@kb199977 and @hwangpasta Welcome, both stats looking amazing and wishing you best of luck!
@hwangpasta In regards to volunteering, honestly your activities seem packed already so I wouldn’t worry, especially considering your research involves certain communities. But again we don’t know exactly how the judges weight things, regardless, wishing you luck.
@Snekfest @ARousseau @Timothy5298 thanks for the welcome fam and yes, good luck to you guys as well
@kb199977 greetings
@Snekfest yea…unfortunately, research can be like a time suck (esp. working with bacteria) so its a life goal of mine to figure out how to be able to contribute in that realm…like regardless of the scholarship
@ARousseau I appreciate your kind words, you’re a phenomenal candidate and it’s an honor to be a semi finalist with you! And regarding the community service/volunteer hours, I only have about 40 hours of service. I started during September of 2018 and never really have time to do much because I work to help provide for my family. I don’t think they really care about the hours, though it can help. I just think they want to see at least SOME form of community service/volunteer hours.
You guys have me shook about the second email thing. I’m gonna call it the second email scandal lol. But yeah, I never got the second email and neither did my co-semi finalist at my school, who I feel is 100% winning the scholarship. He’s the most remarkable student that I’ve seen so far, so if he hasn’t received an email, I don’t think the second email scandal is a real threat to us, because a lot of us are actually amazing candidates too. Don’t worry y’all !
@kb199977 Now that’s the spirit, I’m sure many of us are already swamped with school work, so a second email to worry about is not good timing. Stay positive friends and GL!
Hi, guys, did anyone receive an email from Jack Kent Cooke about completing an IDOC (Institutional Documentation Service) form?
@Jnavas IDOC is part of CSS - after you completed your CSS when they sent the second email did you go back the next day to upload documents? It takes a few hours for the College Board to activate your IDOC dashboard so you have to go back to upload copies of tax returns and supporting docs, it is totally normal and nothing to worry about 
That’s the thing I didn’t receive an email from either the college board or Jack Kent Cooke. Also for the IDOC, my friend got her email from Jack Kent she didn’t get one from the college board. It’s weird
@Jnavas so this will vary if you had a pre-made CSS profile or not. Usually after completing a css profile for the first time, college board will direct you nicely to IDOC. Now if you already have it setup and this is the case for most of us since most schools require the css profile when applying for institutional aid, you just need to log back into IDOC, AFTER you have added the JKCF.
You will log into IDOC using that old info you received from IDOC with the login details. Wish this helps somehow. Best of luck
Hey guys did any of you get an extra email after the IDOC for any interview ?
@Brightmontana they’re asking for you to be interviewed?
Hey all, what is your top choice school and why is it perfect for you?
I just sent in my last application and I have a fairly broad spread of choices so I am interested in how other students decide on a favourite and where JKCF types go
@Brightmontana Yes I got an email for interview as well
@Brightmontana and @Stardust55678 did you both also receive the email about additional information ?
Alrighty do…
Top/ Dream: Cornell, perfect major and by far best academics for my major/ concentration in Data Analysis. Also love the cold weather and secluded campus.
2nd Top Choice: USC, by far the closest and most perfect curriculum for what I want to do which is Data and IR. Decent academics and amazing location being close to SV.
Rest in the order: Stanford, Columbia (GS) Accepted, UMich, CMU
Stanford is 1000% not happening but I thought why not 
@Kmag22 yes I did and did you get an email for an interview?
Oh man, well here’s my top pick and why…
Princeton is definitely my top/dream school. Amazing prestigious school, but it caters to my specific interests and would allow me to explore beyond my academic boundaries.
As a political science major, Princeton obviously has one of the best Politics departments in the world. Furthermore, they have a professor who has the EXACT same research interests and specializations as I do. He’s one out of a handful of professors in the country who shares the same research interests as me. Furthermore, he grew up in the exact same manner as me and is a Latino, and a RELATABLE latino role model in academia is so important to me. Additionally, Princeton has this certificate program called Technology and Society, making it one of the few schools in the nation that would allow me to integrate tech and politics to be able to explore my research interest of civic and voting technology. Overall, Princeton is my top pick for valid academic reasons, but I can’t ever imagine myself being accepted. I expressed deep excitement in my application but I know people who are much more amazing that are applying to Princeton, so I dont expect anything.
@Stardust55678 No I did not receive either… I’m just trying to see if there is a corellation with the second email and now an interview… I think it’s safe to say the foundation does make a second cut. Anyways, best of luck with the interview !!
@kmag22 I got the second email on 02/12 and also completed my interview yesterday. The interviewer was really lovely - super warm, welcoming and human, we chatted about school choice, about various aspects of the scholars’ program and about her college experience. I do know another student who got the second email but has not (yet!) received an interview request. I know 2 more semi-finalists who received both the second email (02/12 CSS etc request) and an interview request on 02/28, three if I decide that I know @Stardust55678 
@snekfest great list! I love that you add “secluded campus” as a positive!
@kb199977 Princeton is incredible all on its own, but your reasons for loving it make it even more so - I think representation is so extraordinarily important. If you reflected your genuine interest and enthusiasm as well in the app as you did here, and your stats and achievements qualify you as a Cooke Semi-Finalist you have a pretty solid shot at getting in, best of luck!
@Stardust55678 please tell me your username is a Neil Gaiman reference, that would make me happy even if it is untrue 