Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship 2020

Paying for College Scholarships
21

Hey, peeps! I was about to post an update when you posted. :slight_smile:

I decided to transfer all my information as the common app gives you the option to review/revise/delete each section. I am about 60-70% done with it. Last year I powered through it all at once and got myself all stressed out, so this year I am working a little at a time and then stopping. When I go back in I review my previous sections and then work on new sections, that way each section gets several reads.

This thread has been super quiet, but maybe it picks up once everyone has applied?

22

Hi Folks,
My name is Rahim. I applied last year did not get it even to the 1st round, did a great application (well! that is me thinking) my wife got it already. I got accepted to Columbia but could not afford their price tag. I am back at my community college in jersey city, NJ for a second major. I hope I will ice it this time. oh! I am a computer science and Mathematics major did a couple of research internships, one at Columbia and another at a local university in jersey city. I wish you all the best of luck

23

@BigHero Hey there, Rahim! Good luck this year! I am a second-time applicant as well. I was a semi-finalist last year, but upon review of my application, found a bunch of mistakes and places I could have done better. This year I plan to streamline everything. I am working on it in parts and trying to take it nice and slow.

I just submitted my first reference request today and will submit my second reference next week. I am just trying to take it slow and not get stressed like I did last year.

Good luck to you! Also, where does your wife go to school? I also got into Columbia and am trying to work out financing. I am not sure I can make it work, so I am applying at a couple of other schools.

If anyone wants to chat about the scholarship or share tips or ides, let me know!

24

Hey Y’all,

This is my first year applying! I go to college in Phoenix. I’ll add my info below:

(University Choices, if accepted) NYU Gallatin, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, UCSD, USC.

(Major) Business & Art History

(Volunteer Hours) I don’t really keep track but around 50?

(Extracurriculars) I work at two nonprofits, PTK officer, TRIO

(Ethnicity) Latino, Mexican

(Sex & Gender) Male, Male

At the moment I have not completed essays. I had a question. Do you know if submitted more than two Letters of Rec is too much? I want to ask my two teachers, but also my two employers and case manager from a workforce/halfway program I did.

Hope to hear more from everyone!

25

Hi everyone,

Not on CC much but bookmarking this thread. Started filling out the common app today. Good luck to all of you!

Top Picks: Duke, UNC Chapel Hill (huge family presence in NC), Stanford
UC/CSU: UCD, UCB, UCSB, UCSD, UCSC, SJSU, SFSU

College GPA: CCC 3.75, UC 3.62

Volunteer: local curch, meals on wheels - every weekend for 5+ years, also foster mom to a variety of fur babies throughout the year - didn’t think to include this on other threads

Other: Two AA degrees with high honors - Political Science & Psychology, worked full-time since 18 yrs old - nearly 38, have an awesomely autistic adult son, hoping to major in public policy @ top picks or political science with emphasis on environmental sustainability/city planning at UC/CSU

Essays: Since admission is a shot in the dark I’ve decided to have fun with top pick essays. Couple ideas in mind but won’t make a firm decision until the day I submit the app.

Recs: Political Science Professor & Current Supervisor

State: CA

Community College: Berkeley City College

Ethnicity: African-American

Sex: F

26

At the moment I have not completed essays. I had a question. Do you know if submitted more than two Letters of Rec is too much? I want to ask my two teachers, but also my two employers and case manager from a workforce/halfway program I did.

Hi Leon,

Personally, I wouldn’t submit more than what each college requires. In your case I would pick a teacher and one employer.

27

Leon–If you are using the Coalition or common app, you can only submit the recommendations they allow and of the types they allow. So, for example, JKC allows only 2 recommendations and the app specifies: “Two Academic Recommendations are required for this application. These must be academic professionals at your current or most recent institution and should be well-acquainted with your work and character.” So, you can’t add more and if you attempt to email them extra files, they will disregard. Additionally, attempting to provide 5 or 6 references won’t help you. These schools will absolutely tell you want they want and that is what you need to submit. Some applications allow you to submit personal and professional references in addition to your academic references.

28

@nontradhopeful @JellyPeeps Thanks! I appreciate the responses.

Btw good luck to everyone! Although the deadline is in Novemeber, the 20th is quickly approaching.

29

I know! the 20th is fast approaching. The next week is really busy for me, but so far, I have all my transcripts together, have almost finished rewriting/reworking my resume, and have my references set. The references were a stressful aspect of the applications last year as it felt like herding cats. Deadlines were fast approaching and I had these references just hanging out there. So this year, I am handling it a little different. Read: sending them WAY earlier. LOL.

30

Hi everyone,
Been pretty busy with school… I am probably going to get my first B in Organic Chemistry. Spanish 3 is pretty rough too…

But yeah, I hope you guys are working hard and doing well on your applications!
First time applying this year and I am hoping to transfer to Duke, NC State, Cornell, Princeton, or Stanford. Just worried about my SAT scores since they are rather low and I can’t really sacrifice time studying for it right now.

