<p>My son initially got the 17,000 scholarship and was placed in contention for the Trustee (full tuition, room, and board). He was notified he got that in March. His letter said that 25 were awarded this year from 38,000 applications. </p>
<p>His stats were: 4.0 UW, 4.7 W, 2270/1540 SAT (National Merit Scholar), 35 ACT, 4 AP’s, all honors courses and 36 hours of college credit from a major university. He also had two years as a research intern at a major government research laboratory and 2 year scholarship/appointment at a Governor’s academy and lived at the University for his last 2 years of high school. I think his real hook was that he was trained in a dyslexia remediation program and volunteered teaching adults and underprivileged kids to read in the summer. Along with that, his goal is to research learning disabilities. He also wrote a great essay about his tutoring and how he wants to make a difference in the world.</p>
<p>I agree with what most of the others have to say. My son got several full tuition/full ride offers that I think can be largely attributed to his essay. I think if you can communicate your passion, many schools will be very interested. There are just so many kids with terrific stats out there that you have to set yourself apart.</p>