<p>So, I was invited to apply to Presidential Scholars. I'm just wondering a bit about how this program is thought of, how hard it is to be a semifinalist/finalist/scholar etc. The application seems pretty intense. Anybody else invited or know anything about the program?</p>
<p>i'm in it too =)
i'd say pretty intense...if u read the info it said 3000 out of 2.8mil seniors. here in nj even this girl who got a 2380 the 1st time on her sat didnt make it</p>
<p>moi aussi.</p>
<p>i was under the impression that it was JUST perfect scores. as in, 2380 wouldn't make it anywhere.</p>
<p>is it due today or on the 27th? the forms are saying different things. :/</p>
<p>edit: and i'm not sure how hard it is to become a semifinalist, but only 144 out of those 3000 seniors actually become presidential scholars. 4.8%. you have half the chance of becoming a presidential scholar as you have of getting into princeton. that said... good luck!</p>
<p>It was due at 5 PM central time today.</p>
<p>It's not just perfect scores. It depends on your state; I live in VT and I qualified to apply with a 2300, so...</p>
<p>The SAT scores used are Math and Critical Reading only. In some states, some years, they have to be perfect, but not in others.</p>
<p>Lol, well I ended up applying... but my long essay kind of sucked; I really doubt I'll even be a semifinalist. Good luck to anyone who applied!</p>
<p>Also, la montagne, I think the deadline was extended for some people who found out late. You might have been one of those people...</p>
<p>Numbers:
~2600 invited
~1800 apply
~500 semifinalists
~121 scholars</p>
<p>Halve (approx) those numbers for each gender.</p>
<p>I estimate that your chance of randomly getting chosen is between 4 and 8 percent depending on what state you live in because some states have over 40 candidates due to ties.</p>
<p>How long were your long essays?</p>
<p>Mine was less than 700 words.</p>
<p>Mine was a modified version of my college essay. :/ </p>
<p>I'm lazy. What can I say. </p>
<p>lalaloo: I was one of those people.</p>
<p>Mine was over 1300 words...hmmm, I hope they don't mind the verbosity.</p>
<p>By the way, I think the number of invitees is closer to 3000 this year. Presidential Scholars decided to offer invites to 300-400 more students after the initial announcement was made.</p>
<p>haha I did my whole app in an hour today :-</p>
<p>long essay = about 400 words
two of my short essays were two sentences, though the others were longerish.</p>
<p>My short essays met the character limit; my long essay was like 1.5 pages or something. Heh, my short essays were pretty good.. but I thought the long was kind of unoriginal. Ah well, we'll see!</p>
<p>lobgent, it's not 3000; the number was 2700 including the 400 who were notified late - and I think those late notifications were based on ACT scores not SAT - at least they did the right thing and notified the extra students!</p>
<p>Uh, not that it matters, but I just checked, and the number is actually 3121, give or take a few.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone who applied! Hopefully we'll get to hear some good news soon.</p>