I don’t know for certain whether Honors is harder to get into rather than Scholars; however, my son assumed that was the case and he applied for admission to Scholars based on that assumption. One thing to consider is that the only entry to Scholars is through the freshman admissions process whereas (depending on your college) you can apply to Honors after you have been admitted to OSU. For example, for Arts & Sciences you can apply to Honors after completing at least one semester at OSU with 15 hours of credit - that’s what my son plans on doing. Also, in regards to Morrill, my son received the Morrill Distinction (full cost of attendance) and his GPA and high school class rank were less than stellar; however, he benefited from the holistic review process based on the quality of his essay and the interview. Good luck.
Thanks @fatherof2boys. So if I am reading right, honors program application is separate from the scholars program. I am still trying to confirm if you are accepted to the honors program and do not qualify for eminence fellowships, are you out of contention for the Morrill?
For this past application cycle (which is the only thing I can comment on competently) freshman applicants had to specify on the Common Application if they were seeking admission to Honors or to Scholars (you had to choose one or the other). The application process however was the same - completing the additional essay prompt. Unless you find participation in a particular Scholar’s community compelling (which my son did), it might make sense to apply to Honors directly during the freshman application cycle so you can have access to Honors only courses the very first semester at OSU. Being apart of a Scholars community doesn’t include access to honors courses, its more of a living-learning community with thematic extra-curricular activities based upon the particular Scholar’s community.
I cannot comment about Eminence Fellowship (my son did not even attempt to apply for that program as his GPA/rank would not have been competitive enough). However, respecting Morrill, that scholarship program is awarded by ODI http://odi.osu.edu/
I don’t think that ODI has anything to do with Eminence Fellowships so you’ll have to rely on others for further info about that program and how it works in conjunction with an application for Morrill scholarship program. Since the programs are likely administered by different entities, I’d be surprised if there is any sophisticated level of coordination between them.
Regarding the Morrill Eligibility criteria, the program “seeks academically exceptional high school seniors who will contribute to campus diversity …” Would you be able to help me understand whether my son would be eligible?
@CRVKids I don’t know if ODI publishes the academic profile of kids who receive Morrill Scholarship and I should probably clarify my statements above respecting my own son’s academics. He had strong academic credentials: his ACT score was 32; SAT score was 2070; 740 SAT Subject Test score in US History (his preferred major) and he received 5s on all of his AP exams thus he was an AP Scholar w/Honors. Those are fine stats I just assume that Eminence requires even more.
I do believe that applicants for the Morrill Scholarship have to have strong stats; however, it appears that ODI also places a very strong (even possibly overriding consideration) on the strength of the applicant’s Morrill Scholar essay and having a demonstrated history of contributing to a diverse academic community. Although the scholarship is intended to attract applicants who can contribute to “diversity” this is not a minority only scholarship. My child is a student of color but just do a simple search for the terms “Morrill scholarship” on Twitter and you’ll see that the awards are routinely given to numerous applicants who are not minorities.
If your child is interested in the program than the best advice I can give you is to have them work on their essay over the summer. Starting around near the middle of July my son began working on his Common Application essay and the Morrill and Honors & Scholars essays. In prior years, applicants for Morrill had to apply by the early action (non-binding deadline) and so getting an early start will allow your child the opportunity to go back and re-edit the essay over the course of time which likely would lead to a superior draft. Good luck.
Hello @fatherof2boys, is there anyone at OSU I can direct my question 2 above? Since Eminence fellowships appears more competitive, those who don’t win, are they no longer in the running for Morrill scholarships? It would seem unfair for a high-stat kid to compete for a more stringent competition, not win, and be out of the running for next level of competition. What I am hearing from your post is that the honors and scholar tracks are completely different and one needs to make a careful decision to pursue appropriate merit aid path.
@OHToCollege My incoming freshman daughter is both a Morrill Scholar and a member of the Scholars program. You can submit the essay to Morrill and still be in contention for the Eminence fellowship. OSU doesn’t take anyone out of the running for a lower award amount (although Morrill is full tuition up to full COA), but they will make you choose once awards come out.
Honors and scholars are for high achieving students - honors is strictly academics, while scholars is more experiential (but students had to have had strong academics to be chosen). My daughter chose Scholars because, like @fatherof2boys mentioned, she could only become a Scholar freshman year fall term but can join Honors as soon as spring semester.
If you have questions, I would contact admissions - Morrill is administered through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, but they couldn’t address questions regarding all of the options. And like fatherof2boys mentioned, they do take the essay and specific extra curriculars that show commitment to diversity and leadership.
@OHToCollege - I recommend that you submit an email to a specific person in admissions or at ODI vs. making a call, just because the person answering the phone is often a student. @CRVKids - last years’ prompt for the Morrill Scholarship was “Based on your own knowledge, awareness, and experience, in what ways is diversity important to your personal, academic, or career goals and how have you successfully leveraged, enhanced, and promoted diversity and other cross-cultural relationships among your peers and non-peers?” Do a web search of “College Confidential Ohio State Morrill” for more insight. I think academics and test scores may matter for Morrill, but a passionate essay is extremely important.