SAT and GPA for Scholars

astrophysicsmom
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:07:38 +0000

The Scholars program will tell you that there is none. “It depends on extracurriculars and the overall application. They don’t have any set number they look for in SAT or GPA.”, which is from D2 who is a CP Scholar Ambassador, and does panel discussions and q and a with prospective students. She has talked with the people who make the decisions and says, honest, they don’t have specific numbers.

If you look at the kinds of programs that Scholars encompasses, it’s most likely going to be people who did apply themselves, who probably did get mostly A’s in school, and who probably did 650+ on the SATs. However, within the programs, you will find people who don’t have those credentials but who may have had some significant extracurricular or community service that they did. It’s going to be filled with people who have broader interests, and probably are those people who were involved in a ton of (meaningful) ECs in high school. (not just the ones to look good on the resume). The Scholars programs are multi-disciplinary (D is in Environment, Technology and the Economy). She is an Environmental Science/Policy major (hasn’t picked her focus area yet until after soph year), but there are people who are all kinds of majors and backgrounds who are in that program because they are interested in it. Same for the other programs.

Some people see Scholars as a “step down” from Honors. However, having 2 kids, one in each program, I don’t think that’s the case at all. When I read the descriptions of the program D2 is in for Scholars (ETE), it couldn’t describe her interests any closer. While it is an outstanding program for her, I couldn’t see older D having been satisfied with many of the different programs. She’s more on her own, enjoyed the honors seminars, but is much more focused on what she wants to do.

I doubt if this helps, but it’s a great program!