<p>are there any?? what colleges offer them?</p>
<p>A lot of colleges offer scholarships for valedictorians. Especially public universities. You should find out which colleges you are interested in first. A lot of places only offer a couple thousand a year for a valedictorian.</p>
<p>I know our State U offers a scholarship for valedectorians but it is quite a bit smaller than the ones offered for high ACT scores and it is not stackable (i.e if the Val also has the high ACT score he/she cannot receive both scholarships but will get the higher one - the ACT based one). I would think most Vals have high ACT scores so the Valedectorian scholarhip seems rather pointless.</p>
<p>My son was Valedictorian ~ He went to an out of state college and was offered an Academic Excellence Level I Scholarship ~ $8,000/year for four years plus an Academic Grant of $2,500/year for four years. The Academic Excellence Award was higher because he was out of state. This was not stackable with the original offer he received. After he accepted the Level II ($4,500) he had the option to apply for the Academic Excellence Level I by sending in the application. You get these options to begin with for merit ~ If your GPA meets certain criteria you are able to advance for more. </p>
<p>Below is the NEW Academic Excellence Level 1 from WVU</p>
<p>$10,000/yr. for four undergraduate years. Minimum high school GPA of 3.80 and an ACT of 30 or SAT of 1340*. </p>
<p>Chosen by the Scholarship Selection Committee. Selected from students receiving the Academic Excellence Level 2 Scholarship. Complete admissions process by February 1. Submit the Academic Excellence application. Up to 20 scholarships awarded annually.</p>
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<p>droopy - was the scholarship because he was Val or purely on ACT/GPA?</p>
<p>I am sure it was because of GPA/SAT/class rank (which was asked) ~ He didn’t take the ACT. In order to be Valedictorian most would fit the criteria needed for this award. His fellow classmates attending the same school were not able to apply, even though they had great GPA’s, National Honor Society, etc. I can not tell you about SAT or ACT… I do remember they specifically asked for GPA/SAT/Class Rank. </p>
<p>I just brought this to light so they can look into this type of award also, even though it isn’t specifically for Valedictorian’s. His school gave him $1,000 (plus small gifts) for being Valedictorian and that is all he received for being officially named “Valedictorian”.</p>
<p>Son is valedictorian but did not receive any of his scholarships based on only that…most ask for class rank but like several have said…they also want high GPA/SAT or ACT scores.</p>
<p>Droppy, that is great that that your son’s school gave him something for being valedictorian. My son received a certificate only and the honor of speaking in front of the entire community (not something he was thrilled with!) lol</p>
<p>From my son’s high school guidance office website (OH) …</p>
<p>Wright State University (Dayton, OH)-- up to full in-state tuition for Val/ Sal depending on ACT/SAT scores (30/1340). Lesser amount scholarships for Val/Sal with lower scores. (Also gives full in-state tuition for NM Commended scholars.)</p>
<p>Youngstown State University – $4500 per year for Val. (renewable).</p>
<p>Other Ohio colleges have competitions for full tuition scholarships based on class rank (top 10?) and test scores.</p>
<p>Also check out guaranteed-â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– for schools that guarantee a certain amount of money for specific criteria. I think there are a few Val. scholarships there.</p>
<p>It is a shame that the Valedictorians do not get much by way of scholarships for all of their hard work. If we ever meet a philanthropist ~ we should all suggest to them to start up a scholarship for Valedictorians! lol! I guess his payoff was his credits given for his AP Exams and Dual Enrollment Program Credits ~ He was considered a Junior the second semester of his Freshman year.</p>
<p>In fact, when the awards ceremony was held and all of the scholarships were given ~ He didn’t get a thing! I think that the people who offer these scholarships assume that the Valedictorian will have plenty of scholarships and offers for colleges with great packages that they do not need the additional funds. Problem is, when they all start thinking like that ~ the Valedictorians walk away with nothing… </p>
<p>We have been very fortunate with our son…He has about $1300 debt from our stupidity of the whole college process his freshman year. We also have the advantage of him commuting to college (saving $$), even though it is out of state. We live pretty close to the border.</p>
