essays, get your recommendations and fill out your application. It’s worth it, do your best because at the end of the day GMS is paying for all of my schooling. It’s truly a blessing!</p>
<p>I’m applying for GMS too. I don’t have too many ECs and I definitely don’t have any leadership roles, but my counselor says that I should apply anyways since I don’t really have anything to lose. I don’t have much hope of getting the scholarship, but I’m willing to give it
a try.</p>
<p>I’m planning on applying for the scholarship too but I probably won’t start on my essays for another month or two. I’m feeling very nervous about it though. Even if I don’t win one of the scholarships it’ll be a lot better than constantly thinking about what could have been.</p>
<p>Don’t be overwhelmed by this process. It’s worth it to try even though it is so time consuming. And you can re-use many of the essays in other college and scholarship applications. My daughter never thought she would be awarded this scholarship and I pushed her to apply and now she is a 2013-14 GMS scholar at Notre Dame. One piece of practical advice is to not submit too close to the timed deadline the final day. We did it an hour before the deadline and it went through smoothly and was accepted. But in the minutes prior to the deadline time, the GMS system crashed from overload and they had to extend the deadline an extra hour. Many students were posting their nightmare stressful stories last year on this same list serve. So, if you are going to wait until the last possible day to submit, do it earlier in the day or you run the same risk and there is no guarantee that they will extend the deadline again.</p>
<p>My son is a 2013-2014 GM Scholar. We are very blessed to have received this award. His is now attending Trinity University in San Antonio (<a href=“Trinity University - San Antonio, Texas”>http://web.trinity.edu/x33751.xml</a>). One thing to keep in mind, this scholarship is considered a “GAP” scholarship. This means you will still be responsible to pay your EFC. At state schools it cover all expenses with some funds left over for spending. In our case we still have to pay approximately $1000 + books for the year. As our EFC increases, so does our out of pocket expenses. In our case we feel it is a minimal expense for the type of education our son is now receiving. Just be aware of this.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize there was so many opportunities to attend school, but that was our experience with the first child. I’m a little more knowledgeable now and would love to spread “HOPE”.</p>
<p>Praying that I would get this one. But i feel like my application is so weak considering my school does not provide many extra curricular activities/clubs nor do I have probably any leadership roles to list. And no “honors/achievements” whatsoever. I feel like crying lol.</p>
<p>Are you part of the GMS Facebook page. I know there are scholars helping students with their essays and with ideas for their essays. From what I’ve read, the essays are basically an aptitude test as to how a student will perform at the next level. You want to make sure that your essays are being reviewed by at least 2 people. 1 who will review content and 1 who will review for grammatical errors.</p>
<p>I was names a QuestBridge finalist but I was not matched to any schools and I am continuing the regular decision process. On the accomplishment tab, should I state I was a QuestBridge Finalist or will that make my chances to get the GMSP lower?</p>
<p>Last year over about 54,000 started their applications. But only about 17,000 people went through and got all eight essays completed and had a nominator/recommender.</p>
<p>I have a question regarding reference forms. So I am finishing up my student application. I wanted to get started on my reference forms too but I am not able to add my references. Is it because I have to submit my student application first in order to do reference forms.</p>
I feel like crying lol.</p>
Though I’m not exactly sure what will or won’t lower chances…</p>