Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate it!
From personal experience, itâs a pretty big deal. I know 3 people who got it last year and theyâre at Dartmouth, Yale and Stanford. Just anecdotal, but Iâm sure if you search up Coolidge Senators on LinkedIn, the results would be similar. Looking forward to seeing all the other Senators in DC or virtually!
Congratulations to all the senators; based on past number of 3400 applicants, senatorship means 3%. That also means .03% for finalists! Is this scholarship harder than Regeneron science talent or Coca Cola?
My daughter was a Senator last year. She was accepted at: Washington Univ in St Louis, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, and will be attending Tulane as a Stamps Scholar.
Coolidge looks good!
Around the same as Regeneron, because as far as I remember, its maybe 1400-1600 entires for 40 semi finalists spots. Coke has a very low acceptance rate because a LOT of people apply, around 100,000 for 150 spots
Thanks for the stats. Wow, winners of Coolidge â3 or 4 â make up 0. 011% of applicants. Harder than Coca Cola.
@user_717654 @user4876 @meian7 @Icecream90 CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Do you mind sharing your stats/ECs/application tips? My brother is looking to apply this year. Thank you!
@palm12312 absolutely!
I definitely had comparatively weak stats. My school doesnât have a strong focus on testing, and itâs small so I had only taken 1 AP exam at the time of applying. I had a 1420 PSAT, a 5 in APUSH, and a 790 on the US History subject test.
My ECs are pretty chaotic and not strategic, but Iâve done a fair number of things.
I was editor of my school newspaper for a year (appointed in 9th grade) and had a political column during that time.
Iâm VP of drama club and in jazz band, and I had some minor awards in both.
I interned with my townâs mayor and edited technical city documents over the summer.
Iâm a member of my townâs Democratic committee and was a delegate to the state democratic convention.
Iâm in my churchâs youth group; I have an elected position and I traveled to Transylvania with them last summer.
Iâve been public speaking since I was very young in a lot of places.
I won a regional Scholastic Art and Writing award in 7th grade.
I wrote a novel on my own time in 9th grade.
Hereâs how I approached the essays:
For the personal one, I tried to come up with a general thesis instead of just listing a bunch of things that interested in me. I talked about how my different interests (politics, writing, foreign languages) were all preparing me for one career.
For the one about the budget, I connected it to actual examples (I talked about Social Security) and a general philosophy.
For both about Coolidge, I put a lot of effort into being nonpartisan. Iâm pretty liberal personally (and my application kind of had a political bent because my life does), so I spoke either about Coolidgeâs philosophy without saying whether I agreed or I contrasted him with modern politicians in general, not a single party.
I think my letters of rec were definitely a strong point as well. I had one from a teacher who I am extremely close with, and who spoke about ECs that I didnât put on my resume because they hadnât actually happened yet. My other letter was from the mayor of my town.
I have no idea what parts of the application are more important and which are less. I definitely think mine was strong because of my writing, broad scope of ECs, and the fact that my stuff is pretty connected in a lot of ways (I think my thesis in my âstuff Iâm interested inâ essay corresponded well with political analysis in my other essays, letters of rec from a civics teacher and politician, and a bunch of political ECs).
@user_717654 Thank you so much for the detailed response I really appreciate it!
Congrats & thanks for your willingness to share. Please share your GPA & SAT/ACT test scores just trying to help others prepare for next year .
congrats to all! if anyone knows of any merit scholarships for rising seniors please let me know! 