My daughter is very interested in SMU for engineering. She applied Early Action a few weeks ago. She has a 1560 SAT, 10 AP Classes, 4.0 GPA, Gold Award for Girl Scouts, National Merit Semi-Finalist, Varsity Athlete for 4 years, president of clubs. We will not get financial aid, so she is looking for merit. According to SMU website, all applicants are considered for President’s Scholarship. You have to apply for Hunt Scholars program. She gets the impression it is an either or. If you apply for Hunt, you don’t get looked at for Presidential. His leadership is strong, but her academics are her strength. Anyone have any insight? Do all strong applicants apply for Hunt and get looked at for President’s? Thank you!
She can be considered for both up to the interview stage. She will not get an interview for both. It’s one or the other.
My son had almost identical stats to your daughter. I highly recommend she go ahead and apply for Hunt in hopes of getting a chance at either. SMU expects all of their top applicants to apply for both. He did not get an interview for either but did receive max scholarship from admissions, Lyle, etc He is now a freshman in Lyle and having met many of his new friends at SMU I am blown away by the smart, talented and accomplished students there. Lots of competition for those scholarships. Good luck!!!
Thank you so much! So happy to hear your son is happy. If you don’t mind me asking, what other merit awards does SMU offer that your son received?
As a former Hunt, apply for both.
I know of the Provost scholarship ($30K per year) plus The Lyle Engineering Scholars Program which “provides academic scholarships of $5,000 annually for four years to Lyle School students who have achieved superior academic success.”
Some Hunt historical information:
https://www.smu.edu/Provost/ProvostOffice/SAES/HonorsCommunity/Hunt/Current-Students/2024
15 enrolled in CO '24; 23 in CO '23; and 19 in CO '22.
Some of the awards that were highlighted:
Student body/class president; Eagle Scout/GS Gold; Club president; Editor in chief of paper, yearbook, magazine; Non-profit leader/founder; NHS leader; Service league leader; sports captain; debate champion; band drum major/section leader and all-state award.
Does not applying to Hunt hurt a student’s chances of being selected to interview for the President’s Scholars Program?
No.