Johnson Scholarship Chance Evaluation

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington & Lee University
1

I’ll try to keep my situational sob story short: my parents make a lot of money, but have absolutely no interest in helping me pay for college, which puts a major strain on my ambitions of attending a competitive and expensive school like Washington & Lee University. This circumstance has made me really strive to make myself as competitive an applicant as possible in the hopes that I might receive some merit aid should I be accepted. I am planning on applying for the Johnson Scholarship Program. Below is my resume in a nutshell; please use it to give me a realistic idea of whether or not I have any shot of receiving this great scholarship package when I apply during my upcoming senior year of high school:

STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES/GPA
-GPA: 4.00 unweighted; 4.59 weighted (as of the end of my junior year)
-ACT Composite: 35 (English=36, Math=32, Reading=36, Science=36, Writing=9)
-SAT Subject Tests: 770 in literature; 720 in Physics (plan to retake Literature as well as try Spanish and Biology in the future)
-PSAT: 216 (I live in Kansas, and this score has never not been high enough to make National Merit Semifinalist status {knock on wood})
-AP’s: AP European History=3; took 5 my junior year and am waiting on my scores; taking 7 my senior year

EXTRACURRICULARS
-Cross Country: 9, 10, 11, 12?
-Swimming: 9
-Track: 9, 10, 11, 12 {varsity}
-Debate: 10, 11, 12 {varsity}
-Book Club: 11, 12
-Student Council: 11, 12
-Tiger Mentor (council a group of underclassmen on high school life for about 1 hour per week): 11, 12
-Science Outreach (go to grade schools and do science experiments to get kids interested in science): 11, 12

LEADERSHIP
-elected Junior Class Secretary
-elected Executive Student Body Secretary
-elected Secretary of my high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society
-regional leadership conference attendee
-Herff Jones leadership seminar attendee
-selected to attend week long Emporia State leadership camp this summer
-chosen to represent my high school by serving on the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board, a committee that meets every semester to discuss how the school district can best adapt to meet the needs of its students

COMMUNITY SERVICE
-volunteer weekly during the fall and winter as a youth group leader at my church (10, 11, 12?)
-involved in Gift of Life Rally (an organ donation education group; 11, 12)
-a myriad of other things through my involvement in student council

HONOR SOCIETIES/AWARDS
-principals honor role every semester
-National Honor Society
-National Spanish Honor Society
-National Science Honor Society
-National History Honor Society
-Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
-National Forensics League (Debate Honor Society)
-Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest Semifinalist
-NCTE Award for Superior Writing Performance
-1st Place Winner of the District Poetry Contest

  • Published Author of Poetry (in a national anthology of high schoolers’ work; less than 2% of entries were accepted for publication)
2

Your resume looks strong as far as your making it to the Johnson Scholar semifinalist stage, assuming you have strong recs and essays. Looking at your leadership and EC’s, I bet you’d do well in the on-campus competition. Be sure to demonstrate interest this fall by talking to any W&L admissions rep who visits your area (not sure how heavily they recruit in Kansas) or asking for an alum interview.

There are numerous CC threads on merit scholarships, so check those out and build your application list with merit money in mind. D loved W&L, and we were very grateful for the opportunities the Johnson scholarship made possible, but you will want to cast a wide net as the Johnson competition has become much tougher every year. The profiles of Johnson Scholars in the annual reports would be interesting if you haven’t already seen them:

http://www.wlu.edu/johnson-program/the-johnson-scholarship/annual-reports

If you like the idea of a LAC in the South, also consider Sewanee, Centre, Trinity (San Antonio), and University of Richmond as they all have significant merit awards. Tulane and Alabama are examples of bigger schools with generous merit money for students like you. Good luck!

3

Thanks for the response! The link of the scholar profiles was much appreciated.

4

You certainly are a strong candidate. I bet you’ll get invited to Johnson weekend. But the selection of finalists (just like the whole college admissions process) can be a bit of a crap shoot.

5

Our son was not invited to Johnson Scholar competition however he was admitted. He has decided to attend. As an FYI he did get full tuition and stipends for merit from Temple in Philly. We are out of state residents not in Pennsylvania. Don’t overlook some of the public schools that are trying to boost their stats by looking for students like you! Good luck