Hello,
Has anyone received mail regarding the Presidential Scholarship 2019?
When do the invitations generally go out to students?
Hi!
We were trilled to receive an invitation to this wonderful opportunity before Christmas. It came as a welcomed surprise.
I created an account today to ask if someone from last years cohort could say what the boys should wear on Friday for the interviews and if they changed clothing for the dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Turner in the evening? How formal was the dress?
We look forward to meeting current and future Mustangs and their parents on March 22nd. Happy New Year!
Congrats! We are still waiting. Your student must have some excellent stats, good luck!
Good luck to you as well! Deadline to RSVP for event is 2/1. I hope this information is helpful.
@manyquestions01 - did you get the invitation by mail? Also, were you offered any other SMU scholarships earlier? We received the Provost and Dedman scholarships. Wondering if that means we might not be invited for the Presidential scholarship interviews.
I’m confused about this as well. My daughter received the Provost and an invitation to Dedman Scholars (is that what you meant? Or was it an award? My impression was that the Dedman award was 10k and not decided yet. Maybe I am misunderstanding.)
No invite to Presidential here yet.
Hello again-
DS was given “Provost” with acceptance. SMU then generously awarded him “Discovery” as well. Sometime before Christmas (letter dated 12/19) he received an invitation from President Turner to attend the “President’s Scholars” interview day on Friday, March 22. This letter was followed by a very kind and welcoming correspondence from Professor Kunovich. She explained we could begin our visit on Thursday but the official program began on Friday. My DS is working on the next step of the RSVP process now with much excitement! (This is due 2/1)
I wondered how formal DS should plan to dress for each event. (Thursday- tour and dinner. Friday-interviews, tours and dinner) If someone who took part in last year’s program could explain the expectations that would be helpful to us. The words “grand ballroom” is freaking me out a bit…
Best of luck to you all! I am not sure about the timeline of the selection process beyond the order of events we personally experienced.
My daughter received the Provost with her admission letter. Then she got another letter awarding her the Discovery scholarship for Dedman College. And she also got an invitation to apply for the $10K Dedman College scholarship. However, no Presidential yet!
ah, ok, thanks for clarifying! I think the Discovery is for STEM majors, per the website. My daughter is a public policy major, so no STEM possibilities. Just the Dedman Scholars invite.
Congrats @swimalong, that really brings the price down. We’re only considering SMU if we can get it down cheaper than UT Austin. So I doubt that’s gonna happen unless she gets Presidential, which is very competitive, of course. But would be fun to try 
I applied a couple of days ago to SMU, are they still giving out Presidential Scholarship interview invitations to regular decision applicants?
Congrats on his achievement! Would you mind telling us a little about his stats?
@manyquestions01 Congrats on his achievement! Would you mind telling us a little about his stats?
I understand that every applicant is eligible for consideration to the Presidential scholarship. Good luck to you!
My son received Provost and an additional Cox scholarship. I was thinking that since others on here seem to have gotten an invitation already, maybe he was not in the running for Presidential anymore. However, according to the website (if I am understanding it correctly), they allow students to apply for admission until January 15th to be considered for their scholarships. The faculty will review the applications in February and select about 60 finalists to be interviewed for Presidential. So, maybe there’s still hope for the students who have not received an invitation.
My daughter applied to SMU RD for the class of 2021. She did not send in her SMU application until after the first of the year since SMU’s deadline was later than some other schools. She received an acceptance to the university and invitation for the President’s scholarship interviews around Valentine’s Day. My daughter wore business casual type clothes for most of the activities, a suit for her interview, and a nice dress for the dinner. The boys wore business casual (nice shirt and khakis) for most of the activities. They wore coats and ties for the dinner. This thread shows what happened last year. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/southern-methodist-university/2045579-smu-president%C2%92s-scholar-program-2018-finalists-p2.html
My mail preview at its frustrating work again today LOL! I signed up for this thinking it would help us see what exciting college acceptances would be arriving each day. And it does. But I had no idea colleges would keep sending so much inconsequential fluff mail that would get our hopes up unnecessarily. They only show you a pic of the envelope. We apparently have a letter arriving from SMU later this afternoon and I would love to think it was a PS invite. But it’s probably just another generic “please attend our college” letter that we seem to keep getting from various schools where’s she’s already been accepted.
Suspense is not a strong suit for me!
Update: fluff!
Sorry you haven’t heard anything yet. There is a lot of fluff in the college application process. You could always call…
I was shocked when my S received his invite so quickly. Not what we had expected from the website timeline. I am sure there are more letters to come based on the posted dates.
In terms of my son’s stats, he considers that information private so I can’t post. I will say he fits well within the listed numbers on the SMU Presidential Scholarship page.
I also think it is difficult to compare regardless. Students can bring so many different accomplishments to the table. Often times you are comparing apples to oranges.
Thanks for the dress code details. Very helpful! We will do some shopping this weekend. I am sure it will be quality mother-son bonding time. 
Good luck to you all!
Thank you @revenant72. Here’s a funny thing: there are 2 more letters from SMU coming to the mailbox today. Ha! Between this and UT being soooo slow and unpredictable with their honors notifications, it’s like this whole process was designed to be psychological manipulation experiment ?
I got 2 letters in the mail yday. They were from SMU trustees. Got my hopes up, but it was fluff!