@brentley 300 will actually get the scholarship.
600 finalists, 300 winners
Any numbers on how many they are cutting down from to get to the 600?
@NJRoadie There were 2000 semifinalists, so 1400 will be cut.
Surely the 300 recipients(out of 600 finalists) will be selected based on review of the whole application, not the interview alone right? I’d hate to imagine that an interview alone could possibly cost you $160k if you do poorly. Curious to hear your guys thoughts
At that point, all applications are likely very close, so the interview may weigh quite of bit-- but other parts will definitely matter.
@univbound101 You make a good point. Best of luck to all of us!
Is there a cap on the scholarship?
A cap-- in what regard? What do you mean by a cap?
Like a maximum that the gates scholarship will provide for a single individual (even though it says it will cover all unmet need). I believe the old version had a maximum amount that it couldn’t go over as well.
I don’t there is a cap. They cover any unmet financial need; it’s basically a full ride.
The actual pay out on these scholarships turns out to be a lot lower than you might expect. Most recipients will have little or no unmet need.
My sister was a Gates Millennium Scholar. The ‘financial’ side of the new GATES is the same. Here is how it works:
- If you have an EFC on your FAFSA, you will still pay that. Gates pays ‘unmet need’ over and above your Federal EFC, as determined by FAFSA
- Gates is a “last dollar scholarship”, meaning they wait for all other aid to be awarded, and they will pay anything that is left. When @planner03 said ‘most recipients will have little or no unmet need’, he/she is likely assuming you are going to be attending a competitive school that promises to meet 100% of need through a combination of grants, scholarships, loans, and work study. (But again - these are the most competitive schools… you’re not going to find this at a state university or even most private colleges.)
I am going to a school that guarantees to meet 100% of “need”. I have a 0 EFC (Expected Family Contribution) on the FAFSA, but they use the FAFSA and CSS Profile (as do most privates) in order to calculate “need”. Their price is $70,000 a year. They are giving me $62,000 in grants and want me to pay $8000 a year total (of the $70,000 price tag). Many privates that give a ton of grant $ will assume that there should be a “Student Contribution” AND a “Family Contribution”, even though it is minimal. They think my Student Contribution should be $7500 and they are offering to “meet that” by offering me $2000 through a Work Study job, and $5500 in Federal loans (the max in federal for a freshman). Then the remainder is my “Family Contribution” at $500 (using my college’s method…)
If I were to win the Gates, being a “last dollar” scholarship, they are going to let my school still pay their hefty $62,000 in grants., but GATES will then step in after all aid is applied, and will pay $2000 (to replace my work study…I won’t have to get a job) and they will replace the loans as well $5500. And, I believe, since Gates determines EFC only by the FAFSA, they would pay off that last $500 of my "family contribution’ that my college wanted my family to pay.
(Also, for any of you that have an EFC on your FAFSA, even if it is small… An outside scholarship of any kind, by federal law, cannot pay the Expected Family Contribution.) This year, my EFC is -0- but my dad is getting a new job and I think our EFC will go up by my Junior year. You only have to be “Pell Eligible” the first year in order to get the Gates. After that, you don’t have to be a Pell recipient. So if our income goes up, I may end up having an EFC of $1000 or $2000 at some point before I graduate, and no outside scholarship can pay that.
Any questions, I’d be glad to clarify. We learned a lot when my sister had Gates and my mom has read this one and the financial part is the same.
There is no cap. My sister was a Gates Millinneum Scholar and the only time the ‘caps’ came into play was for the Master’s and Doctorate programs that they covered. The new Gates is only undergrad, though. (With the old one, Gates covered any major for undergrad, then would pay masters / PhD for about 6 majors. So there were financial caps on graduate programs, but not undergrad.)
Does anyone have an extra recommender who hasnt completed their recommendation resulting in 2 out 3 recommendations complete
Also does everyones recommendation part say complete? Im getting really nervous
@Meismeis Mine says completed as well
Mine says “Phase 2 Completed. Recommender Status: 2 of 2 completed.” There is still another “Add Recommender” link next to that. Maybe the “Add” button is if one of your initial 2 requests didn’t do theirs, and you had to ask a third person (so that you had two total…)? Not sure. As long as you have “2” completed, I don’t think it matters if you asked 3. They just need 2.
@MaybeUNC2022 do you have a red bar under march?
@Meismeis - I DO NOT have a red bar under March! What about the rest of you guys? Maybe that means you are moving on?