There are schools that have scholarship deadlines before the regular decision application deadline.
Before RD, sure. Many have them with the EA/ED deadline.
But I havenât seen any that are before the EA/ED deadline, which was the topic. (âin mid=October they complete their first round of consideration for their full tuition scholarshipâ)
24 âessays/questionsâ as mentioned - anything that needs to be written, including optional/honors college questions, though not including things like Cornellâs âWhat three words best describe you?â as 3 items. Specifically, max lengths of:
2 of 650 words (one being the Common App essay)
1 of 550 words
4 of 500 words
2 of 300 words
5 of 250 words
5 of 160 words
2 of 150 words
3 of 100 words
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It may on their admission or financial aid page. I know USC has the 12/1 and Vanderbilt has a similar date. These dates are not listed on the common app. Just their RD or ED dates.
Itâs Hollins and they didnât say they were making a final decision. They said âin mid-October, we complete our first round of consideration for our full-tuition scholarship competitionâ, which is what I typed above too. Iâm sure there will be further rounds and itâs just an incentive to get those apps in. They do have a hard deadline of December 1st on their website for consideration for their top scholarship.
Weâre not counting the questions as essays. Thatâs too much pressure over here. They are just âquestionsâ. That makes it a little less anxiety provoking.
D22 last night showed me her Common App essay draft. Sheâs submitting to her AP Lit teacher for review. Honestly, itâs really good and best of all sheâs happy with it. It will be interesting to hear her teacherâs comments, but I feel great relief.
I donât want to jinx it but it looks like she may actually be able to take the SAT this Saturday. I canât remember how many times her tests have been canceled since last year â seven? Eight? Stakes are high because she wants to apply to Georgetown. Sheâs feeling in limbo so no plans for EA or ED. USC and UCs are early though, so the writing goes on.
She told me two of her close friends, very good students at private schools, are applying to 25+ selective schools. This seems like utter madness. I assume they are getting this advice from their high school counselors. Even if some essays can be repurposed I canât see how they can do a good job on the supplementals, which should be targeted. Other friends at her public school have announced they are only applying to elite schools and will go to community college if they arenât admitted. D seems the outlier with 11, maybe 12 that are safety, match, reach.
She seems to be much more motivated about the process. Itâs no longer conceptual and her friends are talking about it, which has made a difference.
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Wow, that is a LOT of schools!
D22 has 4 or 5 on her list. I might get her to add one more, but that is probably going to be it. She started off with a big olâ long list but has been eliminating them. Her list is Safety heavy which is fine by me. I donât think she really has a Reach on it, but maybe has a Target or two.
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S22 list is similar. Full of matches and safeties. No reaches. Definitely reduces stress levels around the house.
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S22 applied for scholarship nominations from his HS for UVA (Jefferson) and Villanova. He had to fill out a separate application for his HS , submit several essays, and interview with the principal and five other counselors and teachers. He said the interview was pretty intense, but thinks he did well. We should find out in about a week if he is nominated.
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Yes my daughter and I had to fill out a 7 page form for her guidance counselor. 
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Advice needed:
My kiddo is looking at applying to one university that want to see ALL the testing you have ever done. This means submitting SAT from 2 years ago (first time taking it), all the ACT tests, and all the AP tests you have ever done. What should we do? The most recent SAT is really high-really great but the first 2 were not as strong (high 1300âs). The school is a favorite. All good APâs yet one that was unexpectedly lower taken online this year (where a good percentage did poorly). Advice?
P.S. I wish someone had warned us, so wish we didnât rush into a SAT!
Iâm not sure I understand the question. If your daughter wants to apply, all test scores are provided, even if some are not as high as she would like. Or, she can decide she would not be a competitive applicant and choose not to apply.
If the school is your childâs favorite, apply and hope for the best. Plenty of students show an improvement in test scores. They will see that the first tests were from two years ago and hopefully the most recent will carry more weight. You have no choice but to submit everything.
And yes, thatâs why many on CC will advise students not to take the SAT or ACT as practice until theyâve thoroughly prepped.
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Is this Georgetown? I know a few schools that require all scores of the test that you submit - CMU requires that you send all SAT scores if youâre submitting an SAT score, for example - but all tests of all sources is odd.
Be sure itâs an actual requirement - many schools have changed this policy over the last few years. Donât depend on College Boardâs outdated list or, gack!, Prepscholarâs garbage article.
If it is a requirement, thereâs not much advice Iâd provide other than to comply with the guidelines.
(Edit: and even GTown is ambiguous. AP is only ârecommendâ, it says âSAT or ACTâ, and â submitted directly from the testing agencyâ (singular).)
Sounds like a very good upward trend. Seems THAT is a solid story, similar to an upward trajectory in GPA.
Geez, that sounds brutal. We were very fortunate on that front - D22 told our college counselor in the spring that she was interested in being the Jefferson nominee from our suburban public school, and she was told that they would make sure she was considered. Then about a month ago, she was told that she would be the nominee and her GC was working on the papers already. I doubt anyone else even expressed interest - Naviance indicates that very few from our school apply to UVa.
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So we got my DD22 first acceptance (albeit the known one) to UA Huntsville. She got Presidential scholarship, it covers tuition for all 4 years and first yearâs room. Cybersecurity Engineering major. I am officially done worrying where she is going. From financial perspective this is as good as it gets. She has 6 more schools and all going to be EA, so it will be up to her to choose whichever she wants out of them, if she gets to any of them, but I am rooting for UAH 
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I think you have to submit them if they are required. Make sure they are actually required, first, though and that it is not just a suggestion/recommendation. If your childâs transcript is otherwise strong a slightly lower SAT from 2 years ago isnât going to be a deal breaker, IMO.
Unless the kid is applying to Oxbridge, I am unaware of any college requiring reporting of all AP scores.
If applying to Georgetown, which requires all SAT and ACT scores, the answer to âwhat should we doâ is simple - send all scores. Itâs a requirement, not a recommendation. While itâs a stupid requirement now that everyone else has abandoned it, itâs an equally stupid reason to not apply.
That said, they look at the best scores. The expectation is that of course scores will be higher 2 years later. A lower score from sophomore year will not be the reason they are rejected, if they are.
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Hi All! Joining the conversation. My daughterâs apps are in at 3 of the 4. She just did 4 match schools. She has received two acceptances- ASU and TAMU (auto admit) and is expecting the third anyday now (UTD, auto admit). The fourth (SMU) wonât be awhile (Feb/March) due to their process. She was advised by their recruiter to do regular decision (Jan 15) rather than early decision since it requires a portfolio and she is taking AP studio art this semester and is working on some pieces that they said she should finish and include for best chance of full scholarship. SMU said there is no benefit to applying early, unlike the other schools. They said at SMU applying early doesnât increase her chance for admission or scholarship but submitting her best put together application and portfolio does, so donât rush it. Now we wait for full financial package details from each school. Gotta jump on that FAFSA and CSS! We donât have financial need but she is top 10% and a College Board Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar so we are expecting scholarships. Some are guaranteed scholarships due to the college board program (ASU and TAMU), some are not (UTD and SMU). So 
! Iâm anxious to know where she is going to decide to go and we wonât really know for sure until March/April. She will either be a 45 minute drive away, a 3 hour drive away, or a 3 hour plane trip away! 
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