<p>I think that is a personal decision. You won the award, so clearly you deserve it. However, giving it to another person is humbling of you.</p>
<p>Hello all,
So I have a friend who graduated last year (Class of '08) and is now attending Duke as a Gates Millennium scholar. Here’s what she wrote, hope it helps!</p>
<p>Hey!
Sorry it took me so long to reply… the last days of classes have been rough. Ok, so you want to know about Gates?</p>
<p>They are basically referred to as the “last check” organization, as in they pick up all the last expense that have not been covered by financial aid and other scholarships and grants. They covered my work study so I get a refund check every term in the amount of money I was suppose to have gotten a job to work for, but didn’t have to. If you have loans, they’ll cover those too.</p>
<p>Call the finaid office at the school you’re considering to attend and ask if expenses for a laptop are included in the general cost of attendance. If they are- Gates will also provide up to a thousand or so for you to purchase a laptop. (Some schools- like Duke, do not include a laptop in the general COA so make sure to make the call if you’re considering buying a new comp. for school)</p>
<p>What else… As a personal note- I’d send Gates the first financial aid statement you received from whatever school you’re going to. (this is the one you get before you report your outside scholarships to the college) This way, Gates will cover all of your unmet need and loans etc and you’ll get to pocket the money from outside scholarships… Does that make sense? example:
School costs- 50,000
You get finaid for- 40,000
So you have an unmet of 10,000 that is made up of loans and work study and out of pocket costs
BUT- you also got say:
Ronald Mcdonald scholarship 2000
South Central Gifted Scholars 2000
Nestle Scholarship 1500
If you send Gates the finaid statement without these outside scholarships, it still looks like you owe 10,000 so they’ll pay the school 10,000 on your behalf. Then when your other 3 scholarships also issue out checks, you’ll be over by $5500 and the school will be issued back to you via a refund check. This is just a general rule- never let other scholarship programs know you’re getting more money from somewhere else- then they’re more likely to give you the maximum amount they can.[I know someone who sent gates their final finaid statement which includes outside scholarships and Gates only pays 1.50 each term and the kid doesn’t get a refund check- whereas if he would have sent the unedited one, Gates would be paying more and he would be getting a refund check for about 700 each term]</p>
<p>Ummmm, let’s see… sometime in October[or was it september?..] Gates invites scholars to a business conference where they explain your award and give you advice on college. It’s an all expenses paid trip [if you go to school on the west coast the conference is in LA, if you go on the east coast the conference is in Virginia]- they even issue you out a credit card with your name on it to purchase food and make travel arrangements to and from the airport. Oh, and they send you LOADS of free stuff!</p>
<p>They pay for up to 10 years of schooling. This is key! They’ll pay for graduate school as long as it’s in the realm of education, science, medicine, math, or engineering(I think that’s the last one?). Anyway, they won’t pay for medical or law school, but they will pay for any MPH, PhD or MBA/Ed.D programs as long as it fits within a length of 10 years after your first year in Undergrad. They don’t pay for summer sessions or study abroad unless either of those are requirements for graduation, BUT there’s always financial aid for all of that [I’m studying abroad this summer and taking two terms of organic chem next summer and my finaid is paying for everything so there are no worries there.]</p>
<p>I feel like there’s more, but for some reason I have writer’s block. Anyway, if something else comes up… I’ll shoot you another message. In the meantime, good luck with finals and prom planning and school decisions and graduation! What schools are you choosing between?
