<p>Good luck to those of you participating in the Hays Scholarship Weekend. My DD (student worker in admissions) told me yesterday there are 137 students competing this year. WOW! For those who are attending, enjoy the weekend!</p>
<p>Wow, that's a lot. My son hopes to be there next year. What is the process like?</p>
<p>My family just returned from the scholarship competition. You are invited to apply about a month in advance. You have to write an essay. If approved for the competition, you will have a 45 minute interview with 2 faculty members and a current student on one of two scholarly articles (your choice) or you can give a presentation on the topic of your choice. Most of the students we talked to gave a talk on one of the essays.</p>
<p>We arrived Friday night. The parents were treated to a lovely reception. The students went off with their hosts to do their own thing. They had an evening meal together and then they were allowed to do what they wanted on Friday night. My son worked a bit on his presentation. Saturday morning I went to the reception area in the Mills Center and attended some of the panel presentations. We didn't do a formal tour since we had time to poke around the campus after our early arrival on Friday. My son did breakfast on his own with the other students. I met up with him a bit before the presentation. </p>
<p>The presentation process was extremely organized. They said 119 students showed up for the competition. They had very friendly staff keeping everyone on schedule. My son said it felt like he was only in his interview room for 20 minutes. He very much enjoyed meeting his interviewing professors and the current student---thought they were all awesome. They did have his application essay (the common app essay) with them and asked him some questions about that topic but the inverview was mostly on the essay. I got the impression the students make an opening statement (maybe 7-10 minutes long) and then the student and professors engage in a give and take discussion.</p>
<p>We were told they give 4 provost scholarships (free tuition) from this process in addition to the Hays. We were told there would be a bit of an award on our financial aid statement ($500 I think) for competing. They are going to give the students a personal phone call late this Friday evening with the results of the competition. I thought that was a nice touch, and very quick.</p>
<p>All in all, everyone we met was great. My son met with one of the athletic coaches (again awesome), since they are Division III and my son hopes to continue his sport in college. It seemed like everyone was from Little Rock (30 minutes away) or they had a 5 or 6 hour drive to get there. </p>
<p>Personally, I liked it a lot (first visit). My son also liked it and it is among his top choices. </p>
<p>momoffive</p>
<p>That sounds kind of intimidating to me! Thanks for all the info.</p>
<p>Yes, but all the kids were supportive of each other.</p>
<p>I'm glad you all enjoyed the visit momoffive. When my daughter participated in the Hays weekend (2006), I thought the staff and faculty did a wonderful job of making sure we were all comfortable and answering any questions we had. We so enjoyed meeting many other parents and students and my DD is still friends with several of the kids she met that weekend. I can't imagine her being happier at any other school. Good luck to all who participated!</p>
<p>Youdon'tsay, it sounds a bit intimidating to me, too, but these kids don't seem to have any problems with the presentation. My daughter actually looked forward to hers. Many people that ask where DD attends college have never heard of Hendrix (we're about 6 1/2 hours away), but those who have heard of it know it to be a school with great academics. Momoffive was right ... the kids are all supportive of one another during the process. Good luck to your son next year!</p>
<p>Do you pick the scholarly articles to bring in, or do you mean you pick the one you want to discuss from among the ones they've provided?</p>
<p>try this link</p>
<p>It should give you all the info for this year</p>
<p>Momoffive: I competed this past weekend as well. How do you know they will call us on Friday? Will they call everyone or just the four who were awarded the scholarship? Thanks--any/all information is appreciated!</p>
<p>I had the impression everyone would be called Friday afternoon. My son said he understood everyone would be called by Friday. He also said he talked to a previous year's winner and the Hays recipient was called earlier than Friday. No calls here so far. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the excellent info!</p>
<p>Good luck, everyone.</p>
<p>Since y'all were both there, care to share any impressions? We haven't visited yet but plan to this summer.</p>
<p>My son got a call and he didn't get the scholarship. It was nice to get a personal call.</p>
<p>I haven't gotten a call yet =( Is that good or bad?</p>