<p>still waiting from out of state</p>
<p>I have two Ohio students (Appalachian school) who received their Excellence notifications in January, with consideration for Distinction. (Neither has been contacted about interviewing for Distinction so assume they did not make that cut).</p>
<p>It sounds like the students contacted at the end of January were those also being considered for Distinction interviews. </p>
<p>Don’t be concerned yet if you haven’t received any notifications; they are just working on getting through those Distinction and higher considerations first. In the past, almost all the students in my district have received their Excellence award notifications in March. Just have to be patient. :)</p>
<p>@friedpasta. So do you think its too late now to receive distinction notices? 
I know the distinction interviews are till Feb 28th… Perhaps they will notify at least until the 21st? It seems like they are sending out emails on Fridays. </p>
<p>Ahhhh @pine95apple really?? I did not know that! I hope you are correct about notifications!!</p>
<p>today is friday did anyone hear about MSP excellence or distinction? Wish they could be quicker at notifying!!</p>
<p>Nothing here (in state)</p>
<p>i got the email about getting the excellence scholarship last friday and today i got a follow up email telling me i’m being considered for distinction and it gave me times and dates to schedule my interview. so i don’t know if the thing about them telling you upfront that you’re being considered for distinction in your excellence/prominence scholarship is true. honestly finding out that i’ve been moved into the distinction consideration pool came as a total shock to me haha. </p>
<p>my stats go as follows:
ACT 28
SAT 1960
GPA 4.22
Rank 2 out of 167
Chinese-Korean
took every AP, Honors and college-sponsored class offered at my high school (which isn’t a lot truthfully, my district is very small) and i’m also taking two post secondary courses at osu marion
Lots of extracurriculars and leadership roles in those; no sports</p>
<p>tbh, looking at my stats and some of everyone else’s who is posting here, i feel pretty average haha. so it’s absolutely my essay that got me through. fyi, i didn’t play the minority card at all. i probably mentioned i was asian in about two sentences and i left it at that.</p>
<p>so i guess, stay vigilant everyone. and don’t put too much stock in having the best stats, clearly it’s substance that counts with this scholarship and especially the distinction!</p>
<p>@ tsyni101 - thanks for sharing your info. Are you in state or out of state ? Edited to add…I just see that you took classes at osu marion, so must be in-state…</p>
<p>I wrote my essay about being Asian… Did I completely ruin my chances by being “typical”? My stats are higher than winners thus far, and I hardly think it’s fair that I worked hard in school only to not win because I did not have a disease or experienced immigration first hand (my parents came from Asia though, if that helps?)</p>
<p>yes i’m in-state, forgot to mention that haha. um, i can’t speak for everyone else who got the distinction email, but when i wrote my essay i approached it like this. “hm, diversity. well i’m asian. then again, i’m kind of a twinkie haha. plus the asian card is probably going to be pulled a lot with other people applying for it. crap. uhh y’know what yolo.” i just wrote about community service, the importance of the individual, and bringing awareness to things like the homeless pop in my county and freshman students who “slip through the cracks”. i talked a lot about things that i did to help with those demographics. so yeahhh. no diseases or immigrations here. (though i am a first gen asian)</p>
<p>i don’t think the “asian” card ruins your chances. i think they may glaze over it unless you can really add something that catches their eyes. example, i have two asian friends who applied for this scholarships. one wrote about being asian, traveling to asia, the culture etc. she hasn’t gotten anything from morrill. the other wrote about being asian, but more than that- he’s an MMA fighter, he goes to china to train and practice kempo and muay thai and compete. he got the excellence scholarship. </p>
<p>you see the difference? anyone can go to china and travel and enjoy the food, and appreciate the culture. but you have to go past that and show that you’re a diverse individual all around. also, you can have the best stats in the world but you need the substance too. and if you have the substance, you have to know how to show it in your essay. it’s the same with all those people who apply to harvard and MIT, i’m sure everyone who applies there has impeccable GPA’s, scores, curriculum etc. but only a tiny sliver actually make the cut and that’s cause they show that they’re different from the rest and convince the school they’d be a benefit if they were admitted. it’s not fair but that’s how those schools and these scholarships stay competitive. </p>
<p>D interviewed yesterday. The committee confirmed that there will be another round of distinction interviews. I assume that they will be within a week or two. They said notifications will be made early March. Good luck!</p>
<p>I wrote about being Asian in a predominantly white community and trying to balance a life of being Chinese while also trying to fit in with my classmates (it kinda hurts when they comment on my “squinty eyes”). I mean, it’s not like I wrote my essay on “herp derp Ching Chong I’m special you give me monee, I give you mooshoo”. I’m not even hoping for Distinction, I will be so happy with just Prominence.</p>
<p>Crap I pulled the diversity card kinda too. Haven’t heard back from them, getting kind of nervous. Hopefully we’ll hear back soon, until then I guess.
And @Honeymelon I could not help but laugh out loud at your herp derp comment (by no means in a racist way). It’s just so random yet funny yet…okay I’ll shut up now. Anyways hopefully we can both get prominence…some day…</p>
<p>@Honeymelon…Honestly, to say “it’s hardly fair that I worked hard in school only to not win because I did not have a disease” is rather offensive. I would guess that everyone who applies for this scholarship works hard in school. If someone won because they have a disease I would hardly consider it lucky…they DO have a disease after all. </p>
<p>Everyone has extenuating circumstances that we cannot begin to understand unless we live them
ourselves. I’m sorry my statement came out that way, I’m not saying an ill person that made C’s in school doesn’t work hard; it just irks me that the middle class can’t get anything, while the extremes get all the help.
Edit: Middle class people have to sell their houses and cars to pay for college. That’s what the FAFSA sees and thinks for EFC, as far as my mom has told me.</p>
<p>the morrill scholarship isn’t a need-based scholarship you know. and the middle class can get plenty. go online and search for scholarships. fyi there are plenty of scholarships geared specifically toward asians so you can apply for those. you shouldn’t be irked at all. help can be found anywhere as long as you put some effort into finding it.</p>
<p>@Honeymelon - morrill isn’t needs based and they haven’t completed making decisions yet. Have you received notification that you didn’t receive an award? If not, I don’t understand why you’re saying the middle class can’t get anything. And yes, everyone has circumstances that make them unique. As the parent of a child w/ multiple diseases/condition, I hardly consider my child lucky because of those conditions. Our life has hardly been “fair” to deal w/ those, but it is what it is, and we deal with it and do the best we can. </p>
<p>Trust me, I have scoured the Internet. You have to be an absolute genius or the son of a leprechaun to get scholarships ($1000 essay contest= hundreds of students competing). Even if I win 3 of these, that’s maybe $3000? One year of grad school costs $20,000, maybe more. The costs of college is just mind boggling to me.
@finngal: I guess I’m just feeling the pressure of college. I know there people who are much worse off than me. So I take to the Internet to try to find answers, and when I can’t, I complain. And those complaints sound ungrateful. T-T I think college is ruining my life and it hasn’t even started.</p>
<p>has anyone received notification that they were NOT selected as a morrill scholar?</p>
<p>@Honeymelon - I’m a parent, so in a different position than you are, but still feeling the pressure. Thankfully, my D has received a good scholarship from Miami, so that is our #1 for financial reasons. If that had not worked out, we were contemplating having D be a commuter student. Unfortunately, at this point, it is a waiting game - for us as well. We don’t anticipate making a decision until late March, when we hear from schools regarding financial aid/scholarships. Take a deep breath - eventually you’ll know the MSP decision status and I wish you the best!</p>