Take care,
-Ash</p>
<p>Does the gates scholarship cover the student contribution part of financial aid that students are supposed to earn through summer work?</p>
<p>I dont think so</p>
<p>thanks for sharing that simplyxx…</p>
<p>what does it mean by " he would be getting a refund check for about 700 each term"?
do we get some money back or…? </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I have talked to the financial counselor and she said that I Have to tell her if I got more shcolarship… so I think what your friend have said put me in a tough spot. Also, I was wondering if I get enough scholarships that cover more than how much I need to pay for school and Gates don’t have to step in, do i just get the extra money?</p>
<p>Valentino: If student contribution is based on your personal finances, that’s the amount the college expects you to contribute out of your own pocket. In that case, Gates will not cover student contribution.</p>
<p>Pink: So basically, if your college/university lists work study as a way to pay for your tuition, Gates will cover the costs of your work study without you having to work. Now, if the money you receive goes over the amount needed for your tuition costs, your school will issue you refund checks every term. The refund check becomes pocket money.</p>
<p>KLee: If you tell your Financial Aid Counselor you got more scholarships other than Gates, she will write that on your financial aid award letter to Gates. When this happens, Gates will pay the least amount of money possible because they know you have other awards covering other costs. They will not give you extra money. However, if you were to submit to Gates your financial aid statement before including other scholarships, they will pay your total unmet need costs. When this has been taken care of, you can then submit your other scholarship awards to your counselor. This way, the other scholarship money will be seen as an excess and refunded to your bank account by way of a refund check. This is the only way you can get extra money. It’s really up to you though.</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>I already submitted my paperwork, so I can’t remember if it was mentioned or not, but does anyone know if the scholarship covers spring courses? I know they won’t cover summer courses unless it’s mandated by the university…</p>
<p>Please disregard the previous messages I posted. I have looked into it, and the information is incorrect. If a college/university or a scholarship institution learns that you have withheld scholarship information, you may become liable for thousands of dollars. PLEASE do not use this method to try to “squeeze out” more money from your scholarships, as it may put you in grave danger financially. You could also lose your scholarship! The schools and the scholarship offices work in unison to ensure that the correct financial aid award is given, and if they become aware that you have failed to report scholarships, you will be expected to pay the difference. </p>
<p>KLee: Tell your financial officer of every scholarship you receive, no matter how small. Even if you receive scholarships after the Gates award letter has been issued, you still need to report them.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your understanding, and sorry for the confusion!</p>
<p>hey quick question. someone said that the gates pretty much covers the rest of the money that our school and other scholarships do not, i.e. the loans and extra work study we may have. someone also said that the gates will cover anything extra academically for up to 10 years. is there a cap on how much they will cover in total? i was under the impression that the gates scholarship is 20k.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you have received an answer to your question, but the FA officer is not at your high school, it’s at the college you plan to attend. Not sure where u are attending but UCLA has a rep for Gates scholars. U send the doc to her and she fills out the FA info and mails it back to U to send back to Gates. I trust that helps.</p>
<p>Yes, I will be attending UCLA and another girl from my hs as well.</p>
<p>No they only consider what the FA officer puts on the form and it’s usually tuition/housing&meals/books & supp/personal expenses/transportation/Health insurance.</p>
<p>simplyxxmistaken</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your help, it really help. I will tell them I have received the other scholarship. But I do have another question, would we get to keep the extra schoalrship money if we received the amount that exceed the COA?</p>
<p>Just before I had won the Gates I had recieved a full ride at my school (with various scholarships that I had won). But I decided to give them back bc I wanted other people who needed it to have that money. We have all been very blessed that we have receieved this scholarship that we should try to take advantage of it. Like was mentioned earlier, if you try to take advantage karma will come back and get you later. But that is just my opinion…</p>
<p>Does Gates cover work study? What does Gates REALLY cover?</p>
<p>Ya they told me they dont want u to work</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about the leadership conference? :)</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from past Scholars, the east conference is in Virginia and the west conference is in LA. They set the dates for after we start college; if you’re east of the Mississippi River then you’re going to the eastern conference, and if you’re west of the river, then you’re going to the western conference. We probably won’t be hearing much from the GMSP til August or September regarding the conference. </p>
<p>I do know that they will cover the fare for traveling and staying at a hotel [I’m not sure if they’ve got a specific hotel they want us to stay at or anything].</p>
<p>When will be actually receiving the money? I have to turn in some deposits and I don’t have the money to do so and then be reimbursed.</p>