<p>Could anyone tell me how difficult it is to get into the Nitze Scholar program? I am visiting St. Mary's next month with my son (a junior) & was wondering what kind of GPA, SAT's, etc. those of you who are in the program had to get in.</p>
<p>My daughter is in the Nitze program class of '09. She graduated from a Maryland public HS, 3.8 or 3.9 unweighted GPA, Natl Merit Finalist and very well-rounded with activities and sports.<br>
They had about 65 kids from which they chose the final 15 after an interview process. They do admit some rising Sophomores each year to join the incoming Freshman.<br>
They are looking for brains with well-roundedness. Her initial impression was the girls are pretty normal, but thought some of the guys were "geeky". Some are very intense with their classwork, my daughter is more laidback but conscientious.
Her cohort will be studying India intensely Fall '06, then traveling there for 2 weeks over Winter break. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks ginas00, your input is very helpful. Sounds like an incredible program--congrats to you and your daughter! Not sure if my son can get in, but we'll give it a try. His gpa is about the same as your daughter's, but his psat scores weren't incredibly high. Do you know if being from Maryland is an advantage? We live in Pennsylvania. Will that hurt his chances? Thanks, pamela</p>
<p>Hey. I haven't really done this in a while, but I'll post what I did in high school if it will help.</p>
<p>MD public school (Montgomery County, but not Blair or Richard Montgomery or any sort of magnet program)
SAT: 730 in each of three areas
GPA: 3.98
wGPA: 4.64
AP's: 5's in US Hist, Psychology, Comparative Gov't, English Language, English Literature. 4's in World Hist and U.S. Gov't. 3 in Calc BC.
SAT IIs: 760 lit, 690 math 2, 650 US History (though I don't think St. Mary's needs those)</p>
<p>Clubs:
Editor in Chief of literary magazine
VP of Model UN and Tri-M Music Honor Society
Flute section leader/1st flute of 28/Pit orchestra for 4 years/a few other music things
NHS, Mock Trial, Debate, a few other things on and off</p>
<p>Recommendations: Great. I had some really good relationships with teachers and my counselor.</p>
<p>If they invite your son to apply to apply (which they do around March if I remember correctly), there is an essay and a paragraph involved, as well as an interview. After being invited, those are probably what make the difference...SAT's, grades, and extra-currics just get your foot in the door. If your son is an engaging interviewee and is a good writer, he has a good shot. I really clicked with my interviewer (it was more like a fun conversation than anything else) and I like to write, so the essay was actually kind of fun for me.</p>
<p>I do think that the program is about to get a lot more competetive. I might be wrong, but I think there were at least 90 people interviewing for it. They over-accepted this year (26 people that they accepted decided to enroll, as opposed to 15) which means that they'll probably be even more picky in the future. I think that as private schools get more expensive, Nitze will get more competetive. I picked St. Mary's over Brown because I thought it was a bargain...Brown wanted about $150k total. Big debt after college = BAD.</p>
<p>I'm from MD, but if I were to take a guess, I'd say that being from PA might possibly be slightly more attractive to them because it adds diversity.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son! I hope you both enjoy your visit =)</p>
<p>Thanks for you info, underthebelljar. Your stats are truly impressive--not sure if my son will come close to those, but we will see this year. He does interview well and write well & I know his recommendations will be great. But, his EC's aren't nearly as impressive as yours were....ah, well, we will give it a shot!</p>
<p>You are one smart cookie taking St. Mary's over Brown (imho). No way should you leave college with a lot of debt--just doesn't make sense when you can get a good education in other ways. We are trying the same route & also looking at schools of UDel, URI, U of NH, Ramapo, etc.--wherever they'll give him some kind of honors program, etc.</p>
<p>Did you get merit aid as well?</p>
<p>Thanks, pamelab</p>
<p>Well, I kind of went nuts and tried to do EVERYTHING EC-wise in high school, but I think as long as he has shown a lot of interest and perserverence in one or two things, it'll be ok.</p>
<p>Thanks for your support with my college decision. =) It's always reassuring to find people who agree.</p>
<p>I did get merit aid. $3000 from the Nitze program, and $4500 in addition to that. I'm not positive that $4500 is the max you can get if you're not in Nitze, but I think so. That will only really cover most of tuition, so keep in mind that there is still room and board to take care of. They don't offer merit-based full rides, but I think that's because they want to give money to as many people as possible.</p>
<p>Oh, and to clear up my earlier response, should the school decide to, they will invite him to apply for NITZE in February or March, not the school itself. They only decide to invite people to apply for the Nitze program after they've read their school admission applications and decided to admit them to the school. I'm not sure if I made that clear or not.</p>