@Guru123 did you also go up to interview?
@DasaniH20 i think getting those emails are good indications at least. (Just how getting interviewed is good?) What did the email exactly say?
yes, I got the interview but I didn’t hear from them since!
@Guru123 it sounds like a form to confirm your enrollment in a school.
Everyone is so obsessed with the interview and whether a request for more info was asked for. I am sure it has to do with that poll from last year.
Y’all need to keep a few things in mind. That poll was only 1/3 of the people who were picked. 23 out of 61. You don’t know what happened with the other 39 people. A lot more of them could have been chosen without any other requests for info or interviews. 2 out of those 23 WERE.
ALSO, 3 of those surveyed were interviewed and asked for extra informal and did not get picked. Don’t count yourself out till that press release comes out. You don’t know. They’ve changed the process they’re using for the last two years. So there’s no telling what is actually happening. Don’t count yourselves out. It looks like we’re waiting another week. Be kind to yourselves. You aren’t out till you’re OUT.
I think a big part of being kind to yourself is looking at this as a blessing and not banking on JKCF or any other unknown. Guys, stop obsessing over predictions. They will only make you stress out more!
I’m happy to have been selected as a semifinalist! I’m blessed to have met many of you through these forums. I am so glad that Cooke urged me to apply to schools I never thought I’d have a chance at attending, ultimately leading to my acceptance into my DREAM school. The value of these things transcend the value of simply getting a huge scholarship. As with anything in life, your circumstances are what you make of them. Whether I’m a scholar or not, I’m putting in a lot of effort to count my blessings through this. I am 100% stress-free as we wait for the results because whether I am a scholar or not, I have already reaped incredible benefits from this journey and I know that I will come out of it with more blessings than I came in with. We all should!
I’ve done what I can and there’s no manipulating the foundation’s choice now. We have all done the best we could, and we should pat ourselves on the back for coming this far.
@MHGirl615 those numbers are music to my hears :’).
@iggywiggly, yes ma’am, we have improved ourselves and will continue work hard regardless of the outcome.
@DasaniH20 GOOD!! I love to make people feel better. ??? It’s my favorite thing to do.
@iggywiggly what is your dream school? I am curious and your right. My acceptance towards UNC is everything I wanted because it is the only information science degree in my state and love the college. 
I like to assume I did not get the finalist at this point because I didn’t get more info after the semifinalist notification. Of course, this is not the only reason, but I don’t need to be sad or worry anymore because I have already accepted it!
It is an unusual perspective and I understand that we should be optimistic, but I like to also be realistic.
Like I rather be like ok I didn’t get it but later on, holy ducks? I got it? I thought I didn’t?
Rather than now, omg I could get it! then I got it! or have the possibly of thinking, aww guys I didn’t get it and say our salutations.
Either approach or perspective is up to anyone preferences in my opinion and there is no right or wrong way to think about it like this. It is just who I am and its been working out for me so far so hope you guys can understand lol.
Hi everyone! I am also a semifinalist I agree with Brian. I don’t consider myself a pessimist, but this is what I usually do when it comes to competitions, scholarships, and college acceptances:
I always expect the worse. Or just trick me into believing in that. Even though I oftentimes imagine myself being a JCK scholar and how amazing that would be, I still think about the negative. And no, I don’t like surrounding myself with negative thoughts, it just makes everything so much easier.
Let me explain. If I don’t get the scholarship, I won’t be too sad and disappointed as I did not get my hopes high. But imagine if I get it? My happiness would literally be doubled.
