@otoribashi they like a couple things. If you are from Madagascar, this is usually a shoe in. They love people who volunteer at iguana shelters. Usually they only choose people who are majoring in public art education.
@otoribashi you may also wanna look at the Buick achievers scholarship if you’re a minority, a female , and doing STEM. They offer renewable scholarship up to $20k I think. here’s the link: https://buickachievers.scholarshipamerica.org/
So far as JKC, there really isn’t any perfect formula. My advice, so far as answering the essays, would be to be as transparent and genuine as possible. Something that’s straight from the heart–not necessarily woeful, but telling.
On a seperate note if you can start your essay now, great! The earlier the you can write the better; you’ll have more time for revisions and FAR less stress when fall finals’ overlap with the JKC submission deadline.
I wish you the best in your pursuits. Continue the hard work! I know you’ll be successful.
@XennyX thank you so much for the link and for the words of encouragement!! do you happen to know if the essay questions are released already? where can i find the questions?
@otoribashi from what we’ve been told there isn’t a strict set of things JKC looks for. I personally have no real community service either. I think what they want is someone interesting, with a good story that is told well. That’s the only thing that would explain how I got this far, that and I’m poor.
For your essays really think about who you are, what you have overcome, and where you are going. I also highly recommend finding a teacher or experienced student to read over your essays several times before you submit them, probably your whole application too. I would give you more specifics on the essays but I don’t remember the exact questions very well and they would probably be slightly different anyway, get it done as soon as you can though.
@ForestryGuy thanks! Do they release essay prompts and questions in October? I can’t seem to find the prompts anywhere lol.
@otoribashi there should be an option on the JKC website under the undergraduate transfer scholarship section that says notify me when the application process starts. I’m not sure when that will be though, probably around October.
I just got rejected from UCLA with a 4.00 and honors. Lol. It’s kind of funny to me actually because the e-mail apologized for causing me “emotional distress” meanwhile I was eating gummy bears and playing Dying Light on PSN. If you REALLY want to break a man’s heart, give him a rejection letter from USC, Stanford, and Jack Kent Cooke while simultaneously revealing the last gummy bear @ the bottom of the bag. That’s a tear-jerker. Luckily UCLA was 3rd choice…but man oh man… I’m needing some good news more than ever! :-B Good luck everyone… I’m still hoping.
@LostUber what is your major? Man that sucks about UCLA. my cousin got accepted and she has less than a 3.7 GPA and her major was pre-global(it’s like communications i think) or something?
I got accepted into UCLA and UC Davis. Just waiting on UC Berkeley – Next Friday, folks!
To be honest, it depends on which school I am accepted into @otoribashi .Currently getting an associate’s of science degree In Business Administration. Stanford would be a BA in Communications, but my #1pick is University of Southern California. Music is my passion and USC has a one-of-a-kind Music Industry BA that I am super psyched about. Without music, I think I might literally die. It’s who I am, not just what I do. But all of this is just a fuzzy dream without JKC. This is literally my only shot so… no pressure right? :-S And congrats @sammyclaire23
Hey everybody,
I hope you’re holding in there! I have been reading this thread for as long as it started, but I was too anxious to say hi. To be honest, this forum gives me so much anxiety, but at the same time, it is good to know I’m not the only one loosing my mind awaiting JFK’s decisions. I go to cc in CA and got the semi-finalist notification a while back. After reading everything you guys wrote I really don’t know if I am worthy of this scholarship, you’re all such amazing people. I mean it. I hope you all get it!!! And congratulations to those of you who already heard back from schools!
Also, I think I know the answer to this question but I might be wrong. Do you guys know if the undergrad transfer scholarship is $40k or the total cost of attendance? (I mean what if total is $60k?) I was just thinking about it after watching the videos with the college scholarship finalists.
Fingers crossed that we will hear back from them soon…
@szafir i believe it is UP TO 40k.
@szafir my understanding is they assess your financial aid package, the goal is to get your cost of attendance covered so this will include anything your aid did not cover and also to replace any loans. They will cover up to $40,000 for undergrad 
@szafir @muffinpoptarte is correct. The JKCF is meant to fill in the gap that your Pell/SEOG/state grant (if applicable) and school’s financial aid office will not cover without loans. Ergo, if a school’s COA is $60,000, the JKCF scholarship would be $40,000, with the hope being that the school would be willing to offer the final 20k (less than if you qualify for federal/state grant aid) - which, especially knowing the transfer scholarship is there, is quite likely. On the flip side, if your school’s COA is, say, $30,000, you will not be given an “extra” $10,000 from the foundation.
So for example, my top choice school’s COA is $61,000. I qualify for about $5,500 in federal grant aid, $15,000 in a merit award, and $20,000 is institutional grant aid. That leaves about a $20,000 gap, which is presently incompletely covered by loans. The JKCF scholarship, which I will not be receiving, but if I did - would cover that final $20,000.
@aritransfer16 thank you! That’s what I was thinking. It would be crazy if they covered up to unlimited amounts.
I really hope they will let us know before May 1st. I remember calling them a couple of weeks ago initially asking for something else but of course I ended up asking when they will announce the finalists too. A lady told me that they were going to do it that week. I’ve been a wreck ever since.
How is everyone doing prepping for finals? I’ve got A TON of stuff to study. 20 credit hours is usually okay until finals roll around.
@Auggie95 currently working on that right now! I have a unit exam in Gen Bio on Thurs. Lab final the next week. Spanish oral final, two philosophy papers due, and one philosophy exam. Thankfully it’s enough to keep me busy while we wait.
@dvdgtrz whoah! That’s alot. I’ve got 2 Chem exams, a Bio exam and an Algebra exam this week, then we have a week of finals prep, then Ill just have to make it through 5 lecture finals and 2 lab finals.
“Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming!”
“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”
Dale Carnegie