<p>I’m a finalist for Arts and Sciences–it was posted on MyNova, but no one has called me yet. AreWeDoneYet, according to Nova’s website, there are some scholarships that are specifically designated for URMs, 1st generation college students, etc…maybe they weren’t including those in the 18? It does seem like an unusually low number, though. Maybe they couldn’t award as many as usual due to the economy.</p>
<p>Flatbstanley: That makes sense. I thought that the letter/info that I got when I first was nominated mentioned 30 scholarships were given out last year. Going down by that many over one year seems to be a bit much. The other 12 might be for those underrepresented students.</p>
<p>Last year 34 scholarships were offered which included 6 URMs. I doubt they would double that number.Also last year was the first year it was a FULL scholarship not just tuition as it was in the past. They may have needed to adjust the number of offers this year.</p>
<p>I didn’t make the cut. Notified by MyNova today.
2260 SAT’s, 4.0 unweighted GPA, top 1%. Tough competition though! </p>
<p>Congrats to all who made it, and good luck! =)</p>
<p>did not make cut.
congratulations to the 2% that did – you should be very proud
SAT 730 740 790
ACT 33</p>
<p>Well folks, Villanova is a C-grade undergraduate university at best. Their science departments are terrible. There is no research and teaching is poor quality. You cannot get a high quality science education there. I could not comment on other departments but I doubt these departments are any better.
I believe they know they are C-grade and playing games with Presidential scholarship. What kind of administration invites 800+ students to apply and write half a dozen essays for 18 scholarships? They could have selected 50 students from the applicant pool and interview them to select 18 scholars. This also tells you about the character of this school. They are not straight forward academics they are cunning, game-playing dirty politicians. Should you go to school there? I will not.
Those of you did not get it; it is probably a blessing in disguise. With SAT and ACT scores I see here; all of you should be able to get into a A/B+ school with some scholarship. You should choose a good university with focus on education and not on religion or dirty politics. I am certain you are not going to get good education at Villanova free or not!!</p>
<p>Wow Justin, you sound like sour grapes to me. I notice that this is your first post. I suspect that you are writing under a different name then you did in the past. To say that these kids couldn’t do any better is really quite mean. Are you saying SAT scores in excess of 2100 are worthless? Perfect AP scores are invalid? Hmmm…sounds to me you are either a disappointed student or an angry parent. Whichever it is, I hope that you don’t spread your anger to the students here that have worked hard and achieved some wonderful things. BTW, my son was accepted into MANY other wonderful schools as have all of the finalists here. So my suggestion would be to keep your nasty thoughts to yourself and let these kids enjoy their moment.</p>
<p>Hope you have a better day tomorrow:)</p>
<p>On the contrary! What I am saying is these students are all very outstanding. They should be able to go to a better school than a C-grade Villanova. I am not angry either. Students should choose school based on the academics not a game of scholarship. I am not aware of any good school, like UPENN or Princeton, is doing this.</p>
<p>Justin- 1.)UPenn and Princeton DON’T OFFER MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS! It is need based only. ALl the A+ schools as you call them offer no merit aid. Kudos to Villanova for offering merit aid.
2.) These kids were not chosen by Villanova to apply for the Presidential, they were nominated by their high schools- therefore, VU is not playing any games. They have a select number of Presidential scholarships and they cannot control how many people are nominated.
3.) As for a good education, you can get a good education from any college you go to if you are willing to work at it- not just the precious IVIES. Secondly, Villanova has quite a good reputation. I don’t think all the Fulbright and Rhoades Scholars they graduate would say the teaching is horrible. </p>
<p>Congrats to all who were selected and to those who were nominated.</p>
<p>Justin…just out of curiousity…did you go to Villanova? I noticed that you are 30 years old, so clearly you are not a current student. How do you know so much about their science program? I have many friends who have children that went or are currently at Villanova. Not only do they feel that they are getting a great education, they are also very happy with the school overall. Several people I know kids were accepted into top med schools from Villanova. That tells me that in fact, their science program must be pretty good. Villanova has more than a 95% retention rate. That certainly says something about the school.</p>
<p>Justin, I am in no way attacking you. I am just trying to understand where you are coming from with your comments. They are pretty serious alligations to be making about a school and unless you have first hand knowledge, I just don’t think that is fair…IMO.</p>
<p>Nervous, thank you for pointing out how this scholarship works:) And to all of the nominees…well done, you should be very proud of yourselves:)</p>
<p>I am not a student, candidate, or alumnus of Villanova. I tutor a couple of students and reviewed a few of schools for them to consider. Villanova is the only school that is using this gimmick of Presidential Scholarship. This is nothing more than a gimmick. There are no winners only losers. </p>
<p>I am not bad mouthing Villanova. It is a good school but a C grade school. However, all 800+ students they invited to apply to Pres. Scholarship are A or A+. Therefore, the bottom line is Villanova is trying to lure these A and A+ students to C-grade school. That is fine but I don’t like the way they are doing it using this scholarship. It tells me how conniving they are. I tell my students not to fall for this honey-trap. All top A or B grade schools have lots of need-based scholarships and some merit scholarships. So students should choose colleges based on academics not money even if you have to get a loan. </p>
<p>Villanova is not as good as our state school Rutgers New Brunswick which is a very good school with quite low tuition compared to Villanova. Villanova’s tuition is comparable to Princeton and Harvard whereas the quality of education is like Rowan and Rider. </p>
<p>There is no justification for Villanova to invite 800+ A/A+ grade students to apply with full knowledge that they have only 18 scholarships. The application for this scholarship is extremely rigorous. Then interview students for three days and then telling half of them NO. Why to put these students through this long and drawn out process. I find it absolutely immoral for this “Catholic” school to demoralize so many students.</p>
