We are trying to figure out if it’s worthwhile for DS to apply for the US presidential scholar program- he’s a candidate. He has a perfect academic record and great extracurriculars, and he has an interest in government (among other things) so this sounds interesting.
However, it sounds ridiculously competitive- who actually gets chosen?
Would any finalists be willing to share their background, esp if you come from a competitive state like CA.
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I’m pretty sure that kids get nominated by a person in their state. I might be wrong or that might be specific to our state. There is someone who nominates students (don’t know the title). You can find the title on the dept of education web page for your state.
I think it is based on the highest scoring students per state ( SAT/ACT) and then some other criteria. If you/your student got 1580+, I’d look into it.
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Thanks. He was chosen as a candidate based on perfect scores, but I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth doing the application since it is so competitive.
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It’s a long shot - they go from 4500 finalists to 160+ scholars. The first cut is a fraction of 1% of all HS seniors. And then from there, they are taking roughly 3%. So the competition is fierce. The good news is that awardees are proportional to state population. Low population states might have just two awardees and high population might have 5-6? You can check lists of past winners on the scholar site.
Yes, it’s a lot of essays to compete in a highly selective pool for a very few spots. I know of some kids who got nominated in the past who didn’t bother to go further because they had no energy left for more essays. And with COVID, the DC trip for finalists may not happen. But if he doesn’t try, the likelihood is zero!
Congratulations!
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I realized I never updated. He applied and made it to semifinalist, so you never know! He had a lot of fun with the essays, and it probably showed. Worth a shot!
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