<p>I guess Bill Gates is being a meanie to me lol because I havent gotten a email OR letter yet! :(</p>
<p>Anyone knows of somebody that didnt receive an e-mail but got the letter and was notified as a finalist???</p>
<p>everyone have hope… one friend of mine who got the gates last year told me that she got her notifications later than everyone else… she didnt find out she was a scholar til may almost…</p>
<p>let me add that i wrote all my gates essays on one saturday…and yes i am apparently a finalist… so those out there who have been eyeing this program for a while…i assure you .you will get the ‘letter’</p>
<p>Jfbycc – You are so nice and optimistic! I really hope you win the Gates and I completely believe in you. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>It seems like GMS always gets much more female applicants than male. I believe males comprised of 30% of the scholars in 2007. Does this mean that males have the upper hand in becoming a scholar?</p>
<p>Yeah, my friend whose a GMS scholar said its easier for men to the award to a degree than girls. Though with a 30-70 gender split, I don’t know how much GMS actually has a gender bias.</p>
<p>If I win this award, I will NEVER buy an Apple product again in my life as a sign of gratitiude. My friends think I’m a little crazy :D.</p>
<p>Lol, you wouldn’t need to, since GMS will pay for it!</p>
<p>Really? I thought GMS only pays for self-need and loans you may take up but they also give you a stipend?</p>
<p>I believe that they can also pay for a laptop. I saw some people talking about that on another thread. The lap-top I guess is part of self-need, since you need a laptop for college. I don’t believe that its a stipend.</p>
<p>you can call your respective organization to confirm if they received all the necessary documents. i called the APIASF and they confirmed that they received my documents. Good luck everyone :)</p>
<p>on another note, i’ve heard that if you’re a finalist, all you need to do is prove that your financial aid and grates are in accordance to what you put in your application, and then you become a scholar. Any comments on this?</p>
<p>ricey, the letters that finalist got said that there is another round after becoming finalist. I believe that there were 1800 finalists last year, only 1000 were selected for GMS scholar.</p>
<p>where did you get the information about the number of finalists?</p>
<p>I found that number scouring last year’s thread. Someone was talking about a rejection letter they got and the letter said something about 1800 finalists. I can’t verify that this is true 100%, but I think something like 1800 seems reasonable for finalist status. Although this year there might be more finalists as there are probably more nominees.</p>
<p>ricey is totally right. i spoke to a couple people about the gates thing that are actual scholars. u got it. they need to confirm that you meet the minimum requirememts such as GPA and qualify for pell grant. this is it. IF UR A FINALIST THEN CONGRATS CAUSE UNLESS U SLACKED OFF AND YOUR PARENTS WON THE LOTTO UR A SHOE IN. what else will they evaluate u on now. all they have to go on is GPA and it’s not like the highest GPAs get it. everyone does. finalist means final round to confirm eligibility. all u people that beg to differ unless BILL GATES is ur uncle and confirms this, i don’t believe it. ok thats it. and all of u who are finalist, have a 3.3 GPA and qualify for Pell Grant. let me be the first to say: CONGRATULATIONS U ARE A GATES SCHOLAR. AND IF YOU LIVE ON THE EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER SEE YOU AT THE CONFERENCE IN SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER. BYE</p>
<p>wendy, are you sure about that?</p>
<p>I called GMS, and Ms. April told me that there is another round of evaluation after finalist. Also, if you read last year’s thread near the end, you see that there are a few passionate finalists who were not accepted. I would not be so quick to make that conclusion, although it might be true that as a finalist it’s relatively easy to become a scholar. It’s NOT 100% as the GMS finalist letter clearly states.</p>
<p>i have no idea who ms. april is but of course she can’t tell u being a finalist guarantees scholarship. it is all dependent on ur GPA and ur pell grant eligibility. if u have that than ur straight. but umm let me know how u do. or let us know how u do. i’m also a finalist and i like to think POSITIVE. and right now i’m moving pass infinity ttyl</p>
<p>still clinging on to some hope…</p>
<p>what race typically gets notice first about being a scholar or not?</p>
<p>imhispanic</p>
<p>i faxed my docs. 3-13, emailed gms/hsf and confirmed if they had gotten them…so im hoping i hear from them soooooooon. or i will be greatly distraught…wouldn’t it be cruel to send a finalist letter only to bring your hopes up then smash them?? i mean my gpa and efc are good…by the way the gates people aren’t available on the weekends are they (on fone)?</p>