<p>Anybody know what kind of stats you have to have to be selected?</p>
<p>From the information I received w/ my Nat'l Scholars Program packet, the program is equally interested in one's academic achievements and extracurricular achievements, particular cultural and leadership experiences. I think the Calhoun Honors College is primarily concerned w/ GPA and SAT/SAT scores, whereas the NS selects around 40 (42 this year) students from Calhoun acceptees, based on their potential in service learning/enrichment experiences; thus, NS requires an essay-intensive applicating focusing on extracurricular involvement. According to Clemson, while NS may be more selective, the 15-19 selected have about the same academic stat's as those in Calhoun.
Hope that helped :)</p>
<p>Any current National Scholars, or anyone who attended the Scholars weekend in previous years, want to let us know how the weekend went for them. How the interviews are conducted, sample questions, etc. Anything would be helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>jelybo,</p>
<p>so they have already notified those who they are asking in? when did you receive your package? when is the interview weekend?</p>
<p>Hi I am a national scholars finalist :)</p>
<p>um...actually i didn't even know what the hell NS was until I got their little email and letter, so I guess I have to go for that weekend at clemson. And I'm from SC as well. I guess I'm the only one from my school though :( There were 19 ppl from Columbia btw...and if anyone wants to see the list, I can PM it or something...</p>
<p>Anyways, here are my stats:</p>
<p>ACT score: 35
SAT II scores: Math II: 800, Chem: 750
GPA: 4.37 on the South Carolina Grading Scale
APs taken: um, 5 this year and 2 last year</p>
<p>Leadership:</p>
<p>-Helped organize the SC/NC Princeton Math Contest Team
-Math Team President (12)
-Young Democrats Chairman (12)
-Intramural Quiz Bowl Captain (12)</p>
<p>Organizations, Awards, Honors:</p>
<p>National Honor Society (11,12)
-South Carolina All State Math Team (11)
-South Carolina ARML (American Regional Mathematics League) A Team, competed at Penn State University (11)
-Member of South Carolina/North Carolina Princeton Math Contest team, which won the contest.
-National Team Winner of AHSIMC (American High School Internet Math Contest) (12)
-USC Upstate Math Contest-4th place individual
-South Carolina Governor’s School of Science and Math SPRI (Summer Program Research Intern) program scholars (11)
-Intramural Quiz Bowl (10, 11, 12)
-Science Club (12)
-Math Team (10,11,12)
-Young Democrats (10,11,12)
-MCAFE (Multi Cultural Awareness for Everyone) (11, 12)
-Model UN (12)</p>
<p>Athletics:</p>
<p>-Junior Varsity Boys Tennis (9,10)</p>
<p>Other Extracurriculars</p>
<p>-SCJAS (South Carolina Junior Academy of Science) Science Contest (11)
-Created an internet math contest (the MIMC) (over 100 participants) (11)
-Furman Math Tournament, USC Columbia Math Contest,
USC Upstate Math Contest, College of Charleston Math Contest (10, 11)
-South Carolina Art Contests (9,10,11)</p>
<p>Current Activities-</p>
<p>-USAMTS (USA Math Talent Search): got 23 points out of 25 on round 1--3 commended solutions
-Presenting SPRI research (Effects of Diet and Exercise on Colorectal Cancer) at SCJAS on April, 2007
-Registered for EMT (Emergency Medical Training) for classes in 2007</p>
<p>Community Service:</p>
<p>500 hours of total volunteering
-Volunteered at Palmetto Richland Hospital over summer (10)
-Volunteered at Bryan Psychiatric Hospital over summer (9,10)
-Volunteering at the South Carolina Heart Center
-Volunteering at J.M. Tucker nursing home</p>
<p>there were 42 ppl selected from 14 states, jelybo07, which school are you from? I think you can tell who I am since my username has my real name in it ;)</p>
<p>shob,</p>
<p>what are you planning on majoring in?</p>
<p>THX</p>
<p>mathematics and biology</p>
<p>Actually, from what I've seen in past years, NS stats are higher than honors college -- sat about 100 higher, HS gpa about .9 higher (weighted)</p>
<p>Shobhit</p>
<p>um...actually i didn't even know what the hell NS was until I got their little email and letter, so I guess I have to go for that weekend at clemson.</p>
<p>Seems like you don't really want to go -- probably shouldn't if you're not interested in clemson.</p>
<p>Shobhit, I am the lone Mainer! Haha, yeah Jamie e-mailed me and said "do you have any pre-existing connection to Clemson? We are all down here wondering how a person from Maine got connected w/ Clemson...you're the first in all the years I have been doing this!" </p>
<p>But I do have family in the Carolinas, and my dad is moving to NC next year, so Clemson isn't completely random :)</p>
<p>I had no idea about this NS either, and am really quite surprised I was picked as a finalist...I am beginning to seriously think it is b/c I am from Maine, or I am 42nd on the list in terms of qualifications lol</p>
<p>InTheKnow
