<p>Gosh, jtm. Don't you realize that there are other jeff scholars who have connections either through themselves or their parents? I doubt persepolis knew all of the nominees anyway, and my friends directly told me they had connections that helped them. Geez.</p>
<p>You are a bitter, bitter person, barboza. And ill informed. You need to stop giving people who are interested in this scholarship the impression that it's some kind of rigged competition. I don't know where your info comes from but if someone slipped in on connections, that's too bad because everyone else worked hard for it.</p>
<p>First of all, I am not a bitter person - I am stating the truth here from the account of my friends who are Jeff scholars; this is an admissions game and not everything is purely based off the contents of one's application. Second of all, I am not ill-informed. This scholarship has many qualities that are looked for in a nominee and realistically not everyone can demonstrate all of them to exceptional standards. And finally, there's always some sort of "rigged competition" especially in the game of admissions, because not every admissions officer will have the same opinion or decision, and will therefore have to rely on other means to evaluate the applicants. I am encouraging as many people to apply for the Jeff scholar program, as it gives you full-ride to UVA. But in order to have the best possible chance, you must do everything - and anything - to stand out in front of the admissions committee. Good luck.</p>
<p>I am also a first year Jefferson at U.Va., and I have to say that I agree more with jtm than with barboza, although it may seem like I'm just trying to validate my own selection and place it above a mere "crap shoot" or connections game.</p>
<p>I'm sure connections help in many scenarios, but I believe that your son has a great chance if he does get the nomination from his school and makes it to the interviews. I don't know a single person from this year who knew anybody on any single one of their selection commitees, but I do know for sure that every person has an above-average ability to engage in debate and communicate thoughts. The interviews are stressful, but they are looking for relatable people, not those who simply put their name on every list or kill test scores or whatever.
Basically, your son should highlight his pursuit of his passions (the Obama campaign, reading, etc.). Not every Jefferson has done incredibly extraordinary things.</p>
<p>Best of luck, and, overall, just remember that admissions/scholarships aren't the most important things in life.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Jefferson nominees must apply to UVA by 2 January 2009, or is acceptance to UVA a by-product of receiving a Jefferson scholarship? The Jefferson Scholar website is not helpful (applying to UVA is not required "at this time"--what does that mean?).</p>
<p>The Jeff Foundation is not connected to the Office of Admission. It's actually independent of the University. You still have to apply to UVa, as we do not share files.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my school was not on the "eligible schools" list, so I was not able to apply for the scholarship. Even though I probably wouldn't have had a great chance at it, it's still devastating to know that I can't even try!</p>
<p>how is a school eligible?</p>
<p>that is what I wasn't sure about. There was some list of schools on the Jefferson website; my school was not listed. I think that I can still be considered an "at large" candidate though.</p>
<p>Last year my school was not on the list for eligible schools. I contacted the foundation, asked how to get on, passed information onto my school, and got us onto the list. I am now the nominee and on to my first round of interviews.
It was lucky that I looked at that list last spring, otherwise I wouldn't have any kind of a shot.</p>
<p>I started this thread. I did the same thing as the poster above did. I realized that my son's school was not on the eligible list. I worked with the Foundation and the school to have the school made eligible. My son became the school's nominee, and now he is off to the first round of interview this January.</p>
<p>I since learned that in entire NJ, only 42 candidates applied, which means that there are a LOT of schools that did not provide this wonderful opportunity to one of their students.</p>
<p>My general impression is that the schools are so busy doing what they MUST do for the whole student body, they don't proactively search for wonderful opportunities that my just apply to a tiny, tiny, tiny minority of the students.</p>
<p>The students and the parents must really light up the fire under the seat of the school officials.</p>
<p>lol i like how the OP says “we have never put any pressure on him to “mold” him in anyway.” yet he/she went through all the trouble to get his/her child the nomination… and write the longest post i’ve ever seen on CC outlining 9 reasons his/her child rules</p>
<p>I realized during my interview process that after a certain point, academics aren’t stressed nearly as much as leadership/citizenship. The average Jefferson Scholar scores a 2200. Fewer than half of them scored an 800 on any section of the SAT. They average about two 5’s on AP’s per person (scored totaled through their junior year of high school). It seems like once an applicant is past a certain threshold, the academics take a back seat to leadership and citizenship.</p>
