@univbound101 I am from Texas as well! However, I did not apply to Questbridge, but my counselor nominated me through my school, so im not sure if i will receive an email or physical mail. were you nominated for the regular Pres Scholarship or a Pres Scholarship in the Arts or CTE?
@colorfulhuman I was nominated to the regular Pres Scholarship
My daughter just got an email saying that she is a candidate of 2018 presidential scholar.
Here is the list of all candidates:
https://ed.gov/programs/psp/2018/candidates.pdf
Thanks ivyforest! S18 is on it!
Ayyy just found out I’m the only nominee from my school! Idaho represents!
Is it common for a candidate who has been admitted ED to not pursue this? Are there reasons to do it, other than prestige, that are missed?
It won’t help with college application whether you’re already admitted or not. There’s no scholarship if you win. The odds that you’ll be selected as one of those 160 scholars is much lower than getting into Stanford or Harvard. So it’s about prestige.
The odds are low, but they’re higher than the 3.5% or so you get when you calculate with the raw numbers (161/4,500). My counselor told me that because there’s no money involved and the time commitment is large, many people decide not to pursue it. So, maybe it’s more like 5% or 6%. Still low, but better than you’d think.
But those 4000 or so candidates are preselected. Most of them have perfect SAT/ACT scores and presumably good grades and ECs to match, so you’d be competing against a stronger pool of candidates than applicants to any college.
S18 was selected as candidate. How much does being selected as a candidate help in college admissions? I know the semis are too late to help, but is there any data as to how well candidates for this award fare when it comes to selective college admissions? Wondering if it’s worth it for S18 to let admissions officers know he’s been selected as a candidate…
Being selected as a candidate pretty much has no effect on college admissions. It is just for recognition to some after the completion of high school. Semi finalists aren’t even chosen until March/April.
Thanks, @nerdbelle. I was just curious since it seems much more selective than NMF. I would imagine that it is at least worth mentioning to AOs?
@moosiechica88 It’s definitely more selective. What I’ve heard is that AOs see the high SAT/ACT score and can correlate it with awards like the Presidential Scholar. So basically becoming a candidate is just reaffirming the score. The program wasn’t created to help with college apps though, just for recognition through the education department. I’m sure some students do let their AOs know and many don’t, so it’s up to you whether you point it out or not.
@nerdbelle - I don’t know if AOs would be able to correlate SAT/ACT scores with Presidential Awards, since it’s done by state. In our state alone, they chose only 60 kids for US Presidential Award, whereas there were hundreds of NMSF. In our city, my son is the first USPS they’ve had in years. It seems, at least around here, that it is much more prestigious than NMF. At any rate, I’ll have S18 ask his counselor this week - she’s been out sick so he hasn’t even gotten his NMF certificate yet.
is anyone else struggling with the candidate essay (the one with a photo of someone or something of great significance to you)?
@livv13 conveniently, no. I have many, many pictures of a certain mountain range that makes my heart happy. I just need to choose one from the 6 or so that are my favorite and roll with it. I suggest you think about what brings you joy in life. There must be something you’re passionate about.
@livv13 My son is struggling with the essays in general. I think he’s just burned out from college, honors, and scholarship apps. He has a four-day weekend this week so hopefully he’ll plug away. Truth is, it’s getting harder to justify him spending his energy on this since it won’t help at all with college admissions (and at this point, that and scholarships are all that matters). It would be amazing to follow this through, but he is a two-sport winter athlete, is maxed on AP/Honors classes, and is pursuing an independent research project that is due the first week of March. I may just encourage him to let this one pass, although it would be an amazing honor if he makes it as no one in his school has ever gotten beyond semifinalist.
@moosiechica88 My D is in the same boat as your son. She has so much going on with school, sports, and a challenging internship. Plus she has been writing essays for some private scholarships, which only add to the workload. I am encouraging her to give the application a try, but I’m not sure how she’s going to find the time.
I do like the essay topics, however, and I told my D if she finishes them I think she might learn something new about herself.
@JuicyMango - so impressed that you’re doing the application to improve your writing skills despite thinking your GPA isn’t up to par! I could not convince my son to complete the application. Good luck to all who do!!
P.S. In addition to being unmotivated to write more essays, my son is so unhappy about the current administration that he says he wouldn’t want the designation of U.S. Presidential Scholar at this point. I’m not sure whether this is just an excuse to avoid more applications, but he is a pretty convicted person, so it may be legit.