<p>I guess there must be at least two distinct groups at UR - those that get the scholarships and those that bring the overall stats down to a point where good students think they might have a chance for the scholarships because their stats are well above those posted; but then again your personal stats are very impressive (and not all very different from my daughters). When she was researching her schools, there were some where she realized she would be REACHING, but Richmond wasn't really among the reaches for stats, just for finances. I know she will be very disappointed to learn that Richmond is no longer among her choices because EFC is too high for need and Richmond is out of the question without scholarship. Thankfully she has received scholarships from other schools (and hopefully will have additional options to some of her "reaches" when all is said and done following the finalist visits to those schools). We just find it a little shocking that there are so many perfect ACT / SAT / GPA students who have also managed to "find the cure for the common cold" or other such impressive and significant things that make them stand out so far above and beyond. I guess she isn't as "special" as we would like to think she is...:(</p>
<p>Mom2girls, the fact that your D isn't among the finalists doesn't make her less "special". It's not always about academics, EC's, scores etc. Be sure that she is as smart and as capable of great things as any of us. Good luck!</p>
<p>Mom, just curious what other schools your daughter was selected as a
finalst. I wish you all the best in the ultimate selection.</p>
<p>Emory; Washington & Lee; NCSU - finalists; other small colleges have offered scholarships without "competition" ranging from $8-$15K per year.</p>
<p>Yep, didn't make the cut. And I'm heartbroken.</p>
<p>Nothing here either ... I'm a bit surprised ... I had a 35 ACT and 4.0 UW GPA ... The competition must have been intense.</p>
<p>I'm sorry--I know you are all disappointed. With respect, what I will say about all the other scholarships that you (or your sons and daughters depending on who the reader may be) have been offered at places is that I congratulate them. Richmond does not think it is any better or worse than any of those places. We think (know) that each college has a unique and different (although liberally overlapped in some places) applicant pool, different criteria for the awards, different selection committees and etc. I understand why you would like to receive awards from all the places that are considering you, but I would like to think that all of these differences enable the "system" to reward many different students rather than rewarding a small group of students with so many varying offers and shutting out many more students from any awards at all. </p>
<p>I know that your students are all special. Trust me, my colleagues and I have been living with them all for the last 2.5 months and falling in love with them. 50 scholarships sounds like a lot and everyone whose profile is in our top 25% seems to think that they will be one of the 50--but of course it ends up that these awards go to our top 1% (and not quite that). </p>
<p>Good luck with all the decisions that are ahead.</p>
<p>UR Admissions, how many finalists are there? I'm particularly interested in the Science Designation. I read on your site that only four science scholars will get full tuition, room and board - is this a fixed number?</p>
<p>Tanna--</p>
<p>Please contact the US Embassy or Consulate that is closest to your home and learn the requirements for a tourist visa. It should not be a complicated as getting the F-1 visa that you'll need as a student. I don't know your country, but I don't think we've ever had a student who was unable to visit because of a challenge with a visa. </p>
<p>Good luck, and let us know how it goes. It might be easiest to communicate directly with Jen Hale, whose contact info is in your e-mails and letters since she knows your situation (to me, you are anonymous, remember?). </p>
<p>I hope to meet you soon!</p>
<p>UR Admissions</p>
<p>Lamassu--There are about 90 finalists and they are broken down between the various designations but I'm not going to give you all that detail. The final decisions with Science of how many will receive room and board in addition to tuition will be firmly decided after the interviews--I would think that 4 is a good estimate however. </p>
<p>I look forward to meeting you soon!</p>
<p>UR Admissions</p>
<p>heartbroken here too. i thought for sure richmond was the place for me, but this scholarship would've been the only way it would be financially feasible.</p>
<p>but i guess i wasn't meant to go here, after all. God works in mysterious ways.</p>
