<p>I will be applying to Rice this year (most likely ED) and just had a question for people that received, or know of someone who received, the Trustee Distinguished Scholarship, specifically for achievements in community service (or however it is worded).
What types of community service did you do while in high school, what roles did you have in the volunteering, and how many hours did you complete out of all four years of high school that helped you to get the scholarship? Did you do anything extraordinary that you believe put you above the rest to receive the scholarship (like building schools in another country or something to that extent)? Also, did you apply RD or ED?</p>
<p>The reason I am asking is because I am a senior this year, and so far, I have probably at least 400 hours of community service. However, I have not actually started any of my own community service/volunteering projects, just participated in them, so I didnt know if they give this scholarship to people that didnt found their own projects. Also, I was wondering about RD vs ED because since I will apply ED I was curious if anyone has gotten it applying ED because for some schools you have less chance for merit money when applying early. I dont necessarily need merit money, but I just recently found out that Rice gives merit money for community service so these questions would help me determine if it is a possibility for me.
Thanks in advance for the help!</p>
<p>"… Rice gives merit money for community service…" is a not exactly correct. It is NOT just for community service, nor do you need to start your own community service or volunteering projects. You also need to exhibit leadership and academic excellence (ACT/SAT scores and grades, etc) that will help you stand out amongst the accepted Rice applicants to earn this award. </p>
<p>My son, who applied RD, was awarded a Trustee Distinguished Scholarship (which we as parents were very grateful for). A paragraph in his letter awarding him of the scholarship indicates that, “The Trustee Distinguished Scholarship was established by the Board of Trustees to honor students whose accomplishments distinguished them as leaders and scholars in our highly competitive pool of admitted students. Your leadership and contributions to diverse groups certainly merit your selection this year.” </p>
<p>He was extensively involved in the community that he lived in but also was involved in several leadership roles in clubs and sports at his high school. Note that only about 15% of admitted Rice students earn merit scholarships. I do not think that applying ED or RD makes a difference in being awarded the Trustee Distinguished Scholarship.</p>
<p>My son also received the Trustee Scholarship and his letter stated the same as above but said he was awarded it because of his outstanding community service. He had almost 1000 hours total of community service while in high school and also was awarded a congressional gold medal for youth at age 16. You can google Congressional Gold Medal for Youth to see what he had to do to receive it. His leadership roles and gpa were also in the top 1% of his high school.</p>
<p>My daughters received Trustee Distinguished Scholarships and applied RD. They were both NMF and top 1% of class. They had high GPA and SAT/ACT scores, were involved in different clubs in HS and did community service. They volunteered at the same place while in HS not necessarily started any special projects. I would think Rice would look at the “total” package when awarding scholarships since most of students who apply to Rice are going to be high achievers.</p>