I know the CU website mentions top 1-3% OOS students receive the Presidential Scholorship, but was wondering how that translated to actual grades and test scores. My son has done really well through 11th grade and is very interested in CU if the tuition, with scholarship, could be closer to our in state amount here in CA. His stats are, 4.0 UW, 4.6 W, 33 ACT. Mostly 4 and 5’s on his AP’s, including 5 on Calc BC, 4 on AP Physics, 5 on APUSH, 5 US History, 5 AP Psych, 4 Human Geo, AP English Lit and Lang. 3’s. . Will have about 11 AP’s by end of next year. Varsity sports, Eagle Scout and STEM internship this summer. Anyone with a good feel for this subject thinks he can get the Presidential. I think he is borderline unless ACT goes up to like 35…Thoughts?
Just a guess, but I don’t think coming from California will be a plus. CU has plenty of California applicants so doesn’t need to sweeten the deal.
CaliDad2021
The requirements are the same for both in-state and OOS, just the award amounts are different:
President Joseph A. Sewall Award
4.0+
33 ACT or 1440 SAT
(tested prior to March 2016)
33 ACT or 1480 SAT
(tested March 2016 or after)
$20,000 total
($5,000 per year)
OUT OF STATE, same scholarship for 1 to 3%
Presidential Scholars Program Award Amount
$55,000 total ($15,000 per year freshman and sophomore year & $12,500 per year junior and senior year)
There are additional merit scholarships available based on which college within the university your son
would be applying to.
You can check with admissions for more information.
As a CA parent, who just had a kid go thru the last admissions cycle, I agree with your assessment. Although without trying to state the obvious, even an improvement to 34 would help a lot.
He is borderline for the Presidential and every year it gets more competitive so I would think he would need to raise that ACT score to have a good chance. Remember its 1-3% and not an “automatic” qualifying scholarship so you could be in the top 2% and not get it. Unfortunately you’ll just have to wait and see if he gets it or not.
BTW CU does superscore so if he raises any of the subsections of the ACT it will raise his composite.
Thanks for all of the input. One section was a bit lower (31), so probably makes sense to take one more time and focus on that section during his prep. Thanks.