<p>My S got an email to apply for UCLA Alumni Scholarship. I read on some other threads that if a student is invited for Regents scholarship, that means he/she is already being admitted to the school, even thou' school doesn't confirm that officially.
Question is how about getting invitation for Alumni scholarship? Is that an indication that the student is highly likely to get admitted to the school? Or there is no direct link between the two processes? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>@sanjosedad.</p>
<p>My son also received the email invitation for UCLA Freshman Alumni Scholarship. He submitted the application already. </p>
<p>From the older threads regarding the Alumni scholarship invitation, my conclusion is that there is no direct link between the two processes. Several students received the invitation, did not apply, and ended up being deferred or denied admission to UCLA.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am a former Alumni Scholar (truly a life-changing program for me), and currently review applications and interview candidates for the scholarship. </p>
<p>The office of admissions will refer promising candidates to us and we in-turn send invitations to those students in the hopes that they will apply. This is NOT a guarantee of admission, and in past years we have had some candidates that we would really love to put on this scholarship not be admitted to the university. However, most students are referred to us because, by virtue of an initial round of application review, an admissions representative has found that candidate worthy of consideration for a highly prestigious merit scholarship (others on occasion find them less so, which is why not everyone who is invited will be admitted). To put it this way (parents love numbers, I’m told):</p>
<p>~70,000+ freshman applicants to UCLA
~4,000 invited to apply for scholarship (notably, however, students can also apply without being invited)
~1,500-2,500 complete scholarship application (frankly, you’d be stupid not to, but that’s my $.02)
~100-120 offered a scholarship after application review and up to three rounds of panel interviews. Scholarship amounts have in past years ranged from $4,000-$20,000 and are based solely on merit (though students can apply for additional need-based grants through the program once they’ve enrolled). All incoming Alumni Scholars are also offered honors college advising, alumni and peer mentors, and access to a variety of Alumni Association activities, dinners, service events, etc. It’s a great family. </p>
<p>I was told by a reputable source a few years ago that ~70-80% of those invited to apply are admitted to UCLA, but because the scholarship review process runs parallel to, and does not intersect with, the admissions process (except when students are initially referred), I’m not certain how accurate this is (though I’d imagine at the very least the odds are >50%)</p>
<p>This scholarship is exceptionally competitive, and typically many of those awarded it are on par with top admits to Ivy League institutions. The program has produced a majority of the university’s Rhodes, Marshall and Gates winners in recent years, and a somewhat absurd amount have gone onto top-10 graduate/medical/law schools. In short, the program churns out leaders of character and high intelligence like a well-oiled machine.</p>
<p>So there’s my input (and elevator pitch!). Good luck to you and yours; I look forward to reading the applications.</p>
<p>@nose2Dgrind. Thank you very much for the information.</p>
<p>And here I was thinking it was spam mail from UCLA… well that’s nice to know. The effort though =.= Did anyone get a phone call as well?</p>
<p>To update:</p>
<p>I clarified with someone who is intimately involved with this process today, and he said the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Students are initially screened by the Office of Admissions for exceptional GPA and SAT scores. ~Top-10 percent in these categories are referred to the Alumni Assoc. Based on those scores, the Alumni Assoc will send a post-card to some (the top, top ones) and an email to others (those who are still very strong, but don’t fall into the upper-tier of those referred), inviting them to apply. Again, this is based ONLY on SAT and GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>Those invited to apply are, in most years, admitted at 3x the overall admit rate (so you’re probably looking at anywhere from 60-70%, though with this year’s numbers, I think the admit rate will be lower than usual). Some students will be admitted and win the scholarship without having been invited initially, because it’s an open application process. </p></li>
<li><p>There are instances where those who are invited are not admitted. This is because, contrary to popular belief, UCLA does actually care about more than just numbers. i.e. Just having a good SAT and GPA isn’t going to cut it. There are plenty of students who apply with 4.8s and 2300s and don’t get in, because all they did was a 4.8 and 2300 (I see it every year).</p></li>