That’s just my mindset, and I hope it helps some of you! It has helped me a lot, and trust me, the feeling of achieving something when you thought you wouldn’t is rewarding
@muffinbun I can agree with that. When I didn’t receive the followup and interview emails I was like “ok it’s true that last year some still got the scholarship and didn’t receive any email other than the semi-finalist announcement but the percentage is so slim so”. I wanted to face the reality that my chances are 1% and so it’s very unlikely but possible. I rather look at this objectively rather than do like my brother last year, he was a semifinalist and kept his hopes high until the last minute then he got a blow and was so disappointed like he was destroyed from inside because he really needed it. I personally don’t want to go through his pain so I want to look at it differently from the same perspective as @muffinbun. I want all of you guys to understand something here, the admission committee is constituted of humans and they do mistakes so the rejection should never define you as a person because you might have deserved it but they didn’t see that at all. I won’t tolerate you looking down at yourself if you don’t get it!! Im an international student coming from a middle-class family where my parents put everything on the line for me and my siblings. Now my parents are almost depressive because they ran out of money and don’t know how they will pay for us, I’m not gonna lay all my problems here but only God knows how much I need this. However, I do believe in the plan that has been set for me, if I don’t get it (which I know I probably won’t) I know that God would have made such to prevent me from taking a route I wasn’t supposed to take. Always believe in your destiny, if you have a dream then hold on to that very tight and do everything you can possibly do to get there and I PROMISE YOU THAT YOU WILL GET THERE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. I really really really hope that all of us (not one of us excluded) will be getting this scholarship but If not then hey! the journey is still ahead of us and its not this rejection that is going to stop us! Best of luck to everyone here!
@muffinbun @thelegitbrian @tahiatounes
I get where you’re coming from, I really do. I implore you all to come to the conclusion for your best possible mental and emotional health right now. I think perspective, though, is very important to understand.
So I’m almost 30, and from what I’ve seen many other semifinalists are of traditional age. I was horrifically abused by my family (along with many others) and escaped when I was 21. I couldn’t attend school when I was younger because I had to fight for survival. I’d actually never taken a math class past elementary school, never graduated from high school, and no one ever told me I could actually do well in school. I’d never before even been given the option. Finally, community college became a real possibility and I started my very first class on my 26th birthday. I decided I wouldn’t become another statistic, and if I made it, I’d help the next generation of survivors with my education.
I’ve learned a few things throughout my journey. First, anything that is given to you, whether it be a grant or a scholarship or help from another, is a blessing and not a right. This is why I harp so hard on counting blessings rather than weighing rejections. I could NEVER have done this without many blessings, and if I didn’t recognize them, I’d be in a much worse position.
Second, anyone can delay school if they need to. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen for you.
Third, if we have made it to be semifinalists, we can all get into schools that will offer us incredible aid to at least make their ticket prices affordable. I truly believe that Cooke would be a blessing for all of us, but that the path to higher education will be available regardless.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, stress over the unknown is the future destroyer. I mean this literally. When we stress and expend emotional energy over things like this scholarship’s selection process, it takes away from the effort we can be putting into our goals and making the world a better place. There are far more useful places for our intellectual and emotional resources than searching for data and trying to make predictions about something that we will all find the answer to within about a week from now.
I have been thinking a lot about the people who really changed the world. Rosa Parks wasn’t blessed with a huge scholarship when she made a decision to change the world. Nor was Gandhi. Gosh, even Oprah Winfrey had to fight through incredible adversity in her life. I think that the most wonderful examples of bravery and success throughout history come from people with minimal choice and blessing, if any at all. Perhaps it’s living through challenge and having to fight tooth and nail that teaches us how to be strong and really dig in our heels for the good fight. Of course there is some survivorship bias here — many people who experience much adversity don’t become famous heroes. That doesn’t change the fact that right here, right now, we are all being recognized by being semifinalists for the potential we possess to actually change the world. So OWN it. Go out and change the world, and dig your heels in with or without this one thing.
In the end, being selected or not isn’t a dealbreaker UNLESS WE LET IT BE ONE. Perspective teaches us that many people with even fewer blessings have become heroes in the most unlikely circumstances.
Oh, and @HopeSeaker123 my dream school is Smith College 
Ok, ok, I know I’m rambling, but I want you all to ask yourselves this question:
Why would the foundation select and publish hundreds of semifinalists if we all know that only around 60 scholars will actually be chosen?
It’s not to let us down or “reject” us. It’s to recognize our potential and contributions despite the fact that they only have the resources to actually fund a few scholars each year.
I have been thinking about this for the last 24 hours or so. Everyone has been obsessing about whether or not they were asked for extra information. From what I’ve gathered from the people who were asked for information, they were asked for things like “Enrollment forms” and “discipline record information.”
I am thinking based on these requests that maybe these people who were asked for this information either A.) Didn’t realize they were supposed to send this information to begin with or B.) their school didn’t send sufficient information for the Foundation to base their decision on.