<p>lol, there are thousands f high schools with thousands of valedictorians…it’s not like they’re rare…</p>
<p>I think Val is pointless. I am my school’s valedictorian but the top 10 kids at my school are smarter than the Vals at some other nearby schools. It just depends on whose in your graduating class. That’s why ACT/SAT is a much better judge of academic potential and therefore the scholarships are greater. Val just shows a student works hard.</p>
<p>Waterfall, how does being Valedictorian show that you “just” work hard. That’s possibly the most stupid thing I have read on this Forum. </p>
<p>Class ranking is NOT solely based on effort.</p>
<p>Val means that not only did you work hard, you performed better, tested better, wrote better, researched better, took the toughest classes, you got the best scores in english.science/math/history/and all of the electives…you are the best in your entire class! My son walked away with a stack of awards for highest gpa in everyone of his classes this year but seriously he didn’t work harder than the others…in many ways he did not work as hard because it came very easy to him. </p>
<p>And yes there are thousands of highschools but only one (sometimes there are ties) of those students is number one! It is a very big deal.</p>
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<p>er… not at my school.
My school weighs grades funky, so the two valedictorians at our school are kids who pretty much wasted their lives away in art classes and went out to party every night (I know because they are two of my closest friends have have invited me to join them often).
On the other hand, I and a bunch of other kids who slaved away in harder courses barely made top 5%, and one of these is the captain of this year’s 1st place at the national science bowl team (he is currently at nationals for science olympiad).
The valedictorians barely scored 30 on the ACTs, while my peers and I scored in the upper end (I scored 35).
Yes, I am bitter. ;)</p>
<p>I forgot to add that said friend also was a Presidential Scholar for my state.</p>
<p>WOW! I guess in our little neck of the woods Valedictorian means more ~ That is small town for you… I can see the points mentioned in the posts and I was under the impression of our small town school, which only considers GPA. </p>
<p>One more point ~ My son took several AP Courses (6), four in one year ~ My son didn’t work that hard either (according to his parents standards of working hard) because it came easy to him. However, he still had to get the grade in the class, not slack off. He was stressed at times ~ With this said, he took the chances at loading up his Jr and Sr year with hard classes that could have brought that GPA down.</p>
<p>Daughter is valedictorian. She took the most rigorous course load offered by her school and has a perfect transcript. The way the systems weights classes, keeps those from the A average in art from the top positions. There are many public schools in VA that offer something for Val. and even Sal. She was offered a full scholarship at a school in NC just for being Valedictorian. So, to answer the original poster’s question…yes, there are scholarships. However, the schools may not be the most desirable.</p>
<p>Wow thanks for the info guys. Ok I’m glad that you can get at least some money for being valedictorian. when you apply to schools do they see that your class rank is #1 and assume that you’ll be that at the end of your senior year, or do they wait until after your senior year to see if you’ve gotten the valedictorian award? also does being valedictorian in a larger class (mine is 530 students) given more weight than being valedictorian in say a class of only 100?</p>
<p>Same here momray…we have weighted classes so those taking the blow off classes go down in gpa and the ones taking upper level classes/dual credit have an increase in gpa. </p>
<p>bballpg04…I don’t know about everyone else, but our school determines val and sal at the end of 7th semester so essentially you could mess up big time in 8th semester but still be Val. But I think all schools want a copy of your transcript at the end of the year. As for being from a bigger class, I think it depends on the school but personally, it is probably more difficult to attain in a larger school because there is more competition and there are many more choices of weighted classes. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>yep…7th semester, the person is named. However, most kids talked of their GPA and daughter knew she was #1 entering Sr. year. Her GC told her it was OK to list val. on her college apps</p>
<p>bball…look into North Carolina Wesleyan and their program.</p>