I haven’t really heard of the Jefferson Scholarship until recently, and I was looking for some extra information. I am confident I can get the school nomination, but I wasn’t really sure about what the interviews are like, what is looked for in applicants, or how being from different regions matters (highly populated region vs less populated). I would also welcome any discussion of UVA or the Jefferson Scholarship on this thread as well! Thanks in advance!
Are you instate or OOS for VA?
I am out of state! and I my high school nominates! @thumper1
My opinion…this is a very competitive award. Your SAT of 1290 or ACT of 30 would need to bump up a bit.
Can I ask…you are inquiring about a number of highly competitive scholarships. Really…to be competitive for most highly competitive awards, you need an ACT of 33 or more…or an SAT closer to 1500.
Hahah, I totally understand where you’re coming from. I’ve had fun asking and posting on CC, and I’m really finding that it is my ACT’s that need help! I have been asking about these top notch scholarships sort of in the same way some people marvel at ivies. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from CC posts, it’s that these scholarships and schools OOS are not easy and highly competitive! Nonetheless I appreciate your responses, and rest assured I will be studying profusely for that September ACT! @thumper1
@“WVOR357$”
You need to also look for other schools that are in line with the stats you have. You need to get accepted…or those scholarships won’t be available to,you at all.
So…start looking at the characteristics of colleges…that might be more affordable…given the stats you have now. You can always add some others if the standardized test scores do increase.
You might also want to look at some test optional schools…but I don’t think you will find ones with the types of very generous merit awards you are inquiring about.
Hi, I am a Jefferson scholar in my first year at UVA, and my biggest impression of the scholarship selection process would be that they really consider your character in the interview and final selection rounds. Your ACT/GPA might be important to get your high school to nominate you and to make it to the first interview, but after that you may have one or two rounds of interviews, and then a selection weekend where you’re invited down to UVA to compete for the scholarship. A lot of these latter rounds focuses on what you wrote in your essays and how you can conduct yourself in an interview. My opinion is that they look for people who really enjoy learning and have a passion to better the community around them in some way. Granted, the kids selected have very good high school records, but I think it’s more about your character than about any one statistic. I think being from a faraway/unpopulated state can help you make it to the final selection weekend because you have less people to compete against in order to secure your state’s nomination (EG, I’m from Oregon, and only had to interview once with 15 other students in my pool, whereas some VA people had to interview twice or three times with probably 50-100 other students before being invited down to the selection weekend). But after you’re invited down there, I really don’t think they consider geography in making the decisions about who gets the scholarship…it’s all about who exemplifies the values best, and how the class would mesh together as a whole. Good luck!