<p>You speak with a great deal of authority. Did the admissions department give you an opportunity to look at the applicant pool or are you making assumptions?</p>
<p>Is your comment about texture a way to justify not receiving a Johnson? There are a number of factors in any interview. All of the canidates are qualified. Without being in the room with the slection committee it’s pretty hard to second guess who was offered and who was not or that some “texture” qualifier was applied.</p>
<p>My S got his rejection letter today. It said there were 3100 Johnson applicants this year. In 2011 there were 2300 applicants. I guess word is getting around, and the competition is getting harder every year. </p>
<p>There was good news; in the mail today he also received notification that he is one of 100 finalists for The Distinguished Scholar program at U Delaware. Like the Johnson, there is a weekend on campus where you go for interviews, etc. I don’t know how the stats of the kids compare between the two programs, but they both have holistic selection processes. Why was he chosen at one and not the other? Who knows. I suspect a lot has to do with who reads your application, and what criteria the selection committee is looking for.</p>
<p>When you are staying in the dorms with students who were at the competition last year, there is a lot of discussion about what they had for scores and other things. Much joking went on about ‘well they picked me because I was ___ but only had scores of X.’ The school only has 14 National Merit Finalists in this first year class of 470. If the average of those invited up for the Johnsons is about 1510 – they brag about that in letters and stuff --, the enrolled average would be lower. That happens at every college between acceptances and enrollment. </p>
<p>If you spend some time on the website, you can find out a lot. There are news releases admissions information and the Common Data Set. Someone mentioned that when I was looking and it gives lots of information. I read a lot of that before I went to Lexington to help me know more about hte school.</p>
<p>About the texture point, the students I met who enrolled certainly added texture as W&L seems to want. I am not judging it either way. </p>
<p>I was told that the interviewers are the ones who pick the Johnsons by ranking them. I was pretty friendly with the student on the panel and that is what she told me. I inteviewed for a Jefferson at UVA and was told the same thing.</p>
<p>I received a rejection letter a few days ago–just one sheet of typed paper in a regular envelope. I live in PA and it was sent by US mail. Ah well, at least I was still admitted ED.</p>
<p>Sensible, you give advice based on your experience as a past finalist, yet below is your post from last year…We all use this board as a way to gain useful information, so when you misinform, it takes away the validity of the thread…</p>
<p>Sensible111
New Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 16
ED and Johnson Quality</p>
<p>I applied for a Johnson and was turned down (my stats, EC and vol wre almost exactly the same as some posters so I have no idea why they told me no, except that I am from a major market). I do know the Johnson students are pretty much the cream of the applicant crop so they would be considerably better than the average RD applicant. Good news for me is that the other scholarships I applied for are still alive and kicking. Whew!</p>
<p>Not So. I was ‘lurking’ there to see what others were like, competitive information. It was a competition after all so I was working on my behalf. Sorry if you are offended by that. I was asked up and did not get one. The student interviewer and I actually became friendly and Facebook friends. They have a lot of similar interests. Same area of study. We both did lots of community volunteering. Same sports and other stuff. They told me a lot about it afterwards. I came in LAST in my interview group. They said that the others they interviewed impressed the professors more than I did. Pleasant was the descriptive the profs used for me. Student found that funny, especially when they found out my stats, which were better than theirs. The conversations in the first year dorm were like I said. I stayed at first in Graham Lee and spent a lot of time in Gaines. I did get merit dollars from a W&L competitor and enrolled. Why W&L did not want me? I don’t know. SAT1’s were high 2300’s, SAT2’s were 780 - 800, 8 AP’s with 5’s and a couple of 4’s, NMF and several real appointed and elected leadership positions at a hard high school. W&L is a good place but you can expect the Johnson to be a little political. If you don’t you might be a little naive.</p>
<p>I gather from the above note you did not enroll yet you know the texture of those who did? You complain that you had better scores than your fellow competitors but didn’t get the nod. Once again you must have better access to confidential information than the rest of the applicants. You must be part of the admissions department. Good for you.</p>
<p>Based on what you have written in your comments throughout the W&L thread you come across as very self satisfied and smug. Could it be that you didn’t get a Johnson because your interviewer read that in you? After all, the scholarship is not based on grades alone. They may get you to the interview, but grades are not what get you the offer.</p>
<p>If you know anything about W&L, then you will realize how important character is to this institution. Something that is lost to a large part of today’s I want it now culture. </p>
<p>When you mature into an adult you will realize, I hope, that the only person responsible for your success is the one that looks at you in the mirror. </p>
<p>I’m sorry you did not get the Johnson. It is a wonderful opportunity for those who did, but hopefully your outstanding scores provided you opportunities elsewhere. I would guess that ultimately you will be happy at some place other than W&L where so much is place on personal responsibility, truth and integrity.</p>
<p>You are a little defensive about W&L. I am glad your D won a J. I have said it is a fine school. There are many others too. I chose Vanderbilt with an Ingram.</p>