-I am very very sorry if I came off as a little arrogant or obnoxious with my comment! I didn't mean it like that, but then again, sometimes your personality comes off differently on message boards and I apologize. I didn't mean it like that at all! If I wasn't interested in clemson, I would not have applied ;) and I definitely look forward to the Clemson weekend--in fact, this is the first time I'm visiting Clemson, S.C.</p>
<p>-Jelybo07, did you by any chance get that national scholars form that we're supposed to fill out by Jan. 31 yet? And if you did, did it come by mail or something...since that NS packet they mailed me didn't have that form in it.</p>
<p>Does anyone know exactly what kinds of questions they ask in the interview and what the "activities" are?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.clemson.edu/national_scholars/%5B/url%5D">http://www.clemson.edu/national_scholars/</a></p>
<p>Quick conjecture is that because ~50% are instate and ~50% female and because this is a recruiting tool esp for oos those ratios will hold when they make the final selections. So instate does not compete with OOS. Male does not compete with female.</p>
<p>Also last year at least two of the finalists decided to go elsewhere and knowing this board is only a subset of the finalists I would guess about 10% of the finalists may get better offers and take them. Hope this provides perspective.</p>
<p>One finialist I remember from last year was selected for the program but chose furman instead. A second I think went to Rice. You can search the archives using google to see the last years posts on the subject...So guessing most finalists are very very strong you should see some attrition as finalists get other offers that are equal to Clemsons. </p>
<p>No I was not a finalist last year but I was accepted to Clemson last year with a full OOS waiver and an extra 3k a semester and watched the NS discussion pretty closely. </p>
<p>I wound up at GaTEch which has a presidential scholars program similar to Clemson's NS program and from what I saw it seems they both, Clemson and GATech, run their programs about the same way Increase our geographic diversity and thus our national rankings using this program as a recruiting tool. </p>
<p>I find it interesting that no a single GA kid made the list and that seems to support the geographic diversity thesis. </p>
<p>FYI my sister graduated from there in 2006 magna cume laude. She loved the school. She is now in grad school and her two roomates are in med school.</p>
<p>Good luck google NS and try the wayback machine, <a href="http://www.archive.org/index.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.archive.org/index.php</a> , if you don't fiind anything There may be something in the internet archives.</p>
<p>Ahh but last year's group was all from SC or surrounding states. So not very diverse geographically. The group that are currently in their 2nd yr is probably the most geographically diverse group in the program. All of these kids who make the finalist list are outstanding and will have offers from other schools - not necessarily better ones, but maybe ones that are a better fit for one reason or another.</p>
<p>Oh wow, "y'all" have such nice, flattering things to say about the finalists; I am shocked that I was selected b/c I really didn't think I was anything too special...they must have just gotten really excited about the fact a Mainer applied to Clemson :)</p>
<p>aha! I just realized that a student from our school was excepted into NS and is now at Clemson. She graduated in '05. </p>
<p>And jelybo, I'm very sure that it's not just b/c you're from Maine that you were selected, plenty of ppl from out of state--including the northeast--apply to clemson ;)</p>
<p>Awe, well thank you Shobhit! I come from a very small school, as you all can see (is it just me, or is it weird seeing my whole name, hometown and school posted on the internet for all to see? haha), so going into the college admissions process, I was a bit worried about how my achievements and such would hold up in comparison to others across the country. It kind of makes me feel bad/guilty that b/c of my class rank (and with a class of 70 kids, 1 rank will cost you ~1.5% points) and performance during a 6 hour test (I still don't think SATs are a good indicator of intelligence, but that's another story haha), so many opportunities are open to me. </p>
<p>I am a bit worried about how Southerners perceive Northerners, is the Yankee/Rebel animosity still an issue in South Carolina?</p>
<p>I look forward to meeting you, and everyone else, next month! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in the warmth! I was showing my friends at school the Clemson Virtual Tour, and they are all so jealous b/c the campus looks so beautiful! :)</p>
<p>"I am a bit worried about how Southerners perceive Northerners, is the Yankee/Rebel animosity still an issue in South Carolina?"</p>
<p>yes, there is still a little animosity, but most of it is just fun and games. I have gotten a few yankee jokes cracked on me since I'm from NY lol</p>