<p>I was wondering if I have the SAT scores, GPA, and extracurricular activities to be considered for this prestigious scholarship. If anyone has received the Johnson scholarship, would you mind letting me know what the average GPA and SAT score is? Also, what types of extracurriculars/community service is Washington and Lee looking for? Thanks and anything helps!</p>
<p>The students who are asked to compete for Johnon’s are very strong. A reasonble guess would be SAT1’s over 2250, High SAT2’s, very high class rank/GPA, strong AP/IB courses, and something extra outside the classroom. If you are selected to be in the on-campus competition, you will be interviewed by faculty. They select students who win awards after the interviews.</p>
<p>What do you mean “students who win awards”? Students who have won numerous awards in the past are likely to be selected? Or students selected for the interviews will all win awards?</p>
<p>I think Puzzle means the scholarships(awards) are determined after Johnson scholar week, which is correct. You have to be chosen to attend that week to receive any of the merit money offered by the schools, this includes scholarships other than Johnsons. But not all students there that week get awards. Go to admissions page and read blogs written around time invites for Johnson week were sent out. They pretty much state that with so many high quality students to choose from, that even applicants that were (for ex.) valedictorian or with perfect test scores do not get selected. so it is obviously important to have more that just scores and grades such as activities and leadership.I do know that this is a school where visiting or at least corresponding with admissions is key - they keep track. So start now by visiting or calling the admission person for your area. They will be glad to answer questions and it will demonstrate interest.</p>
<p>My daughter accepted the Johnson Scholarship and is an incoming freshman at W&L. She also received Presidential Elite Scholarships from Auburn and Alabama and her first year award from Vanderbilt was $46,000. W&L accepted 500 incoming freshmen this year (a very large class for the school). Fall quarter my daughter was supposed to take a math course, Biology or Chemistry Lab Course, Writing Course and Foreign Language. She had 9 “5” scores on AP’s which should have put her in advanced classes. All the courses she should be taking are full. She has a complete schedule of garbage. 4 classes of things like Ancient Philosophy. This prompted me to actually look at their course offerings. These professors are so out of date they need to be buried. They only thing worth taking at this college is accounting, journalism/creative writing, pre-med, pre-vet, and some foreign languages. The only computer language they seem to teach is Python. What is that? How about Java, Peoplesoft, Sap, C++, web page design - it’s not there folks. When I talked to the admistration (Alison Bell) about my concerns about my daughter’s fall curriculum she told me to withdraw my daughter and enroll her in another college. This is a small school with very limited course offerings and a faculty that is just helping itself to alot of money. I am disgusted and disappointed. Please feel free to email me at <a href="mailto:debcaswell@bellsouth.net">debcaswell@bellsouth.net</a>.</p>
<p>In reply to debcasga, I have to say that my child, a first year at W&L, has had an excellent experience registering for courses. She recieved personnal input from her faculty advisor, and is taking math, bio/lab, foreign language and writing courses. She was thrilled with the ease of the process and availablity of classes. She even has a complicating factor of a varsity Fall sport to work into her schedule.</p>
<p>My DD was not a Johnson finalist. Every student at W&L is very smart and capable of taking the courseload described above. I think the school gives great attention to their students. I have a DS at a large state school and would note that there is very little attention given to his needs or desires when it comes time to schedule. W&L offers a much different and more positive experience in that regard.</p>
<p>So, you have taken the $53,000 Johnson and don’t think the place is any good. Well, I guess I’d say if you are that unhappy and your D is as well, she should go elsewhere. I note from your other postings that she was at a large high school and was interested in being in a bigger town/city environment at a bigger school. So, she chose the smallest school. </p>
<p>There are plenty of kids there with 9 APs and 5s on them. Of course, there are aps and then there are APs. The core ones are Chem, Calc (particularly BC), Bio, Physics (B particularly), European and U.S. History, and English to some degree. The others, while fine are softer. There are Johnsons there right now who were in the same qualification class as your D who have struggled with core courses. In fact, the Johnsons, while good students, are NOT necessarily the best ones there, by any means. They just happen to have attributes the faculty and Admissions departments want for the student body.</p>
<p>As far as the course catalog goes, there are about 1000 in it, MUCH bigger than most small schools. In fact, that is pretty good for a mid-sized university. They do teach more than the computer language you mentioned but like much learning today, it is integrated into a larger course. If your D wanted a purely quant experience, she should have gone to a school which specializes in that, not a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>You are correct though about the curricular areas of strength at Washington & Lee. There are others: history, English, etc., but it does not appear your D is focused on those areas.<br>
Also, as I understand it, Johnsons get a certain amount of preference in the class sign up lottery, so I dont know why your D seems to have gotten a raw deal.</p>
<p>debcasga, did your daughter not read the course catalog or do any research about W&L before applying? We are a liberal arts school, not a research university. Furthermore, she is not “supposed” to take a lab science, math, writing, and foreign language fall term (term, not quarter. we have two semesters and then spring term). There are many FDRs that students must take, and nearly every class will satisfy one of them. Those of us who appreciate the value of a well-rounded liberal arts degree do not think that a class like Ancient Philosophy is “garbage,” as you call it. Tech-oriented it’s not, but it can still open your daughter’s mind to higher-level thinking and perhaps expose her to ideas and concepts she may not otherwise have encountered. Maybe your daughter should take her fall term to explore areas of academia that she may not have pursued. One of my best friends took a religion class fall term because she got locked out of other ones, loved it, and became a religion major.<br>
For the record, I graduated with a history degree in May and am currently attending a top 20 law school on a scholarship. I turned down several offers from other top 20 law schools, so maybe you should reconsider your list of “the only things worth taking at this college,” since my history degree seems to have served me pretty well.</p>