<p>DD didn’t make the cut. She’s disappointed, because that was the only way she would be able to go, with OOS costs over $40,000. Alabama so far has waived tuition for 4 years, plus $2500 per year from the engineering department and they’re OOS for us, too. But I hate to see her so disappointed.</p>
<p>Got into stanford, didn’t make it as a semifinalist 0.o did not realize it was so competitive! congrats to everyone who made it though! that’s a phenomenal accomplishment!</p>
<p>I got my email today saying that I was a semifinalist with only a 29 on my ACT. At first I was shocked, but as I read on it started to make sense. The President’s scholarship is based heavily on leadership and extracurricular activities. I am the senior class president at my school, varsity basketball captain, Spanish club VP, Mclean County Urban League President, on top of all my other activities.</p>
<p>My son was notified of his semifinal status with a similar ACT score and activities as ChrisTrunell. His gt calculated gpa is extremely high, however.</p>
<p>I emailed the Presidential Scholarship committee and asked what they’re looking for, because I’m class president, XC captain, peer leader officer, regional chair of the massachusetts student advisory council, blah blah lots of extracurriculars haha. I’ll post their response here once they get back to me!</p>
<p>"We look extensively at the ratings that our admissions office gives to your activities and essay, as provided by you in your application. For some students, it is clear that they simply did not bring to the table all that they had to offer when they completed their application. For many, it is simply the fact that their best is being compared with the best across the nation. Truly, thousands of accomplished students like yourself were not named as semifinalists.</p>
<p>You asked what the selection process looked like. Many semifinalists demonstrated extensive activity in service and extracurriculars, including leadership positions. Others demonstrated exceptional GPAs, test scores, rigorous coursework, etc. Most showed a little of both. The semifinalists showed excellence all around. This is how we made a determination on who would move forward. It was a very difficult process."</p>
<p>-response when I emailed asking about the president scholarship process</p>
<p>Woke up from a nap to an email notifying me of my status as a semifinalist! </p>
<p>SAT: 2290 (CR-780, W-790, M-720)
SAT Subject Tests: US History - 730, World History - 720
AP Tests: AP Lang - 5, APUSH - 5, AP World - 5, AP Calculus AB - 3
GPA (unweighted, 4.0 scale): 3.86
(weighted, 100 point scale): 97.something
I will graduate having taken 10 AP classes.</p>
<p>As I understand from the rest of the replies on this thread, the President’s Scholarship weighs quite heavily leadership and extracurricular activities. With respect to that, I am my school’s Student Body President, having been active in the Student Government Association since my freshman year. I play piano, played viola in the orchestra, and am in NHS & French Club. I am also the Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper and a two sport Varsity athlete. I currently intern at a local newspaper.</p>
<p>I am very pleased to have been selected. Good luck to everyone moving onto the next round!</p>
<p>mm… as for extracurriculars, I’ve done four years of marching and concert band (french horn), president (and previously treasurer) of Tri-M Music Honor Society, secretary of Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, Science Bowl, NHS, 4 years participation in Science Olympiad and Math Team (with awards), performing with my city’s concert band (mostly adults, performs for charity events), plus a lot of other community music groups (local community college, honor band, etc.), volunteering at a children’s symphony camp, Varsity Track athlete… plus, for summer, 2 weeks at Michigan Math and Science Scholars, 4 weeks at Summer@Brown, and 3 weeks at the Summer Academy of Applied Science and Technology (SAAST) at the University of Pennsylvania (for credit - got an A-). Plus a 4.0 uw GPA taking the hardest coursework available at my school (will graduate with 10 APs). no semifinalist here… meh.</p>
<p>Our son has excellent grades (>4.3 weighted GPA), tons of AP courses, perfect scores in SAT subject tests, 2350 SAT, 35 ACT. But I think what made the difference for him was the extracurricular activities (all-state band, volunteering inside and outside the US) plus his excellent essays stating his deep desire to improve the world by using biomed engineering. The problem is that from 536 kids they still need to chose only 75, so it will even more competitive… we are very proud of him though !</p>
