<p>Alright. How much of a role do grades play in getting a Westgate or Bloomberg Scholarship? Do they weigh them more heavily than test scores, extra-curricular activities, teacher reccomendations, essays, and major awards, and subjective factors (ethnicity, parental education, and family income)? I'm a Pakistani American and my dad's a doctor and mom has a master's but she does not work. Let's say I have perfect SAT/ACT/SAT II scores, 5's on AP Chem, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP US History, AP World History, AP English Language, and AP Computer Science A, am enrolled in 6 AP classes my senior year and am taking Calculus III and Organic Chemistry from a community college, run cross country, am on the student newspaper staff, do speech and debate, am a lawyer in mock trial, play the piano, volunteer at my local science center, am vice president of a young democrats club and president of the math club, work at a tutoring center as a math tutor, and do some science research with a professor at a local community college, I've won state/regional awards in piano, speech and debate, mock trial, and math, and have attained very good teacher recommendations. A subjective weakness is that I went to a large public school in my freshman year, a small private school my sophomore and junior years when I moved out of state, and will go to a medium-sized public school for my senior year, with the first year being in Indiana and the next three being in Tennessee. My objective weaknesses are grades in my first 3 years in the B+ to A- range in all honors and 2 AP classes putting me in the top 25% of my 300 person class, summer activities limited to taking piano lessons, taking a few online courses, and volunteering at my religious center and my local science center, and that up till the time that I have to submit my application, my only awards/honors are having published an article in a small science journal and the state/regional awards I mentioned in speech and debate, mock trial, piano, and math. Knowing my mediocre grades, let's say I write one essay about being an agnostic Pakistani Democrat in Tennessee and write my other one about how I used laziness as a "drug" that I indulged myself into until I realized what it had done to me and self-studied 6 AP exams in 2.5-3.5 weeks and learned all I could about math, physics, chemistry, and biology in the summer before my junior year. Let's say that before I submit my app, I win a challenging creative math contest in my state and get very high A's in all my senior classes beofre submitting my app and after I submit my app, I send in additional information of being an Intel STS Semi-Finalist in Chemistry, getting a perfect score on the AMC 12, being a USA Physics Olympiad Semi-Finalist, a USA Biology Semi-Finalist, and a USA Chemistry Olympiad qualifier with the top score in my region. Will I be able to redeem myself through explaining my laziness in my essay, winning a major state math contest before submitting my app, and sending in additional info of being a semi-finalist in 5 major national math/science competitions to give full proof that I have altered my lazy ways and can do great stuff if I apply myself? If so, what would be my chances of getting a Westgate or Hodson Trust Scholarship next spring? Which one should I go for to maximize my chances?</p>
<p>Neither. you’ll be lucky to get in at all.</p>
<p>Ok, so MasterMargarita, you think I have no chance of getting into Hopkins with my stats? That really ****es me off because I know people who have gotten it with A/B grades to Hopkins. Anyway, I realize my asking about the scholarship may have been a stretch but do you really need to be so discouraging as to say you don’t think I can even get in?</p>
<p>I never said you couldn’t. I think you’ll be lucky. JHU had a 17% acceptance rate last year. Next year it will probably be even lower. I think anyone who gets into JHU should consider themselves very, very, very lucky. You might get in, but most people don’t. Your scores put you in the mix and you’ll be competitive for admissions. But with low-ish grades, I’d consider it a reach.</p>
<p>Scholarships at JHU are few and far between. You don’t apply for them, they are just “given.” They are generally given to people who are beyond outstanding. I knew someone at JHU who WON the Intel science fair. He was not given a scholarship, even though he was top of his class and had excellent scores.</p>
<p>It is entirely possible. I am a Bloomberg Scholar here and I did not have perfect grades in high school (a few B’s here and there, although my Junior/Senior years were quite strong). From what I have seen it’s more of a ‘fit’ scholarship (as is the Hodson) than so much looking for perfect scores. However, academics are still obviously important. They want people who they think will bring something to the campus. Therefore, I think subjective factors are just as important as grades in determining the scholarships. They look at everything as a whole. Good luck!</p>
<p>A question like this is not much difference from a “Chance” thread. Will you get in, will you not? Only admissions knows for sure, and they wont even be sure until late March.</p>
<p>Hodson is based on factors not directly aligned with the application process. As I understand it, an admissions officer must “Nominate” your application for consideration from the Hodson Trust. I believe it was once described as the “Best of the Best”, but really, having met a bunch of Hodsons, I think it is more about picking out the future “Movers and Shakers”, people who will lead, not follow. You do not apply for Hodson, and if you are counting on getting it offered, you should know that they offer about 80 per year I think. Very slim odds.</p>
<p>Best advice, hope for the best, but do not count on any of those awards.</p>
<p>Yea, Hodson Scholar here. Honestly, you never know who gets chosen. I worked hard all throughout High School and ended up with amazing academics and award and honors for my trumpet playing. However, I feel insignificant next to some of the other Hodson scholars who were finalist and winners in both national and international contest for various things. It’s all on who they think will fit.</p>
<p>BUMP…I know all you seniors are probably not really interested in college admissions now, but I’d really appreciate it if you gave some more feedback on my chances of getting in. Go here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1334211-chance-me-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1334211-chance-me-please.html</a> and you can see a much better list of stats that I have and hope to have. From that, I’d like to know if I’d have a good chance of getting in and I know this a reach but would I have any chance in the Hodson scholarship if I was able to get in my five major awards by early March?</p>
<p>you’re not getting hodson with those grades (frankly put, Hodson is kind of a subjective award. Not every Hodson scholar had perfect SATs or perfect GPAs, but they did typically have some major national award above the level you’re claiming to potentially have such as IMO finalist (just short of making the IMO team) along with high SATs, high GPAs, AND high ranks. I concur with others, even admission will be a stretch based on pure statistics. Close to 90% of enrolled students are in the top 10% of their class (the majority of the class ranked in the top 3% of their class - And this is taking into account non 4.0 grades). And that’s enrolled, not admitted. Based on that, you should know where you stand.</p>
<p>You have a lot of “potentials”, including “potential” AP scores (all 5’s). When do you take the tests? If you take them at the end of the year, they will not matter to admissions. I think you are in good shape for admission, but until you get the envelope, you wont know.</p>
<p>@Imonotoya, I am taking all the tests besides for AP Computer Science this year, and the only thing that I will do after submitting my application is Intel STS, AMC 12, USAPhO, USABO, and USNCO. I will try to submit them all as they come and the last set should be over by the first week of March. I am doing all the “potential” activities next year starting from the fall. To everyone, please look here if you want to see an organized list of current and potential stats: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-north-carolina-chapel-hill/1338773-chances-admission-then-merit-scholarship.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-north-carolina-chapel-hill/1338773-chances-admission-then-merit-scholarship.html</a>. Thanks to everyone who has given their opinion.</p>
<p>Administrators, please close this thread. I no longer need to use it.</p>