Has anyone heard back about the Presidential Scholarship interviews for Fall 2020? The email said we would hear back by 1/17 if selected.
I applied and have yet to hear back
My daughter applied as well; we’ve heard nothing yet.
I got an email today titled “New University at Buffalo Scholarship Opportunities Available” - not sure if this means anything
Well, I guess we’ll know by end of today. Please post if you hear anything. Good luck all!
My son applied and we are anxiously waiting here as well. UB is his top choice school…this scholarship would be huge for him and our family. Best wishes to everyone who applied! 
I applied and just got the email that I am not getting an interview. I am honestly fine with it and not surprised, I didn’t try very hard on my essays because I wrote so many essays and I was done with it. A little disappointed but very glad I don’t have to drive 5 hours each way to Buffalo.
We just received the email that our son was not moving on to the interview round either. We’re all disappointed. He has a GPA of 4.2 (all A’s, some weighted), 1580 on the SAT, and has accrued almost 30 credits college credits making straight A’s in UB’s own gifted math program. He’s a homeschooler and put all of his extra energy into his passion of chess (playing, teaching, volunteering, leading) so perhaps they were looking for more diverse students with lots of different activities. I thought his essays were great…perhaps we should have hired someone to help him with them. Good luck to all who made it through to the interview round!
I did not move on either - 96.87 GPA, 35 ACT, essays were written the day of but I didn’t really consider them to be bad. I thought my ECs were really solid. Good luck to all who moved on though!!
My daughter just received the “not selected to continue” email. 1470 SAT, Solid essays, 4.0 Unweighted, good ECs.
No luck here either. So disappointed!! Good luck to everyone still in the running!
Does anyone know if they give phone interviews? We are 8 hours away and the flights are much more expensive than I thought they would be.
Holychild - Was your child granted an interview? If so, congratulations! I think that if I remember correctly, they might have had interviews via Skype for those that are very long distances from UB.
Our daughter received the same email today but no rejection nor did she get a congrats interview email regarding Presidential Scholarship. A friend’s daughter received a rejection email earlier today. Confused.
@Huntyeraws1 . My child was invited for an interview. However, although we live in New York sate, we are 8 hours away by car and an hour
and half plane ride. I checked the flights and it would cost about $500.00 each and one parent would go plus one night at a hotel, food and Uber would be another $200.00 .
My child has also been accepted to Binghamton which she likes, it’s affordable and closer to home.
Holychild - don’t you think that is something you should have considered before your child applied for a competitive full ride scholarship with limited interview spots and lots of applicants who are serious about the scholarship and the school?
@margalo, firstly, where did you get the idea that we were not serious about the school or the scholarship? It was a short turnaround time between the invitation to interview and the actual interview dates. My child worked on this essay over the Christmas break to get it in on time. She put as much effort into it as she did many others. We planned on going to accepted students’ days in March or April and did’nt think a trip would be required before then.
FYI it’s not a full ride scholarship, the school is $25,000.00 all in and the scholarship is $15,000.00. Of course we considered the distance when she applied but decided to keep our options open as it is a great SUNY school. My child applied to all the top SUNY schools. There is no such thing as a sure thing (the college application process is very competitive and its not over until its over). We wanted to cast a wide net so that she would have good options come May. Additionally, I did not see that an interview was required for the scholarship when she applied (she has gotten others without an interview). In any event, for the record, we are very grateful for the opportunity,honored at the selection and are very serious about it. We are just trying to figure out the most economical way to get there for the interview.
Holychild - this is from the email sent out with the link to the scholarship application…
“Applicants will be notified on or about Friday, January 17th if you are selected for an interview. Interviews will take place on Friday, January 31, 2020 and Saturday, February 1, 2020. Final Presidential Scholarship offers will be sent out in mid-February.”
For applicants that commute, yes, this is a full coverage scholarship.
Congrats to your daughter on moving forward with the interview process…I hope you are able to find a way to travel in for it :).
@Margalo thanks for that information, I missed that the first time around.