Hi there. That mother is very confused, and mostly inaccurate. So let’s just forget (mostly) what she said and I will lay it out.
First, in order to get either the DHS or the Paul Tulane, you have to apply EA or, starting this year, ED. That is probably what she kinda meant by #1 choice. But since around half of the DHS winners don’t end up attending Tulane, clearly it wasn’t their first choice. And Tulane builds that into the budget model, btw. I think they would have a heart attack if all or most of the DHS winners selected Tulane, at least as far as the budget allocation. Not get overly detailed, but I believe that the money for the DHS comes from the earnings on an specific endowment, a healthy portion of which was a $30 million donation by one of the co-founders of Yahoo. Let’s say Tulane earns 5% on that money, just to make it easy. That’s $1,500,000. If tuition is $50,000, that represents 30 DHS scholarships. Now I think the endowment for that scholarship is a little larger, and Tulane probably beats 5% most years. But that gives you the idea of why they award 75 DHS scholarships and expect to have about 30-40 actually attend.
As you say, the Stamps and Hainkel potential winners have to have applied for the DHS. The application is identical. I don’t think you have to say as you submit it “I want to be considered for the Stamps as well as the DHS”, it is automatic. I mean, who wouldn’t want the Stamps rather than the DHS? And to be ultra clear, the Hainkel is for Louisiana residents only. The Stamps is open to all. So I believe, but I am not 100% sure, that after the 75 DHS winners are selected (internally, before they are announced), about 10 of them are selected to interview for the Stamps, and 2 are awarded the Hainkel, assuming there are 2 from Louisiana that year, although I imagine that is rarely an issue, if ever. Then usually 5 are selected for the Stamps after the interviews, although I think they did 6 or 7 last year because of the 5 awarded the year before, only one selected Tulane. Remember, these are the best of the best and many receive similar scholarships at other schools, even Stamps from other schools.
So when it is all said and done, I think what you end up with, more or less, are 50 Paul Tulane Award winners, 68 DHS winners, 5 Stamps winners, and 2 Hainkel winners. Now the PTA and DHS are full tuition plus fees, and the Stamps and Hainkel are true full rides, even including stipends for travel and/or research during the summers.