President's Scholarship Questions

Colleges & Universities Georgia Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hey! I want to apply for the President’s Scholarship at Georgia Tech. I have just a few questions regarding the program.

  1. In my GT application, which I already submitted, I put my unweighted GPA (4.0) rather than weighted (4.13). Does it matter which one when PSP selections are made?
  2. Since I already applied for the October Deadline, does that mean that the October SAT/ACT is the last test to be considered for the PSP? Or will November tests also be considered?
  3. I know that, as part of the admission process, ACT and SAT tests are superscored, and only the highest English, Math, and Combined English/Writing are considered for admission. Is that also the case with the PSP? How does the process work with the PSP?
  4. If they do superscore, is ACT science or reading used? Those tend to be my two weak spots, and the science has no SAT equivalent.</p>

<p>Here’s a brief record of my high school years. I have a 4.0 GPA (4.130 weighted). I have taken all of the most advanced courses offered at school. Almost all of the grades on my transcript are 97s and above. I have about 300 community service hours. I participate in basically all of the clubs offered at school, and many organizations outside of school. My highest ACT test scores are below:
English: 35
Math: 33
Reading: 26 (right now; I hope to change it if it has any matter in scholarships)
Science: 29 (although I’m 90% certain I boosted that score on the last test)
Combined E/W: 31
Composite: 30 (Again, hoping to boost it on this past test)</p>

<p>As of right now, what are my chances of advancing as a semifinalist? What should I work on improving?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>Your number of clubs doesn’t matter, honestly I would worry about putting “basically all of them” down, it’s more about the leadership you’re showing in them.</p>

3

<p>Oh ok thanks. The stuff that I participate most strongly in:
Ripley Main Street Ambassadors - I’m one of six selected seniors in the school that take part in Ripley Main Street Association, the chief community development organization for the city. As Secretary/Treasurer, I manage funds, do record-keeping, take notes during each meeting, etc.
National Art Honor Society - I was VP last year, taking part in NAHS meeting, calling role, in part organizing the school’s art show, awards ceremony, and new members. I’ll probably serve as President this year.
Highlander school newspaper staff - I participated during ninth and tenth grade. Both years, I was a reporter and ad seller. In tenth, I was Layout Editor, designing each page of each edition of the newspaper. Btw, the Highlander ranks the number one 3A school newspaper in the state, and has for several years.
Piano Lessons - I have taken for nine years. I have been the most advanced student for about the last 3 to 4 years.
Teenage Republicans - Last year, I joined and had the most volunteer campaign hours of any member. Because of this, the teacher said I would serve as president, but he kinda never got around to it.
Substitute Church Instrumentalist - I serve as substitute organist and pianist at church. I also served as regular organist for 5 months while our organist was recovering from a fall.
Tutoring - I have tutored nine people, mostly in Algebra II, Trig, and Advanced Algebra. Most of them were over a year older than me.
Math/Science Team - Have been in since 10th grade. We go to competitions at local colleges and compete with students from all over the region. I have placed first in Chemistry and in the top 10 in Advanced Math, much of which was Calculus, which I had never had.</p>

<p>Here is a complete list of my ECs:National Honor Society, NSHSS, National Art Honor Society, Ripley Math/Science Team, Spanish Club, FCA, Teenage Republicans, Ripley Main Street Ambassadors, Piano Lessons (9 years), Mississippi Bible Drills (8 years), RYLA Conference, Highlander school newspaper staff, Mississippi Scholars, and an EF Educational Tour.</p>

<p>As for volunteering: About 340 hours. I’ve participated in Upward Basketball (10 hours), Vacation Bible School (90 hours collective), church youth community projects (25 hours), a local festival (8 hours), helped out with our after-school art program (10 hours), Republican campaign (4 hours), participated in the Christmas cantata with choir (6 hours), a food drive (2 hours), tutored a range of different people, classes, and grades (30+ hours), and served as the organist at church for about 5 months (40 hours), played piano for the monthly nursing home church service (5 hours), played for 2 weddings (2 hours), helped paint a house with my youth group (4 hours), helped design and finalize a new community organization’s logo (4 hours), and designed a significant part of the school yearbook in 8th grade (100 hours). </p>

<p>Do I have a chance as far as ECs go? Thanks.</p>

4

<p>Your focus on hours might lead you astray. What did you do with each hour? How hard did you work? How smart did you work? What did you accomplish? Did you swing a hammer or help someone gain a home? How is the world different because of your labor? What motivated you to do the volunteering? These are some important questions. ;-)</p>

5

<p>I didn’t list most community services or hours in my GT application. I only listed Vacation Bible School and Organist/Pianist in the application. I got that list of hours and ECs from my ■■■■■■■■■■ profile. I put all of the activities that I explained in more detail, along with VBS, National Honor Society, and Bible Drills, on my GT application. I was curious though, should I take advantage of that optional 2000 letter essay to go into more detail about ECs, academics, awards, and whatever else?</p>

6

<p>Here’s my ‘very personal’ impression, so please don’t attack me. </p>

<p>As a father of a current PS, I think I got some insight. My kid had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, too, but didn’t have that many ECs. </p>

<p>The PS program is NOT primarily about grades (yes, I know this is only partially correct, good grades are the entry-ticket, but the term ‘good’ is relative! A 4.0 does NOT guarantee you a spot on that list, but it ‘ensures’ that you are being evaluated at least - that’s my personal impression).
The PS program is much more about your personality - you’ll be evaluated in multiple interviews, and only if you ‘shine’ in those interviews you’ll have a shot at the scholarship.
Your list of ECs is long, but I didn’t get the impression that you are very emotional about them, I couldn’t read any excitement in your notes - you don’t appear to be a ‘driver/leader’ - THIS is what the PS program is much more about than good grades! This is what you’ll need to try to get across in the interviews: Show them what you are passionate about and how this could/will affect GT once you are there. Show them what YOU can bring to the table and how you’d like to use your skills in the future, how you’d like to grow by studying at GT and how you’ll use your learnings! Looking at your list of ECs, I’m tempted to give you the advice: less is more! Focus on less ECs but show your passion in those that you mention.</p>

7

<p>^well said.</p>