Current member of the full-ride President’s Scholars program at SMU. Feel free to ask any questions about SMU, the PS Program or any other scholarships offered!
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What were your stats?
1540 SAT/35 ACT + top 2% of my graduating class (Competitive Texas public HS)
Thanks for the reply!! What were your extracurriculars if you don’t mind me asking?
Sorry for the late response but I was involved in a lot of various EC’s in HS. In school, my main ECs were forming the Quizbowl and History Bowl programs at my HS and leading them to a national level. Outside of school, I led a refugee service project in tandem with people from my faith org which helped them learn English and help them further adjust to the US. You can get a feel for the type of EC’s current Pres. Scholars have by checking out the scholar profiles on the website.
I’d say the program especially values deep commitment and passion to the things you’ve done in HS (depth > breadth). Best of luck!
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Is top 10% rank a must, if school ranks ? That may steer away many students from highly competitive schools from applying. They should reword that at top 10% OR SAT/ACT score above X
I’m not sure 100% but I’d say its basically a must. From what I know, all the members in my cohort as well as myself were well above that top 10% threshold even coming from very competitive high schools. I’d still say shoot your shot even if you are below that mark as you never know what could happen.
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Thanks.
If invited, what is the interview process like ? It appears its a 2 day event.
There’s a bit of variance from year to year but generally speaking, the interview event for finalists takes place over the course of 2 days. Throughout the course of the finalist weekend, you get to meet with the other finalists, current PS, and SMU faculty through various luncheons and dinners as well as socials. The interview takes place with a PS faculty member, a senior PS, and 1-2 more SMU professors. After the events of the weekend conclude, you’ll hear back 1-2 weeks later if you get the scholarship. From what I’ve heard, approximately half the finalists receive the scholarship.
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I am confused with the requirement for “20 high school academic units in a challenging curriculum.” Does this mean I need 20 AP & Honors courses or 20 overall credits that are mostly AP & Honors?
i don’t think that specific number really matters, I think in the grand scheme of things they just want to see if you’ve taken the most rigorous coursework available to you.
Ok, Thank you for the response!
Thank you for detailed response. Is the scholarship same amount for all selected kids or it varies ?
the scholarship (full tuition and fees, room & board, free study abroad, and more) is the same for all selected kids
Were any of the PS test optional?
Hi- I have a question about University Honors Program vs Hilltop Scholars. It seems like the Presidential Scholars are UHP. Is Hilltop Scholars a tier below UHP academically? Or just a different program? My daughter was invited to Hilltop and not UHP, so I’m wondering if it’s a waste of time to apply for presidential if they see her as a lower tier student somehow. (She’s BBA Scholar at Cox, Distinguished Scholarship, 1560 SAT, 3.97 unweighted at a competitive school which doesn’t weight or rank. She has lots of leadership at her school but nothing national or international, so she doesn’t seem quite like Hunt material either. Any insight you have would be appreciated, Baller_Moves
not that I know of
I’d still say definitely apply for the scholarship because of your daughter’s amazing stats + you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Hilltop is essentially a pipeline program for UHP so I wouldn’t necessarily even call it lower tier.
Baller_Moves Is PS invite only application or anyone can apply ? It appears website allows anyone to apply. Confused.
in previous years its been invite only but this year anyone can apply