<p>Hey guys.. I just had my interviews today, how were everybody else's interviews? Mine were pretty laid back and seemed to go by quite quick.. I was wondering if you guys had the same experience.</p>
<p>My sister had her’s last week…I think her interviewer (based on her description of him) may have been one of my professors last semester. When do people find out about finalist status?</p>
<p>I’m not a candidate but I believe January 22?</p>
<p>Yes, it’s on January 22nd.</p>
<p>My interview was very informal…no off the wall questions or anything.</p>
<p>They seemed very nice.</p>
<p>Mine went well and I was surprised at how informal they were! It was nice.</p>
<p>Yeah we definitely hear this Friday, the 22nd.
Is it true that they’re cutting it from 238 to 55? In the past they have accepted at least 80-100 to move onto finals weekend. Do you think this means they’re cutting back the total number of scholarships?</p>
<p>The letter I received said that they are cutting from 238 to 55. I guess they also have international applicants in the pool for finals weekend. Last year they had 66 scholars. I think that the number of scholarships will remain the same.</p>
<p>I believe that OOS students should have already been notified of their finalist status. I am guessing that the cut from 238 to 55 is for in state students only since they are the only large pool left. There should be about 130 at Finalist weekend which includes international, instate, and OOS as well as those who have come through the admissions office.</p>
<p>The additional funding that the Cain family brought to the program has actually INCREASED the number of winners. The year my son won the Morehead there were 138 finalists and 43 winners. Prior to that they had been awarding approximately 50 per year but some investment problems caused them to reduce the number of awards rather than reduce the award itself. When the Cain family made their investment/donation to the program the goal was to increase the number of awards into the 60s annually.</p>
<p>What happens if someone that gets the scholarship does not want it?
Do they call the next person in line or something?</p>
<p>They don’t have very many who turn down the scholarship but some years it does happen.</p>
<p>If someone turns it down they have a process to offer it to an alternate. I have never learned whether they notify someone that they are an alternate when the winners are announced so I am not sure how that all plays out. I do know that in the past the list of winners announced initially has differed from the final list on a few occasions.</p>
<p>The year my son won, his roommate at Finalist weekend was one who turned it down but he was also someone who had come through the admissions office and was not from a nominating school so I am not sure that he had fully grasped or committed himself to either UNC or the Morehead to begin with.</p>
<p>I do know that they stayed in touch through their undergrad years and he often lamented turning it down FWIW.</p>
<p>Does anyone know any kind of stats about the out of state kids who are nominated for the Morehead by the UNC admission office itself? Like how many kids like that are there or how many become finalists? I was nominated by UNC this year for the scholarship, and I don’t know if that makes my chances better or not for getting it, or if it makes no difference at all.</p>
<p>Someone from UNC admissions posted earlier this week on the UNC admissions blog that the office nominated about 40 students for the Morehead-Cain. I’m not sure how many become finalists, though.</p>
<p>[UNC</a> Admissions Blog: About Merit Scholarships](<a href=“http://unc-admissions.blogspot.com/2010/01/all-about-merit-scholarships.html]UNC”>UNC Admissions Blog: About Merit Scholarships)</p>
<p>Generally if an OOS student turns down the Morehead it’s usually to attend H,Y,or P. On the other hand many who accept the award are turning down admission to HYP as well. My son turned down Y and P and in fact there were five or six others in his class of 40 that turned down Yale alone, several turned down Harvard and there was even one who was a double Stanford legacy.</p>
<p>FWIW, in the class that graduated this past May, a class of 44, 24 graduated Phi Beta Kappa, 37 graduated with either Distinction or Highest Distinction, two were named Truman Scholars and two were named Rhodes scholars. </p>
<p>In the current senior class, two Morehead-Cains have already been named Rhodes Scholars.</p>
<p>That should give you some idea of the competition I would think.</p>
<p>They are sending out notifications tomorrow. Do you know what time the usually come out?</p>
<p>Four years ago, my son received his email about his finalist status around mid-day…The email he received in March notifying him that he had been awarded the scholarship came just before 5:00…FWIW. Good luck!! It has been an amazing experience, especially the summer enrichment!</p>
<p>sdg</p>
<p>How’s senior year going? Hard to believe isn’t it?</p>
<p>PM me when you have the time to catch up.</p>
<p>I’m OOS, so my finalist notification came in early December, but I distinctly remember my winner’s notification coming around 4:51 pm in early March, just 2 or 3 days after finalist weekend. I was stoked, to be underdramatic.</p>
<p>Hey! If you get your email about being a finalist for the Morehead, will you post here? My expectations are low, but I know we hear today sometime. Good luck to all of you! :)</p>
<p>yeah good luck everyone… i havent heard yet 
i dont know when but ill post if I get it… but everyone candidate is strong its gonna be tough</p>
<p>I am an OOS admissions referral candidate and I just received an email today notifying me of my finalist status! The email came fairly early this morning.</p>
<p>Good luck to all prospective finalists.</p>
<p>My daughter, NC resident, just heard about her finalist status. Good luck to all. Waiting is torture.</p>