<p>I mean OP, your son seems like the typical genius prodigy with not much else to offer. No knock on him he probably pounds books and has a photographic memory and all but Jefferson Scholars are as much well rounded people as they are brainiacs. My friend has made it to the 3rd interview so far. If he passes this one he goes to the leadership camp-like day they have at UVA for the finalists. He has a 2200 and almost all A’s and were at a public school. It does have a very good reputation but not the 30% ivy status. So he has the backing of grades but leadership and ec’s are what really make it. He is captain of 3 varsity sports and did student council. He trapshoots in his spare time and spends alot of time reading Greek Mythology and Arthurian Legend. He plays sax in the school jazz band. And has gone to distinguished leadership camps and what not. And hes got a great social life and drinks on the weekends.</p>
<p>Im sure a fair share of solely natural brainiacs get these scholarships, but it seems like they are really looking for diverse, interesting, and well rounded smart kids.</p>
<p>Any other nominees hear if they’re finalists yet?</p>
<p>I got my letter last week.</p>
<p>Actually, I doubt that more than maybe two or three “solely natural brainiacs” are offered the Jeff. Looking on the site, I saw that none of the Jeffs in the class of 2013 have any significant academic achievement notable enough to be listed on the front page with the other accomplishments (the two academic awards listed are scholarships that Jeffs may have earned but cannot use since they may only be used at RPI and Univ. of Rochester, respectively). Some Jeffs may very well have been offered to a few kids who were International [insert science] Olympiad participants or people with other outstanding academic achievements but turned the offer down for places like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, etc., but my personal experience makes me less likely to believe that.</p>
<p>During my interview, one of the interviewers asked what I was looking for in a college experience, and after my response, this interviewer drew attention to the differences between UVA and a school like MIT. At this point, I glanced around to see that three of my four interviewers had written MIT in large letters and circled it at the tops of their papers. I guess I had been pegged as the “MIT type” based on my strong focus on and achievements in math and science in my academics and extracurriculars. In reality, I applied to several MIT-caliber schools but not MIT or Caltech, which I then told the panel. I said that I did not want to go to a tech school. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I feel like my major stress on academics actually disadvantaged me as it made me seem less balanced and more like someone who isn’t the “UVA type” (like the five Jeffs from my region whom I had recently met totally appeared to be). Indeed I am not like the polo-shirt-wearing, preppy-looking, high-society, old-money student that would “fit” the UVA stereotype. I hope I sound more honest and realistic than completely and baselessly arrogant when I say I know I had the strongest academic aspect in my region (I know many of my region’s other finalists personally, and after hearing the introductions that the committee gave at the reception two days prior to the interview, nothing came close to rattling my confidence in my academic prowess). The leadership was all there too. My citizenship - and by this I mean community activity/volunteering as opposed to character, etc. - however, was about as lacking as it can be for an Eagle Scout. I have maybe 30 volunteer hours total throughout high school not counting my project, and the hours are scattered across organizations rather than focused. And I definitely did not start a charitable organization like a few others in my region. I don’t believe that I had the balance they were looking for, and I learned that strength in one area doesn’t necessarily compensate for “weakness” in another.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: my interview had several very good moments but was not flawless (I’m not exactly the warm, affable, extroverted type, and there were a few questions I was not prepared to answer), and my online application was very rushed and not very well-thought-out. Also, I may be completely wrong since the selection criteria may be different in different regions.</p>
<p>Fight The Tide: Let me set you straight. Many of my Jeff friends were offered full rides elsewhere, as I was. My credentials were largely academic and no, I did not start a charitable foundation and I am not the “preppy type.” I am certainly not a “leader” by any means nor an outstanding citizen. I was basically a really good student with some cool academic EC’s. Some of us came in as both Echols and Jefferson, most did not. We are a diverse group in some ways, but we are lacking in minority scholars. I believe that the foundation and many of the scholars are actively seeking to remedy this problem. Things like being offered a Jefferson Scholarship are a crapshoot, kind of like getting into Ivy league schools. There is so much competition and many deserving people do not get the offer. There is no magic formula…a lot of it is just luck. You can’t really put a rhyme or reason to it. One thing I do know. My panel was a diverse mix of serious academics, not “school spirit” types. And now that I have gotten to know the other Jeffs over the past several years, I know we do not think of ourselves as some kind of elite club, but as a mix of people who are thankful for whatever good luck and hard work got us here. Most of my peers have done quite well academically at UVA. You sound like a really smart kid who will be very successful wherever you go. Don’t try to over analyze…it is what it is and you will have a lot of other opportunities.</p>