<p>Is it 75 or 110 selected? Guess I got the answer now…Looks like 110 are invited to the Scholars weekend and 75 get selected…kind of a bummer for those last 35.</p>
<p>Read 75 here:
[Georgia</a> Institute of Technology :: President’s Scholarship Program :: Home](<a href=“http://www.psp.gatech.edu/]Georgia”>http://www.psp.gatech.edu/)
Read 110 here (plus some good statistics…if they ever can be trusted):
[President's</a> Scholarship/Hope Scholarship | Georgia Tech Factbook](<a href=“http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/presidents-scholarshiphope-scholarship]President’s”>http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/presidents-scholarshiphope-scholarship)
Just remember what Mark Twain says about statistis:
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.“</p>
<p>The shot at PS was a long shot with the odds as such. It is a system that you cannot control so focus on what you can control. If you were one of the fortunate ones to get into GT, you are already ahead. If you planned wisely you should have many other options, with most likely merit aid, to choose from where you can design your future. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade. My son wasn’t one of the fortunate one’s either but we have some pretty good alternatives and remain excited as to what other opportunities may present itself. Congratulations and good luck to all of you wherever your feet may land.</p>
<p>All students invited to the PSP weekend end up with some sort of scholarship, from $4k to full ride. ( 2 instate and 2 OOS) . My D was offered $8K/ yr in state last year and turned it down. The staff were very vague on how many students were offered at each level. I think it depends on the monies they have available. One interesting point is that if you also receive external scholarships( greater the COA) the amount is adjusted down. ( unlike some other schools, where what ever you earn you keep)</p>
<p>Good Luck to everyone. I remember this time last year was very stressful for my D. I am sure if the PSP didn’t work out for you there is another opportunity round the corner.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Absolutely. There are many scholarship options offered by Tech and others that can be used to finance an education. I would also consider looking into Co-op programs where students typically earn $10,000+ working every other semester (granted, that’s pretax but tax on a college student won’t be that much). </p>
<p>Someone else mentioned Alabama as an alternative. When comparing GT and Alabama, I would strongly consider the difference in starting salaries, placement percentages, and paid co-op and internship options. The difference in cost may not be that much after taking those into account and discounting the GT tuition for scholarships and aid.</p>
<p>^ Could you elaborate on some of the OOS scholarships available?</p>
<p>[Georgia</a> Institute of Technology :: Financial Aid :: Scholarships](<a href=“Blow the Whistle! (404 error: page not found) | Financial Aid”>Blow the Whistle! (404 error: page not found) | Financial Aid)</p>
<p>Daredevil31 writes “My son wasn’t one of the fortunate one’s either but we have some pretty good alternatives and remain excited as to what other opportunities may present itself.”</p>
<p>Mine didn’t advance towards the scholarship either. But, he can only go to one of the colleges to which he was accepted anyways. Fortunately, we have two good in-state universities (Va Tech and UVA) so mine should have some options that are a lot cheaper.</p>
<p>ChrisTKD, Very good schools. Wouldn’t mine being in Virginia. My son is an engineering major and we have Clemson, Purdue and Drexel. All three schools have fantastic programs. Drexel engineering majors offer 17K per co-op 6 month term. Clemson does it differently but has other opportunities that make it quite appealing as well. Then there’s Purdue, WOW! One’s success comes when you seize an opportunity that presents itself. It could come at the most unexpected time without any planning or foresight. That is what makes life so exciting an adventure.</p>
<p>this is an off-topic question. But, I am applying to Stanford for RD. I also just got my semi-finalist letter for GT’s Presidential Scholarship (yay!). Do you think it will be effective and deemed important enough to give me an edge if I tell Stanford this news? (I dont even know how/where to tell them)</p>
<p>stanford can’t care less.</p>
<p>I’m not a semifinalist, which sucks because that’s probably the only way I could afford going to GaTech. :’(</p>