Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship Applicants 2019-2020

Archive Other Major Scholarships and Competitions
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YASSSS, I made it!!! Thank you so much @AGoodFloridian , it really means a lot to me.

@ARousseau I told you :wink:

And to everyone who for whatever reason didn’t make it. Don’t let it get you down, to even be qualified to submit an app for this thing is enough of an honor. If you can, give next year all you’ve got! If that’s not an option, I’m sure that everything will align for you. Life is an interesting thing and we always end up where ever we’re meant to be, with or without the scholarship. I’m sure you’re all destined for greatness.

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@FinishingTheApp YAY!! I am so excited for all of us - well done!!

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@FinishingTheApp Thank you! You were right!

YAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSS! So glad you made it, too!

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Hi everyone! This is my first post on CC but I’m here to talk about the JKC scholarship. I’ve made the semi-finals! I was shaking when I heard that the email came in and only found out when my friend said he didn’t make it. I said, “I’ll only look at the title of the email.” and that gave it away. I’m SO nervous because I never even expected to make it this far. TBH my story was really intimate and I don’t usually tell anyone my problems, so I didn’t show it to anyone before submitting. I just I almost wish I wouldn’t have heard anything until April so stop some of the suspense.

There are 4 from my community college and 2 from my campus (out of 5 campuses). I’m really happy to see all of you also making it to the semi-finals and to have an outlet to express my rollercoaster of emotions. Here’s hoping we all make it! Congrats to everyone thus far!

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@Mackaylinmarie That is so wonderful - well done and welcome!

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@FinishingTheApp you made semi-finals last year too if I remember correctly, right? I would love to know what changes they made to the application between the two years?

47

Thank you @RainbowBritey ! This is my first time applying. I didn’t see the stats section at the beginning, so here are mine:

University: (your top picks) Georgetown, JHOP, UF, UPenn, FSU, Stetson (I know, I know, I’m shooting a bit up there. Send hope or prayers.)

Stats

College GPA: 3.77, should be graduating with a 3.8. I’ve been recovering my GPA since I started.

Volunteer Hours (approx): I’ve been in SGA for 2 years now so probably at least 400.

Other stats:

Teacher Recs: From our Student Activities Advisor? It was an academic recommendation I hope it didn’t HAVE to be a teacher oops.

Other Rec: President of my Campus

Hook (if any): Not sure exactly what this means, but I’ll take a shot at it. I had a really rocky start to college when I was 18. My father hurt himself at work and could no longer hold a job, he divorced my mom, I faced bankruptcy and home foreclosure. I haven’t had a really stable living situation since I started college and it hasn’t really improved TBH. At first, I lacked the motivation to do well and bombed my classes my first semester. I didn’t care. At some point, I realized my education was the most important thing and after a brief hiatus, I returned to school on a mission to do everything full-heartedly. That being said, I have retaken two courses and been really involved on campus. I’m a first-gen college student and non-traditional. Pell-grant recipient, but I think we probably all are.

I was President of the SGA at my campus for a year and really made some changes to the campus. This included creating unisex bathrooms, removing defective security buttons that gave students a false sense of security, creating a quiet room (for reflection, meditation, prayer, etc.), and lobbying for student rights in both Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. I was on like 8 different committees while president and won a student leadership award and student of the month for the State SGA system. I was on Staff for Florida Model Legislature last year and again this year. I also interned with a US House Representative last Summer. Can you tell I’m a polisci major? The last notable thing is that I created a scholarship endowment campaign to raise funds for student leaders who enrich the lives of others. The start up is 10k so wish me luck bc this girl doesn’t have ANYTHING to donate but time.

State or Country: Florida

Community College: Hillsborough Community College, Tampa

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Sex at Birth: Female. Gender is also Female.

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@RainbowBritey Yes I did, well there are a few things I noticed:

  • Most obviously the change of format. Last year was the last year that the application was separate from the CommonApp. Honestly speaking I enjoyed the CommonApp, I was just confused a bit by the "Other Docs" section since it asked for my resume again despite me submitting it already.
  • The questions changed. There were also less. Last year if I'm correct there were 5 essays: three short form, and two long questions. This year it was only 4. From what I've read the autobiography question is the only one that is asked every year, and is considered by many to be the most important.
  • I didn't have to submit scanned copies of tax forms which was honestly a timesaver. (My guess is that they'll ask some of us for them later on)
  • Semifinalists were emailed the same day the article was published, that was interesting.

That’s about everything I can think of off the top of my head. Also, I was thinking about maybe starting a Facebook Group for all the Semi Finalists to discuss college apps and to network? Is that too much or does it sound like something you’d be open to? Also, welcome @Mackaylinmarie !

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Ohhh, also as a note to people who are thinking of resubmitting next year: prepare to completely rewrite your essays. I was under the impression that I would pretty much have to paraphrase my last essays and resubmit. I quickly realized that the growth I’d made as a person in the last year was HUGE. New year, new you. When you are submitting an app for JKC, you need to be sure that everything in it represents who you are today.

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@FinishingTheApp thank you - I am so intrigued by this entire process. I also noticed the double resume, I think I had submitted mine before I figured out what was causing it to duplicate so I have that awkwardness on my application but by the time I helped my husband with his app I had figured out that we should skip the first resume request so that it fits neatly at the end of the app, or at least that is how it made sense to me, I am sure other people handled it in perfectly reasonable but alternative manners.

I would be totally happy to join a FB group to build our own wee community, let’s do it!

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@Mackaylinmarie may I just say WOW! Your achievements are both impressive and inspiring, I am glad to be sharing this space with you.

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Ahh, I’m making it right now and trying to figure out the basics. If anyone on here has more experience with that, your help would be much appreciated! If you’d like to be added just PM me your name so I can send you an invite.

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@RainbowBritey Thank you so much for making this forum for us to talk. Also, I’m not used to such flattery so thanks for that too! Really hoping that we all become Cookes! These would be our very first connections. :heart:

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@Mackaylinmarie You are not shooting too high. I know you can make it! I made it into Yale with a 3.8 gpa, and no SAT/ACT. You so got this!

To everyone else, I am here rooting for you all. I can’t wait to meet my new Cookie Cousins!

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@Mackaylinmarie I agree with @zoonbhrogers; You’re not shooting too high. You know what level of education you want to engage in and your choices are representative of where you know you belong.

I’m so glad you’re a semifinalist!

56

To supplement @zoonbhrogers , I also had a 3.8 (got a B in Physics, which was incidentally the major I applied through) and was accepted to Princeton. Focus on your reasoning to apply to a college, make it specific (as shown through your essays), make them realize why you’re a good fit for their institution.

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@zoonbhrogers Wow thank you! That gives me hope and I’ll add Yale to my list! I never took my ACT/SAT either because I knew I’d be going straight to a CC. ? I really hope I become a Cookie too!

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Does anyone know how much the PTK Fall scholarship is?

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Hello everyone, been lurking this site for a while, but I received my semi-finalist email on January 22nd, and from last year’s thread it looks like about a month before more emails come out?

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@defaultstudent1 I’m not sure. I was wondering if anyone had heard anything back? I heard that we may start hearing back in about 5 - 8 weeks for more information.