Presidential Scholars and High Schools that Don't Rank

<p>Just wondering how they determine who receivs a scholarship for high schools that don't rank. I was just browsing the UVM scholarship page which seems to indicate that SAT scores and class rank are used. My son's school sends a profile which shows where he is (top 30-40%), but this chart does not take into account rigor of curriculum. Also this is a prep school where the majority of the student body would be in the top 10% of their public high school. His school does not weight grades and he took mostly honors and 4 AP's. His SAT scores are above their published numbers for the Presidential Scholarship. Any ideas?</p>

<p>My son’s school does not rank either and is a very competitive private high school. By not ranking they force the colleges to look at the school profile which should clearly show the level of students who attend that school. The colleges will also look at whether or not your son took the hardest classes available to him and what his grades were. Don’t worry this is why schools like this do not rank - to be in the top 30% at such a school is not the same as being in the top 30% in our local public high school.</p>

<p>Also, many colleges calculate their own GPA which eliminates the problem of inconsistent GPA calculations amongst high schools and the extreme grade inflation that is out there.</p>

<p>My understanding is that it is a black and white decision based on SAT scores, my son got 5K, his friend who is #1 in class got 6K and I see others have gotten more.</p>

<p>At my son’s schools the decision does not appear to be a black and white SAT decision, those who have taken difficult coursework have gotten more money regardless of SATs.</p>

<p>Interesting. The UVM website does seem to infer that the decision is based on “superior SAT scores” and mentions class rank (which my son’s school does not have), but does not mention gpa specifically. </p>

<p>Bonac…would you mind sharing your son’s SAT score? My son just got his acceptance on February 15th and I am crossing my fingers that he gets a scholarship as well. 2130 SAT/30ACT.</p>

<p>Offered presidential for $7500 with a reported class rank of just below top 20% and SAT of 2190, if that helps anyone.</p>

<p>I am sure ECs/essays play some role in it too. I got $7500 a year as well with an ACT composite of 32 and an uw gpa of 3.79 and top 10%, however, I believe it could have been anything for me (including ECs and essays.)</p>

<p>Thank you. I don’t think it says anything about class rank (as that can really vary depending on where you go to school - but then again, maybe UVM is pretty familiar with at least the New England boarding schools and public high schools). It did say ec’s and recommendations play a role on an old (2008) site I found.</p>

<p>How long after admission does it take before they send out these types of notifications?</p>

<p>Okay. Son got 7K with 2130 SAT and 3.27 unweighted GPA (prep school, honors and AP’s), 30 ACT. He was only to 40% at his school, but I guess that translates to to top 5 or 10% at our local public.</p>

<p>keylyme… your S sounds similar to my Junior S. He is at a top private prep in CA that sends around 70% to top 50 schools. No ranking. My S sits around a 3.4 right now with rigorous course load and 2190 SAT’s. He LOVES UVM!! I am thinking he will get into honors too and probably end up with some merit aid/ scholarship as well. What I am worried about is the FA. I have heard that UVM is not very generous. He would have to get some to be able to go. He has some pretty substantial and impressive EC’s so I wonder if they take that into account when awarding FA.</p>