Presidential and Old Gold Scholarships?

<p>Does anyone have experience with the Presidential and Old Gold Scholarship process? </p>

<p>How achievable are these scholarships for incoming freshman who meet all the academic minimum requirements to apply for them?</p>

<p>Additionally, if the prospective student already has been awarded other merit awards from UofI, does that impact their ability to receive the Presidential and/or Old Gold awards?</p>

<p>Thanks!
FC</p>

<p>I don’t recall the numbers from when my son applied two years ago, but there are a lot of candidates, as you can imagine given the not-insanely-high requirements. We did discuss it with an honors advisor who suggested that your essay be out of the ordinary, show some personality, maybe some humor (without being trite). They read a million of them and look for something unique.</p>

<p>If you receive the first level scholarship (old gold, i think), those selected for the big one are chosen seemingly at random, by his description, as the candidates at that level are all similarly excellent.</p>

<p>As for your last question, I don’t know but I would think not.</p>