<li><p>The evaluation process is about MUCH more than your GPA and SAT. Nobody really takes the SAT seriously beyond the initial screening. There are many students who win the scholarship but entered with sub-1900 SAT scores. They were exceptional in other areas, and have contributed and succeeded in substantial ways throughout their UCLA careers. </p></li>
<li><p>Students are, in general, evaluated along three lines: Intellectual promise, leadership potential, and moral force of character. 50% of your application score is the written part, and 50% is the interview. Interviews are held in three levels: area, district and state finals. The top winners from the first proceed to the second, and so forth. If you place in the top-3 in your area, you are awarded the scholarship, but only the top winner in each area will advance to the district interviews, where they will compete for more money. The top winners in the district interviews will advance to state finals, where they will compete for the most money. ALL winners (at every level) are admitted to the Alumni Scholars Club, and from that point on there is absolutely no distinction whatsoever between those who made it to state and those who did not. </p></li>
<li><p>The Alumni Assoc does its best to hold off on interviews until admissions decisions are released so that nobody interviews without having been admitted. However, there is typically only a few days leeway here (because of the size of the competition, and the fact that there are three rounds/weekends of interviews which must be squeezed in before the SIR deadline). So on rare occasions, someone will be offered the scholarship, having been interviewed before decisions are released, and then not actually admitted. It’s an imperfect system, and if it happens to you, we sincerely apologize and hope you’ll realize that we’re only human (and there are many, many great schools out there that would be exceptional places to learn and grow).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>That’s really all the information I can give you, but I hope it helps to clarify any questions. Best wishes for a successful application!</p>
<ul>
<li>n2Dg</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you all for the insight of the alumni scholarships! I’m definitely applying all through this weekend!</p>
<p>CRITICAL ERROR!!!
I copied and pasted other supplement essay and I forgot to delete the college name in the essay!!!.. Will this lower my chance of getting admitted to the school?? i know i wont get teh scholarship for sure… … im so stressed and worried. please someone help me out!</p>
<p>don’t worry! college has nothing to do with this scholarship.Only Alumini are reading these essays.</p>
<p>pheww thanks!!! but do you think i have chance for the scholarship??? with this critical error?</p>
<p>Does anybody know if the alumni reviewing the scholarship application will cross reference our admissions application…just wondering regarding how many essays I should write!</p>
<p>@seniorsjd, if you’re asking whether the alumni committee will see your UC application, I’m pretty sure they won’t.
According to petaandpita who received the Alumni Scholarship (this is in the 2012 thread):</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am an International student from India. I am wondering if any international applicant has got invitation from Alumini scholarship.</p>
<p>Last-minute question about the application:</p>
<p>Is there a limit to how many words/characters we can put in the activity descriptions? After saving each activity, only a few words are visible.</p>
<p>Does anybody know when the Alumni Association will notify those that were chosen to receive the scholarship?</p>
<p>@arcadefire195 I have the same question.
I emailed them a while ago, but they never replied 
Oh well, I guess we might find out this Friday</p>
<p>Applications are being read next week and interviewees will be notified shortly thereafter.</p>
<p>my daughter got accepted to UCLA, she did apply for regents but didn’t get any merit based scholarship and we don’t qualify for fafsa. she is valedictorian and very high GPA and SAT scores as well as subject tests and mostly 4 and 5 on all AP tests. my question here is her classmate got this achievement and merit based scholarship of 9500 per year to UCLA and as far as we know, they’re financial need is not much different from ours… what is the criteria for giving out the achievement scholarship?</p>
<p>@ person above. Achievement scholarships are based entirely on achievements and community service. It’s need blind but also somewhat arbitrary, so don’t feel down for not getting it.</p>
<p>Would the people who got the Alumni emails reply to this thread. I want to see if the previous statement about a correlation for the email and acceptance had some merit. I’ll start off.</p>
<p>Alumni scholarship + random call from Admissions office telling me to apply to it BUT no regents candidacy==> accepted</p>
<p>Oh I didn’t apply to it. Lied to the admissions officer person and said I would though.</p>
<p>D received Alumni email and admission offer. Hoping for invitation to interview for scholarship.</p>