<p>Justin, just to clarify a couple of things. First, the high schools that the students attend nominate students for the Presidental Scholarship, Villanova does not control who gets nominated. Secondly, the students are NOT interviewed for 3 days. They spend 2 days with a current Villanova student…get a feel for the school. See if it is a good fit for them. IMO, I think this makes perfect sense. Maybe, after a student spends some time on the campus, they may feel that the school is perfect for them…or NOT. That is a great thing to know. Many of these kids only get a feel from the school after an info session and tour. That does not give students all of the informtion that they need to make a decision. The actual interview is a 1/2 hour. As for the application being extremely rigorous, that is a matter of opinion. It was, I beleive 7 short essay questions in which I feel they were trying to get a clear sense of the student. Each essay was to be no more than 100 words…that equates to about 5-7 sentences. </p>
<p>As far as Villanova being in the same catagory at Rowan or Rider. You are way off base. Check out the stats for those schools…not even close. As far as Rutgers go, no doubt that you can get a solid education from Rutgers, but it is a big school, spead out over many campuses and not what many kids are looking for. Being a NJ resident, I know MANY people that have gone there…again, a good school, but not for everyone and IMO, not nearly as good as Villanova. But, we can agree to disagree on that.</p>
<p>What I am still confused about is what do you REALLY know about Villanova and their science department in particular. You have said lots of things, but nothing that really tells me that you have first hand knowledge about the school. It all seems to be opinion related, which is fine…but you should relay it as such.</p>
<p>I disagree. No matter how many students are nominated, Villanova can choose a select few of them like 50 and interview only those without fanfare. You are very supportive of Villanova because they chose your son. You are not going to be so supportive, if your son get rejected after the interview.</p>
<p>What if I tell you that they rejected students with lot better stats than yours? Parents who met with the admission and scholarship told me that Villanova Pres. Scholarship is not entirely merit-based they look at the finances too. They favor applicants with financial need. </p>
<p>Their science faculty members are no more qualified than small college faculty members. They do not have any research programs or publications. Top undergraduate students need research apprentice during their undergraduate years to get into top graduate and medical schools. Rutgers have lot more researchers than Villanova. It is no better than Rider or Rowan. It could be inferior than Rowan as Rowan is an up and coming school in this region. </p>
<p>Your son might be getting a free education but a C-grade education. That does not mean he will be a failure. If he works hard without depending on his Villanova teachers, he will be able to succeed. If he depends on Villanova, he is going to fail. It will be easy on your wallet but it will be quite hard on him. Write it down for future reference.</p>
<p>Wow Justin, you really do sound angry. </p>
<p>Just to clarify a few things. Whether my son receives the scholarship or not, my feelings about Villanova will not change. I think it is a solid school that gives kids a solid education. I know many, many students that have been very successful coming out of Villanova. Like with any school, the Ivies included, you get out of it what you put into it. I know people with an Ivy education that have done nothing with their life. I know people that came out of low level schools that are very successful. I think that at the end of the day, your life is what you make it. </p>
<p>I can’t really comment on their science and research, as my son applied to VSB, but as I stated earlier, I know several students that got into great US med schools coming out of Villanova. That certainly says something about their program.</p>
<p>And yes, it is true that need plays into who gets these scholarships, that is why I am pretty certain that my son NOT will be one of the receipents …and that is really OK. Making it to this point has been great, we are very proud of my son and we know that wherever he goes, he will be successful. </p>
<p>I congratulate all of the students that were nomintated and all of the students that have been accepted. Follow your hearts, go where you think you will be happy and the most successful. Don’t allow people who seem to be holding a grudge influence where you choose to go to college. If you are considering Villanova, obviously you are very bright and you will make the right decision.</p>
<p>Congrats to all:)</p>
<p>i also am a finalist for the VSB… what is everyones stats</p>
<p>One thing that is being overlooked is that Villanova’s endowment is not very good. They have to really be selective because they cannot fund a lot of qualified candidates. That is the plain and simple truth.</p>
<p>Justin- Are you a professor at Rowan who applied to Villanova and was turned down?</p>
<p>I did not go to Rowan. I went to some of the top schools in this country. Professors (particularly in complex subjects like organic chemistry and quantum mechanics) do make a big difference in your education even at the undergraduate level. One or two students getting admitted to medical school is not a measure of anything. Recent reports show that half of college graduates do not learn anything new in college. Why? because teaching quality is so poor. </p>
<p>There is a clear line. There are research universities and there are non-research educational universities. Villanova is simply not a research university like Rutgers to Ivy leagues. It is non-research university like community colleges to rider and Rowan. I am not from Rowan but Rowan is starting a brand new medical school that will change Rowan fundamentally. </p>
<p>For science majors, research and teaching by research faculty are very important. It may not be that important for music, history etc. I stand by what I said: it could be a free education but it will be a C-grade education for many at Villanova.</p>
<p>The stats of my students: SAT 2300+ and/or ACT 35 and 36. They are not Catholic or black or hispanic and people can guess that from their names without knowing the religion. Either that played some role or Villanova did not think these students will come to Villanova even with a President Scholarship.</p>
<p>I really think that Villanova puts alot of weight in the essays. That is just my opinion.</p>
<p>It seems to me, that even if your student received the Presidental Scholarship, he/she would not attend. Why would they when they have their esteemed tutor knocking the school such as you do? So, it worked out for everyone. Your student will go to a much better school in your opinion, and hopefully, someone who loves Villanova will recieve the scholarship and IMO get a wonderful free education.</p>
<p>Justin, I hope wherever your student goes he/she is happy and successful. Good luck to him/her:)</p>