<p>Mikesurf…if you don’t want to read the chatter, you do not have to. It’s OK, none of us will be insulted. And if we continue to chatter, you can choose to join in, or just let us chatter…</p>
<p>I’m nervous by reading that there were 83,000 applicants. I’m a volunteer-heavy, 3.8 gpa, definite financial need, ap scholar, but I doubt i’m spectacular enough to be in the top 2000. oh well. :(</p>
<p>For semifinal selection, what do they look at? community service, leadership, or academic, test score cutoff?</p>
<p>I personally don’t know. It would be super helpful if someone who has advanced in the past could post their own stats.</p>
<p>hongmn: we’re not sure, no one seems to know anything about this scholarship which is strange for how big of a scholarship it is. It seems that community service is a huge part of it. But I haven’t heard much about test scores and other stats. I’d assume those awarded are very well rounded in all areas of the application.</p>
<p>I heard volunteer hours counted for a lot…</p>
<p>I read every post of last year and the prior year’s official threads to get a better sense of the competition. </p>
<p>Volunteer service seems like one of the biggest components. However, some advanced last year with only a couple hundred hours total.
Participation in a wide range of activities, and dedication to them, seemed another common factor. </p>
<p>Remember, this year didn’t require test scores for prelims. It also did not inquire about financial aid. (I screencapped my entire application…if you have questions about what was on it, just ask).
However, for the first year (from what I gather), we were asked our grades. </p>
<p>I think Coca Cola takes the first 2,500 based on some sort of formulaic system. So it might be a little unfair…they take whoever seems the most involved. Beyond that, they will be looking at essays and letters of recs. </p>
<p>However, this is all assumption. I learned it from the threads, and we know those can be faulty.
But I am friends with previous winners who were AP students with impressive community involvement.</p>
<p>One student from MN had done some outstanding engineering research work last year, and had gotten into finals. But I am sure he has lots of community services as well.</p>
<p>Nothing yet!</p>
<p>How many volunteer hours would be good enough to move forward? 200? 400?</p>
<p>I have something along the lines of 2000 hours? + maybe 8-10 activities that I listed + leadership. And did any of you struggle with the difference between “student government” and “student government officials” (or something) on the app? odd…</p>
<p>Hey, I’m from the Washington region and I just wanted to ask if anyone else received their semifinalist email? hahaha, I made my account to ask this single question… lame but whatever =) </p>
<p>and freddy1185, I just put ASB student government for mine and then as position, i selected the officer position i had… is that what you meant? I don’t even think they read any of the text we put… I keep thinking it’s a point-game system ~Like extra cirrics would give you 4 points if you had a high leadership position or something… and then sports would count for extra points if you’re captain or something. Then somewhere along the way i think they’ll consider your work and AP classes into the mix… Can anyone confirm? haha</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone has received emails yet.</p>
<p>They will come when they come. Not much we can do about it now.</p>
<p>tralala100- we’ll hear back mid December so sit tight!</p>
<p>…said the poster with 900 comments LOL.
Im not sure why my post ruffled your feathers…I was just making a comment. And I think as helpful as this can be…there is also a lot of speculation and misinformation that does a disservice to the kids who are already stressed about all this. I think its a safe message to students to not stress so much about all this and try not to over analyze why or why you may not get a scholarship or accepted into a school. Lots of really qualified students dont get the scholarship simply because there were too many applicants. I realize that someone who posts 900 times may not see the value of my comment…but maybe someone else may.</p>
<p>Mikesurf,</p>
<p>I have only posted twice on College Confidential but I have browsed through many helpful forums and learned valuable information from dedicated, honest posters. Being someone who sees the value of your comment I would like to respond. Being an adult, you may not understand that no matter how much kids are told to not “stress out” about college decisions and scholarships, some are inherently likely to worry. College Confidential serves as a forum for people like these to speak with others, vent their concerns and answer some of their questions. It brings together those who feel they are alone in how much they are stressing. Of course there is a lot of speculation and misinformation on College Confidential given that its a forum but information that might help them have peace of mind about why they did or did not get accepted is probably good. Let’s take this thread for instance. The many viewers and posters on this thread have benefited from information about the release date of the coca cola scholarship. Additionally, some people simply need to ask questions to have something to hold on to until the date comes around. Finally, I agree with Vlines that you do not need discourage participation on college confidential. Unless you can find empirical examples where posts on this site have resulted in significant harm, I believe that it will continue to exist as a helpful location where people can come together to discuss their concerns.</p>
<p>I agree with Mikesurf. Yes, CC has helped me with a lot of things (such as informing me I need to send in my CSS profile), but the endless speculation and obsession about college and scholarships has caused me unnecessary stress. </p>
<p>Don’t be hatin’.</p>
<p>No hatin’…some people decrease stress by “chatting” and speculating. Others have increased stress. If you have increased stress with the chatter and speculation, then it probably is not the best thread for you to be on. If you decrease stress by being able to connect with others, then it is. It is really that simple. If you have increased stress by these conversations, and continue to go to the threads that cause the stress, that is your own doing.</p>
<p>No “Hatin” at all. I guess I just thought that Vlines response to my post was a little sarcastic lol. I just have seen “speculations” being presented as fact…or like earlier in the post when someone said they received their response when obviously they hadnt.<br>
No worries… post away and good luck in whatever you all are applying for.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.coca-colascholars.org/page.aspx?pid=388[/url]”>https://www.coca-colascholars.org/page.aspx?pid=388</a>
update: all applicants will receive notifications of their status in mid-december.</p>