<p>Congrats to all you guys who heard good news!</p>
<p>thanks mathwizard!! are you a robertson scholar at duke?</p>
<p>yay! i just had my phone interview (haven posted yet by the way, but you guys can guess that i was declared a semi). i desperately want to be named a finalist. i got it at duke, and if theyd pay for my flight to visit... gosh. how were your guys' phone interviews? mine went well, i think, but not exceptionally well- ugh! idk what to do! i cant wait til friday, geez i hope my guy liked me enough to recommend me to become a finalist! please, please please, because that would be amazing!</p>
<p>the thing that surprises me most, however, is that i never applied to robertsons either. So my duke admissions officer found me good enough to recommend, and robertsons found me good enough to be in their top 150. Yet i got deferred from yale early. it just doesnt make sense.</p>
<p>Admissions to top universities doesn't always make sense to us...</p>
<p>yeah, different schools definitely look for different things! Also, I think the applicant pools are different, too, so caffinefree- I'm sure it wasn't anything to do with you, just that there were so many qualified candidates like you. :)</p>
<p>I also had my phone interview today, and I thought it went really well!! (20 minutes sure goes fast though!) Also, we don't have to wait till friday. the woman who was interviewing me told me that we will be notified tomorrow night!</p>
<p>Friday, tomorrow night, and my person said Tuesday. Anyone else get a different date for notification? lol. I think my interview went pretty well too, although I was kinda rambling and out of breath most of the time. good luck to all!</p>
<p>haha dna3, the more i think about my interview, the more mine sounds like yours- good, although I was kinda rambling and out of breath most of the time. geez, if we could find out tonight... that would be amazing, take tons of pressure off the rest of the week. even tuesday would be excellent. actually, fridays still good, but im just a person whose to impatient when it comes to these incredible opportunties. for example, i used to get mad waiting the, what, like 11 days for my SAT scores? ha ha, im pathetic.</p>
<p>good luck to you all- i hope 50 isnt an exact number, because id love to meet most of you!</p>
<p>me too! I really hope it's tonight. and I can totally relate.. I felt like I told them my entire life story in 20 minutes.</p>
<p>also, does anyone know for sure how many semifinalists they chose for each school?</p>
<p>yayyy!! I just got my e-mail about being a Finalist for Robertson! I hope to see all of you guys down there at the end of march! :)</p>
<p>wait- you got an e-mail already???? i didnt! does that mean i didnt make the cut??</p>
<p>damn, i just got it. and didnt make it. the journey ends here.</p>
<p>so long, duke. i cant afford you anymore.</p>
<p>oh no! don't say that! duke has one of the best financial aid programs in the country! </p>
<p>what did your e-mail say, if you don't mind me asking.</p>
<p>Do you guys have any tips for the phone interviews? I was a Robertson semi but I didn't advance. I guess I didn't sound too excited on the phone or maybe they just couldn't hear me smile.</p>
<p>hmmm.. I have no idea. I guess the trick is to sound really excited about everything and to have some innovative ideas about what you can bring to the community. other than that, I think it just depends on who's interviewing you. they said they wanted to see our applications "come to life."</p>
<p>lehaiy- i feel your disappointment. ugh. im truly sorry for you. lets wallow in self-pity together. ;-)</p>
<p>ceo1207- duke CLAIMS to have one of the best financial aid programs in the country, but really its rankings on princeton review and others are pretty low. duke is excited that loans are capped at $5000 a year, but id have to take out loans even to pay the EFC part of the package! its just not enough. but heres the email they sent me, since you wanted to know:</p>
<p>Dear Joseph,</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your interest in the Robertson Scholars
Program. My staff reports that it was a pleasure to speak with you this past
weekend. Unfortunately, you were not selected as a finalist for the
Robertson Scholars Program's Class of 2012. As a semifinalist, you are
among the most highly qualified and promising students in an exceptional
applicant pool. The limited number of available scholarships and the
excellent quality of all 150 semifinalist candidates meant that our
selection committee had to make some very difficult decisions. </p>
<p>Joseph, we hope that you will become a member of the Duke community.
Duke is a very special place for exemplary students and will offer you
educational experiences that are second to none. </p>
<p>Sincerely,
Anthony S. Brown
President
Robertson Scholars Program</p>
<p>i didnt make it either </p>
<p>if they dont want me enough, i dont want them.</p>
<p>ok, well i do want them but i cant afford it :(</p>
<p>If we're Robertson semis, do you think we may be considered for other scholarships at Duke as well?</p>
<p>ceo 1207, could you copy your e-mail congratulating you on your finalist status? I just wonder what the moment could have been like.</p>
<p>sure.. here it is:</p>
<p>Dear Claire, </p>
<p>Congratulations! I am delighted to notify you that you have been selected as a finalist for the Robertson Scholars Program at Duke University. We invite you
to join us for our Finalists' Weekend, March 29th to April 1st, 2008, which will be held at both Duke University and our sister institution, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Your attendance at Finalists' Weekend is required to be considered for the program. Please contact us as soon as possible, but no later than March 14th, to let us know whether you will be joining us for the Robertson Scholars Finalists' Weekend. </p>
<p>We invite you to learn what life is like for Robertson Scholars by exploring these two great universities. Finalists' Weekend is your chance to talk informally with university faculty and administrators, meet current scholars, visit classes, and attend a dinner hosted by the Robertson Scholars Program. Perhaps most excitingly, this weekend will be a wonderful opportunity to meet ninety-nine exceptional young people like yourself. </p>
<p>During Finalists' Weekend, we will get to know you through formal and informal conversations. You will participate in two formal interviews, including a group
interview with the Program President and an individual interview with a panel of Robertson Scholars Program representatives. </p>
<p>Following the weekend, we will offer approximately 20 students at Duke and 20 at UNC-Chapel Hill the opportunity to become Robertson Scholars in the Class of 2012. Students will be notified of their status by Friday, April 4th. </p>
<p>Please plan on arriving on Saturday, March 29th no later than 3:00 p.m. and departing on Tuesday morning, April 1st. The Robertson Scholars Program will cover all weekend expenses, including travel. Today we are mailing a letter with details on travel arrangements.</p>
<p>We are truly excited to meet you and continue the conversation we began in your phone interview. We are inspired by the exceptional creativity, commitment and achievement of our first seven classes of Robertson Scholars, and we believe that the Robertson Scholars class of 2012 will be fantastic! </p>
<p>Sincerely,
Anthony S. Brown
President
Robertson Scholars Program</p>