I am assuming, of course, that everyone knew that you were supposed to request that an official copy of your transcripts from your schools be sent from your school to the foundation. You could attach an unofficial copy of your transcript to the application but you were supposed to request that your school send an official copy to the Foundation. Even if you did this, you have to understand that some schools don’t attach things like discipline records when they send your transcripts. My high school transcript does not include my discipline record. This could be for multiple reasons. Maybe my school does not see my discipline record as part of my transcript. Or maybe my particular transcript is so old that they don’t think it matters. My high school transcript is over 25 years old and honestly, my discipline record from that time doesn’t matter to my life now. I was a different person and it was almost a lifetime ago.
So I would not put any stock in whether or the foundation did or didn’t request more information from you. I spent months writing and re-writing my essay. I was meticulous about every single experience or recognition I have received being on my application. I made my application as thorough as possible. I haven’t received any requests for more information or an interview. Well, I did a phone interview with our local newspaper that was set up and monitored by the foundation but I don’t know if that counts as an “interview” with the foundation. So don’t give up hope unless you WANT to. I understand the concept of counting yourself out and being surprised. That’s a matter of choice and I applaud that decision. But don’t stress if you haven’t been asked for information or even an interview. You still have a chance.
And, as @iggywiggly has said, plan on still moving forward with your plans regardless. You worked HARD to get to where you are and to be recognized by the foundation for that hard work!! This is my second year as a semi-finalist and I am NOT sorry I didn’t get it last year and I won’t be this year. The work I did lead me to my DREAM. I never wanted to be anywhere but Mount Holyoke or Smith. I got waitlisted at Smith and I was accepted to Mount Holyoke with an amazing Financial Aid package. With or without JKCF, I will move forward. I have already paid my deposit at MH and come fall, in-person classes or no in-person classes, I WILL be an “MH Girl.” I have been lucky enough to network with some amazing people over the last 2 years of my involvement with JKCF and I wouldn’t give that up for ANYTHING.
Did anyone send any updates to JCKF? I did on March 20th after my Dad was laid-off his job due to COVID-19. The foundation actually responded and said that my update was added to my application portfolio, however, I never received any follow-up requests since being selected as a semifinalist.
Also, I don’t mean to be intrusive, but would anyone be willing to share what they know about income? Does the foundation look at incomes relative to an applicant’s residence (i.e., the cost of living in California v. rural Texas)?
LAST question, I swear. I am not a member of PTK so does this put me at a significant disadvantage?
Thanks guys.
@MHGirl615 I believe that it was not mandatory to send official transcripts since in the common app says that we can use unofficial ones. I did not submit an official transcript because my advisors did not mention it and the foundation did not specify it in the application.
https://www.jkcf.org/our-stories/2020-cooke-college-scholars/
HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARS ARE IN
Amazing!! One of my friend’s little sister won!
2020: There were 477 high school semis, 50 were awarded.
2019: 121 Scholars
2018: 109 Scholars
2017: 108 Scholars
What the numbers are showing me, is um, well kinda worrying. There were 3 years in a row that high school scholars had +100 and in 2020 it was 50. That just means they reduced the amount of scholars by half. Now let me give you my theory. This foundation has deep ties to the stock market, and thanks to COVID19 the stock market has plummeted. Like a ton. If I was the foundation, my assets go from “xyz” to down “20-30%”. We are talking millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars lost as a result of this downdraft in the market. What would I do, unfortunately make budget cuts and reduce the amount of scholars.
Yeah, I thought the same thing.
That’s just my theory, cuz the foundation needs to stay afloat and also have enough to ensure that future scholars can benefit. Let me give you an example
EXAMPLE:
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Portfolio may sit at $500 MILLION dollars. Its on bonds, stocks, foreign commodities, etc. If they plan to allocate $10 million dollars to scholarships. and now their portfolio sits at $380 million as a result of the market crash. They need to cut the amount allocated to a number (lets say 7 million) in order to use the remaining (3 million dollars) and inject it into the market. WHY? because that 3 million dollars at a good return can supply scholarships for over 200 scholars (assuming they all need $40,000).
Conclusion: They might be reducing the funds for 2020 to allow for more scholars to have the opportunity. Which means, by my estimates, we may see only 30-40 scholars. I could be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong. But the math would make sense.