<p>UR Admissions, I am Bangladeshi. My name, Tanveer Ahmed. (I really don't have a problem with not being anonymous at this point in time). I spoke on the phone with Jen Hale, and she assured me that if the need arises, she would even be available to be contacted by phone so as the consulate may speak to her directly. She informed me of the FedEx packet with is due soon, and that upon receiving that packet, I should contact them about my situation ASAP. I am on my way to the consulate as we speak to collect forms for the Tourist Visa designation. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>sunshine, don't count it out yet. UR does meet 100% of demonstrated need and I think caps loans at $4,000 a year. I personally took on debt to pay my own way through school and I think if it's really what you want, then you should go for it even if it costs a bit more, as you can't put a price on happiness (but that's also not to say you wouldn't be happy elsewhere). Just make sure you look at the bottom line costs, not the top line costs, as they can be two completely different numbers and the school that costs the most at the top line isn't always the most expensive at the bottom.</p>
<p>Good morning all--</p>
<p>If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, we meet 100% of eligibility for need-based aid and most of the aid is in the form of grants which do not have to be repaid. Unfortunately, for international students, we are not able to extend that same level of financial support and while we try to meet 100% of the need of those that we are able to award with need-based aid and it is all in the form of grants (student loans are very difficult for non-US citizens to secure without a US co-signer), we are not able to award aid to every qualified international student. We regret this deeply and are constantly in search of greater funding for the many wonderful international students who apply and who we would love to have in our student body. </p>
<p>If you are an international student and were not chosen as a finalist for Richmond Scholars, please know that we are still working on need-based award decisions. We know you are anxious but these are difficult decisions and they are very carefully made. Thanks for your on-going patience.</p>
<p>I hate to say this, but I'm really, really turned off by the fact that non-finalist emails haven't even been sent yet. It's bad enough that we all have to be disappointed, but the fact that we haven't even been "told" yet makes it worse. At least for me. It's like we're not as worthy of knowing the decision since we didn't get picked. I don't know. I'm probably still just disappointed. I just don't like how that played out.</p>
<p>I'm very sorry about your disappointment. I suppose I could have gone on this site and told an untruth that we weren't finished notifying finalists yet and to hold on to the hope. Maybe that's what I should have done, although users would have inevitably started talking about what day they got the e-mail and figured out that they were all received on Tuesday and that I was a fraud. Social networking has some serious weaknesses and this, in my opinion, is one of them. It's disappointing not to be chosen and under no circumstances can I change that. </p>
<p>Right now we're checking back on all the semi-finalists to be sure their semester grades are all here and all acceptable. We're determining who will be offered the Presidential Awards. </p>
<p>In the spirit of trying to be transparent, that's what we're up to. And we continue to be sorry when wonderful students have hurt feelings because once upon a time, we were anxious high school students waiting for our decisions too so we know that it is no fun at all to get bad news.</p>
<p>As a semifinalist who was not on the finalist list, I share the disappointment of everyone who did not make it, but UR Admissions has been amazing and honest and incredibly responsive. I really appreciate it. I do believe you care.</p>
<p>Spiders05,</p>
<p>I am an international student :). So unless some incredible act of God occurs, I'll definitely be left with a lot more than $4,000/year, and I'm quite understandably in no situation to be able to pay 10x that amount. But hey, I guess it could happen right? That would really make my life a whole lot better, since Richmond has been my dream school since I visited it in October.</p>
<p>But if not, there are other schools. It's not the end of the world... and I think I've said that same phrase a million times, but it doesn't really make it hurt any less.</p>
<p>I realized that I didn't congratulate all the finalists. Congratulations! You guys truly deserved it, and good luck in your interviews. :))</p>
<p>UR Admissions,</p>
<p>I was selected as a semi-finalist, but not a finalist. Could you please post more information about the Presidential Awards?</p>
<p>UR Admissions, I also do greatly appreciate your honesty. One thing I have loved about the admissions process at Richmond is the accessibility I have to ask questions without feeling intimidated or having to go out of my way to contact someone and wait weeks for a response. By no means should you have lied about the status of the emails, and I realize it's not your fault they didn't go out all at the same time - I definitely wasn't saying that. Above all, I appreciate how you have been a constant source of information for all of us. Thank you again. :)</p>