I just got pre-accepted to Chapel Hill through C-STEP by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation so there is some motivation for me to keep pushing through! :slight_smile:

31

Hi everyone, it’s so exciting to see this thread grow! I can’t believe that there are only 12 days left until we have to submit our applications, but I couldn’t be any more excited for all of us.

Anything interesting going on with y’all? How’s school going?

32

I figure this post will start getting busy after the deadline and even more so once the semifinalists have been announced, but I wanted to check-in and see how everyone is doing? I am still struggling to round out my application. I have the bones of it and most of the required parts on the common app (like college courses, GPAs, etc), but I am really struggling to tie it up. I am going to work on it tonight for a while longer and see how it goes.

How is everyone else doing?

33

Hi guys!! I was selected as a JKCF UT Scholar this year (2019). Message me if you have questions!!

34

Hey ya’ll, it’s almost time!

University: Northwestern, Notre Dame, Cornell, UIUC, Yale

College GPA: 3.70, 99% it’ll be 3.8 at the end of the semester (after the deadline :/)

Volunteer Hours (approx): A lot in my opinion, but where do we put this on the application?

Other stats: 96.7% highschool GPA, 32 ACT

Major: Economics/Finance

Essays (Personal opinions/critiques): I consider myself a good writer, I’m just having trouble conveying what I want to say with these essays.

Teacher Recs: Microeconomics (she gave me Best in Class award)

Other Rec: SGA/PTK advisor

Activities: Two internships right now, SGA Senator, PTK VP of Fellowship, DECA President, 27 theater performances (Directing, acting, teaching). Worked over full time/took full time classes during the summer.

Hook (if any): none.

State or Country: IL

Community College: Oakton Community College

Ethnicity: White

Sex at Birth: Male, 18 years old

Other Factors: Graduated early/went to CC to provide for my family/single mom

35

I just submitted my application! Good luck everyone!

36

University: Amherst, Brown, Rice, Williams, Emory, Vanderbilt, Yale, Washington U, Cornell

Stats

College GPA: 4.0 as a 1st-semester sophomore. I’ll have 52 credits after this semester. My school doesn’t offer an honors program.

Volunteer Hours (approx): I did 60 hours of community service at a church-run thrift shop a few years ago. My school also doesn’t have student organizations, so campus involvement is pretty much impossible. They don’t even offer sports.

Other stats: 1420 SAT (I think this is a really good score considering I went to high school for one year. I think college admissions probably weighs test scores more heavily than JKC, though)

Essays (Personal opinions/critiques): Solid IMO, but who really knows.

Teacher Recs: 2 professors that know me fairly well

Other Rec: none

Hook (if any): none

State or Country: GA

Community College: CTC

Ethnicity: White/Cuban

Sex at Birth: Male

Other Factors: Grew up in a single-parent household with my mother taking care of my grandmother and me. I had to leave high school at the beginning of my sophomore year to take care of my grandmother; we couldn’t afford a 24/7 nurse. I got my GED in 2014, and I ended up taking care of her from late 2011 until early 2016 when she passed away. After that, I started an online business and was able to help my mom pay for living expenses, buy myself a car, and pay for my first year of community college. I hope these things overshadow my lack of community service because almost all of those years were spent inside my house. The other thing that really hurts me is the fact that I have no internship experience. The problem is that I want to work in business/finance/tech, and it’s nearly impossible to get internships at big tech companies, Investment banks, or consulting firms. You have to go to a four-year school to even be considered, and a lot of times they only want students from top-tier schools. I honestly have no idea how so many people who apply to the transfer scholarship have extensive lists of internships and other experience. I’ve been denied from everything I’ve applied to and honestly, most of them explicitly state they want people that just finished their sophomore or junior years. Maybe I’m just really unlucky or haven’t met the right people, but I definitely think that, along with the minimal community service, are huge disadvantages for me.

37

@Transfersssss I honestly think you have an amazing chance. Hopefully we’ll work in IB or consulting together one day :wink:

38

@Hockeyboy540 You seem to have a very compelling application as well. That would be cool. I’m just trying to get to a place where those job opportunities are actually a possibility. I don’t even think my career services office knows what investment banking is. Lol.

39

Hi everyone,

Wanted to update and wish you all the best of luck. Decided not to apply, honestly was not putting much effort into the app and feel that those who are making the extra effort are more deserving of this wonderful opportunity.

Between a full time class schedule, working on college essays, herding cats for rec letters and working full time at a job thats incredibly blah I don’t have the energy or motivation for JKC. Might be different if I’d known about this much sooner and been better prepared but removed from my common app yesterday.

Once again good luck and best wishes to everyone!

40

Hello all,
Will not being in PTK hurt my chances? I have been eligible but never paid the fee because I wasn’t really interested in it. I have a 3.7 and 100+ community service hours, plus my job is in parks, rec and community service. It just seems like they are looking for PTK members and I was wondering if my application would essentially get tossed once they see that “no.”