<p>What ab the alumni scholarship?</p>
<p>I seem to be a bit behind in the conversation here, but in regards to current Jefferson Scholars, many many MANY of them go out and have a good time on the weekends. I was talking to one of my friends who is a Jeff Scholar c/o 2011 and he pointed out that Jefferson Scholars only need a 3.0 GPA to keep their scholarship, so they have no reason not to party hard (a 3.0 is no real feat for brilliant Jeff Scholars). Keep in mind that this certainly does not apply to all of them. They work hard. Just a thought.</p>
<p>haha, I haven't paid attention to this thread, but I have to say in response to filmkeep89 that I live in a suite with 2 jeffs scholars and... wow. Thats all I have to say. I am fully convinced that he only has the ability to do 2 things: study and drink. He seriously parties harder than anyone else in this suite (that is saying something in my suite, trust me), and he also tokes up every now and then. The kids smart though, he did pretty well first semester, and he studies more than I've ever seen anyone study.</p>
<p>Work hard play hard I guess. To each his own.</p>
<p>Have you other finalists made travel plans yet? My letter didn't say anything about paying for airfare, etc.
I'm planning to get there on Wednesday afternoon, but I think you can arrive as late as Thursday.</p>
<p>The letter I got from my local committee said all travel expenses would be covered. I made my plans. I'm coming in on Wednesday evening.</p>
<p>Make sure you're there in time for the Monticello tour! It's totally awesome. You will send your travel itinerary to the Jefferson Foundation and they will mail you a check to cover the costs. They're totally loaded so don't worry about price!</p>
<p>good luck guys.
Kristin</p>
<p>Yeah, the Monticello tour last year was great! Thomas Jefferson was really a neat guy.</p>
<p>Haha about not worrying about the price, Kristin. I felt so guilty last year, because my airfare was incredibly expensive.</p>
<p>hey mathwizard--PM me sometime and let me know who you are in real life. </p>
<p>and i think my airfare was something like $400-$500...WHO CARES it's thomas jefferson for chrissakes.</p>
<p>enjoy!</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the sats are for the 900 Jefferson scholars who don't make the finals..how many still get admitted?</p>
<p>I read somewhere that 10% of the incoming class at UVa were nominees of some sort.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips about preparing for the selection weekend? Is it worth it to study for the math/logic tests?</p>
<p>It is not worth it to study for math/logic tests. The idea is to test your critical thinking skills and problem solving skills, not your mathematic ability. You have plenty of ability.</p>
<p>Here's an example: "How many kilowatt-hours of electricity does the United States consume in 4 years? Assume that the average household has 20 lightbulbs, 70 watts each, turned on at any given time." So, obviously, no one is supposed to know that, or use a formula, or be able to figure it out. What the Jeff committee wants to see is that you can take some information, do something meaningful with it, and produce a result.</p>
<p>As for the essays and debates, DEFINITELY read those papers. Read them, read background information, talk to people that are familiar with it, everything. If you can speak well in your debate and have a great interview (which you will) then you can easily compensate for a poor math/logic score. I'm unsure whether or not a stellar math/logic score would compensate for poor social/rhetoric skills.</p>
<p>Unrelated, but the prof that administers the logic test is absolutely amazing. He's been doing this for years and actually came into our class on a bike or with a bike helmet on or something. The guy must be at least 90. He's so funny!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations and enjoy your time at NSW.</p>
<p>-Kristin</p>
<p>Thanks, Kristin!</p>
<p>Has anyone received the packets of reading materials for the seminars/essay?</p>
<p>nothing yet. i'm getting antsy.</p>
<p>I received mine today; it's pretty thick but looks like it's really interesting. I live relatively close to Charlottesville, though, so I may be one of the first to get it.</p>
<p>You guys probably won't receive any more information from the Jefferson Foundation until closer to selection weekend. If selection weekend is the last weekend of March (I believe it was last year?), you can expect to get your packets at max a week or so before you leave. </p>
<p>They'll send you more information about the weekend (itineraries, times/dates, travel information (like if you need a ride from the airport)) along with the readings. The readings for us were in the form of a magazine-type article and a research article. I believe they try to give you one that's slightly science-related (ours was about attachment theory between infants and mothers) and one that's more current-events related (ours was on refugees from various parts of Africa).</p>
<p>Thank you Kristin!
I'll probably get it on Monday then.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if it's OK to take notes in the article booklet? It says we can bring the articles but nothing else into the test room.</p>
<p>You can and I did, but the questions asked aren't really objective. The essay question(s) is/are more designed to see how you can put what you read into a larger context rather than just testing to see if you read it.</p>
<p>So, for example, if your article was about Bosnian refugees moving to the Midwest, the question might ask you something like "Do you think the United States is tolerant of new immigrants, and if you don't think it is, what should be done to rectify this problem?" Which would then test if you read the article (to see how the US is tolerant), if you're up to date on current events (ie, that you know SOMETHING in regards to how the US currently or recently treated immigrants), and if you can come up with an alternative without too much prompting.</p>
<p>Don't stress about the essays and the math test too much. They are not built for you to do perfectly on them. Be sure to show off your personality at the formal dinners, debate, and final interview. You all will do GREAT. Once again, way to go on making it this far! All the best.</p>