Jefferson Scholars '10

Drucifur · 10-02-2009, 10:18 PM

Hey all. I was just nominated for the Jefferson Scholarship, and I was hoping participants in the competitions from previous years would have information about the upcoming interview(s?) and regional competition (I'm from Northern Virginia).

Thanks!

yeswecan · 10-05-2009, 07:10 AM

Sounds corny, but just be yourself. It's really competitive and you never know. There is no formula. I was lucky but I can't tell you why. Good luck.

FightTheTide11 · 10-06-2009, 11:42 PM

I'm also a Jeff scholar nominee and was wondering what exactly happens at the regional competition. Is it just an interview?

yeswecan · 10-07-2009, 07:00 AM

Yes, it is a panel interview, or at least mine was. Everyone was friendly and we had an interesting discussion. It lasted about half an hour and there were around 20 others interviewed in my region. Good luck.

lojay92 · 11-02-2009, 09:05 PM

I'm a Jefferson Scholar nominee from my school, and I was wondering when we're supposed to hear back about whether or not we got the interview. I'm praying and have my fingers crossed that I hear back with good news!

yeswecan · 11-03-2009, 07:31 AM

Ask your guidance counselor. I believe I was notified at the end of November about the interview that was to be held in January.

Tilgaham · 11-05-2009, 10:14 PM

Does the Jefferson application stand in place of a UVA application or do nominees have to apply to UVA seperately?

sabaray · 11-06-2009, 05:55 AM

You will have to apply to UVA separately.

yeswecan · 11-06-2009, 04:52 PM

Jeff Scholars Foundation is not a part of the university...it's a separate entity.

mttyler7 · 11-08-2009, 11:15 PM

does anyone know about how many people are offered interviews? On the website, it said that over 1,000 nominations were sent in 2008--any idea how many of those made it on to the next round?

fiftyplus · 11-14-2009, 07:28 AM

You aren't even required to have applied to UVA to be a JS nominee. My S hadn't decided whether to apply to UVA at the time of his nomination. The JS thing helped push him in that direction.

He made it to the second round, and that interview was much different from the first.

Last year the number of JS awards was expected to be down (I don't know the final numbers) because of financial reasons, making a very hard (obviously) competition even harder. That might be true again this year. And, yes, some award winners even turn them down after all that.

yeswecan · 11-14-2009, 08:23 AM

You do not have to apply to UVA to be nominated, but you do have to apply to receive the scholarship. On time, like everyone else. There were 20 or so from my region in the first round. Some regions then go to second rounds. I went directly to the finals where there were around 100 or so from which around 30 were offered scholarships. Out of that number some declined and alternates were invited. Most years there are around 30 finalists but last year that number was down to around 20 I think because of financial reasons. Don't know what this year holds. The whole process is stressful I suppose but try to look at it as a great experience no matter which way it goes. Just being nominated is an honor. Good luck.

MD Mom · 11-14-2009, 08:54 AM

An assitant/associate director of admissions at UVA mentioned after an information session that students who are nominated for the Jefferson Scholarships are usually admitted (she added that someone had been rejected and when it was noted that he/she had been a nominee, the decision was changed before letters went out), but the scholarship program and admissions are separate.