<p>Hey everybody, I just got invited to the UFE Finalist weekend. Does anybody know what the scholarship benefits to receiving the UFE are?</p>
<p>When did you get notification that you were a finalist? I haven’t received anything yet. </p>
<p>@aw12345
On the other UFE thread, it seems that everyone who is a finalist has gotten an invitation in the mail as well as a follow-up email. The rest of us semifinalists (myself included), have yet to hear anything via mail or email. At this point I’m presuming that I’m not a finalist (my phone interview was pretty mediocre, so I’m not surprised). </p>
<p>@davidxavi
There isn’t anything official on the UA website that indicates getting anything for simply being in UFE. I might’ve read in some thread that they’ll up the package for the under 32 ACT/1400 SAT so that they get full tuition, but I don’t think they’ll do anything if you already have those stats. The only exception is the Academic Elite scholarship, of which only 8 to 10 are awarded. They are awarded exclusively to UFE, but are rewarded to such a small amount of people (even 10/60 of the finalists is no big number) that you can’t count on it.</p>
<p>You should be looking beyond monetary rewards from this experience.</p>
<p>I was just reading through some past threads about the UFE, and it seemed like there are some more material benefits to the experience:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/487395-university-fellows-vs-elite-school.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/487395-university-fellows-vs-elite-school.html</a></p>
<p>I know there isn’t anything official on the website, but could any current UFE’s weigh in here on some unofficial benefits?</p>
<p>The University Fellows program is all about grooming a group of students who have demonstrated leadership ability and strong academic credentials to become agents of social change in the state of Alabama, the nation and the world. To achieve that end, the program helps the students develop faculty and community connections and provides contacts for students interested in developing a public interest career. A few students in the program receive the academic elite scholarship. To my knowledge, these are typically offered to finalists who will not receive the National Merit Scholarship. Due to the number of hours the Fellows spend together (required classes, retreats, the Black Belt experience, the new Cuba program) the Fellows also tend to develop a close bond among themselves, which will no doubt prove to be a beneficial network to many of them in the future as the program matures. With all that being said, the program really isn’t about providing benefits to the students, but rather about bringing together a group of students who are passionate about making a difference in the world and giving them the tools to make that happen. If that doesn’t describe you, then the program probably isn’t a good fit because it takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication.</p>
<p>Well said. Pushing that <like> button, paying4collegex4.</like></p>
<p>It’s obvious that my S didn’t make finalist at this point, but he still hasn’t gotten a rejection snail mail letter or an email. Has anyone that was a semi-finalist received confirmation that they were rejected? I thought everyone was supposed to have received either a yay or nay by now.</p>
<p>I got my rejection letter today. I know my interview didn’t go super well - I was nervous, and the questions were weird, but I was hoping my credentials would have moved me on (I volunteered abroad, lots of leadership experience, straight A’s and a 35 on my ACT). I do way better at in person interviews.</p>
<p>koalathebear: My S got his rejection letter this afternoon as well. He also said that some of the interview questions were a bit different, but overall, he thought it went well. Like you, he would have liked for it to have been in person. He’s never done a telephone interview before, but does well face-to-face.S has over 400 hours of volunteering, but it was at his school and in our own community–so nothing crazy-good or unusual, but solid. Very high SAT, ranked 4th in his class. Heavy duty Sports and music EC’s. Clearly, the competition was very stiff. He really wanted this, but he’s still considering U of A. I thought the rejection letter from Ms. Brewer was very considerate, unlike the short and blunt ones that some university programs send out.</p>