<p>I’ve said this before. It is not hard to find out a lot of admissions information if you spend some time on websites. I did before I went. For several years the letters they sent to Johnson’s gave a lot of that information. That was why the discussion in the dorms was so open. Yes, my scores were better but that does not make me special, just someone with very good scores and some other good things I think. </p>
<p>You don’t know me so calling me smug and self-satified is just name calling and unwarranted.</p>
<p>With $240,000 on the line, I took the entire process seriously and did as much homework as I could on many schools. A lot of my summer before senior year was spent on this. If I had more time, I could write a guide.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of posts in this thread that mention “stats”. Every single one of them equates “stats” with SAT scores. The “stats” that really matter are your grades. The “stats” that matter are the academic rigor of your coursework, your class rank, and your GPA trend (going up or down). SAT scores are tempting to use as a proxy for intelligence or worse, as a proxy for your worthiness for admission or even being the recipient of a scholarship. They are tempting because they are so easy to compare: everyone takes the same test. But just because they are easy to compare doesn’t mean they are all that important to the admissions department, or, I imagine, to the Johnson committee. (They are also not a very good predictor of success in college beyond the first year). In the common data set, W&L lists Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Extracurricular activities and Character/personal qualities as Very Important in their decision process. They list Academic GPA, Standardized test scores, and Recommendation(s) as Important. So…SAT’s are an important, but not the most important factor. So why the preoccupation with them? Because they are easy to work with. Can we stop this obsession with standardized tests?</p>
<p>Just to throw this into the mix. Questbridge finalists who applied were automatically considered for the scholarship and were NOT required to write any additional essay.</p>
<p>I am not in any admissions office, but on my experience in recruiting inner-city students for Questbridge you are correct. Because of their backgrounds, they are a sought-after group on member campuses. They are given special treatment like you noted and are pre-screened for overall academic quality and capability in other areas. That may not seem fair but that is the politics and game of college admissions today. </p>
<p>This thread talks about stats a lot and QBs are probably not as strong as mainstream applicants who are accepted, particularly Johnsons at a place like Washington and Lee University. These students actually cost a school like W&L more than a Johnson Scholar because of the membership fees for QB and other special handling for these students. It makes sense that W&L would try to fund some of these students through the Johnson. </p>
<p>I would speculate the Questbridge students are taxing the schools ability to fund financial aid. Some magazine, maybe Forbes, did a list of liberal arts colleges within the last couple of years and the average financial aid grant they give. W&L had the highest average grant in the LAC list and was giving it to about half of its students. Like all but a few very rich colleges the real problem is that W&L does not have enough money in its endowment to fund the financial aid they are giving out. They use the tuition and fees paid by families who pay the full sticker-price to fund a lot of the aid they give out. They and schools like them who have been raising tuition at rates way above inflation for the past couple of decades are going to run out of people who have both enough money to pay the full bill and kids with good enough records to gain admission.</p>
<p>lunaAndAberforth, my host student texted me earlier this week. I am not doing anything to prepare, other than to review some information about the college and my programs of interest etc.</p>
<p>First, congratulations to those who were named finalists! </p>
<p>Second, I just wanted to add a little clarification to part of the eventual decision process - namely the panel interviews. It’s quite possible that W&L targets certain demographics in other stages of the selection process (e.g. finalist selection, admission officer interviews), but this doesn’t happen during the panel interviews - at least, it didn’t in my panel either of my two years interviewing. Your panel will have no knowledge of your test scores (a policy with which I disagree) or any financial information. They will have your resume and application essays.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for other panels, but my panels were honestly looking for the best and brightest students. The biggest difference I noticed between the successful and unsuccessful parties was the level of engagement and comfort. Remember, you finalists are being recruited to W&L because the school thinks you can elevate the quality of everyone’s education (not to mention the boost to rankings), so they naturally want to see a demonstration of what you’ll add to the classroom.</p>
<p>What does this mean for your interview? The most important thing is not to be passive during the interview. Show passion, please. I’ve never seen someone harmed by being too assertive and enthusiastic. You’re panel is there to learn about who you are, and it helps if you make that person seem interesting. The second most important thing is to remember, even if only vaguely, your application essays, as they will have them and reference them.</p>
<p>The main reason I’m sharing this information is because I want the brightest students to be the ones winning the scholarships, and I’m not sure if such a heavy emphasis on the interviews best facilitates this.</p>
<p>I thought my interviews were fine. I am fortunate to already have many college options, including a full tuition Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship. While I hope to win the Johnson Scholarship, I trust that I will end up at a great school either way.</p>
<p>Daughter had a wonderful, yet hectic, time visiting. Wishes she could have have spent another day meeting more students and visiting the town. Interviews were relaxed but challenging. W&L has moved to the top. Hoping for great news in the days ahead.</p>