<p>So the consensus I’ve been seing is, SAT is really imporant, GPA is secondly important, ECs aren’t that important.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I’m just curious because my SAT’s are good (800 M, 790 CR, 750 W), My EC’s are pretty killer (imo) but my GPA is kinda low… 
Like 3.55 UW, 4.33W? D:</p>
<p>"are good "</p>
<p>that’s pretty humble, seriously</p>
<p>Definitely great SATs. I think your GPA is going to hurt you some. Good chances for something, for sure. My S and D got B/Ks, both were vals, good SATs but not as good as yours. They were both pretty active and involved in stuff and both had great essays. If your essay was compelling I think you’re likely to be offered something special. You’re going to have lots of options.</p>
<p>You’re instate correct?</p>
<p>@DC… well, let’s just say, I got a 6/12 on my writing essay lolololoololol. Thank god I own at MC and got a perfect xD. I mean seriously though, they’re not SUPER AMAZING OMG 2400. They’re good (I’m not one of the crazy people who are like… that’s terrible oh no I’m not going to get accepted to community college!), but they’re not the bestest scores EVAH, or anything.</p>
<p>@Ginab, yep.
@Maximus, yeah I know my GPA is loooooooooooow. I highly doubt BK is in my future, but I was wondering if Maryland could maybe add a presidential/deans to my Maryland Distinguished Scholarship (which I’m getting thanks to PSAT/NMSQT Finalist… hooray for standardized tests :P)
Thanks guys, any other thoughts? Not just chances, I mean general thoughts on what plays a role in merit aid…</p>
<p>P.S speaking of Maryland distinguished, is it 3 or 5k a year :P</p>
<p>Maryland Distinguished Scholar is $3K/yr. (Wish it was 5!)</p>
<p>@Euroazn</p>
<p>MDS = $1,500/term</p>
<p>PSAT/NMSQT
“Students selected for the UM Sponsored Merit award will receive a four-year renewable scholarship ranging from $750-$2,000/year. All finalists should follow NMSC’s instructions for first choice notifications carefully and observe deadlines to remain eligible for awards.”</p>
<p>“(which I’m getting thanks to PSAT/NMSQT Finalist…”
??? Finalist haven’t been announced yet, ;)</p>
<p>What was your rank?? The 3.5 GPA will be considered within this context.</p>
<p>I had a slightly lower SAT score, but a 4.0 UW (rank 2/650), I’m multilingual, and a pianist … that got me the grand prize …</p>
<p>
Considering that 15/16 semifinalists become finalists (basically, 1/16 don’t submit the necessary information/essay…) I’m assuming that I don’t get rejected in a freak accident xD</p>
<p>Btw,
on <a href=“http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialaid/programdescriptions/prog_ds.asp[/url]”>http://www.mhec.state.md.us/financialaid/programdescriptions/prog_ds.asp</a>. I’m not talking about a university sponsored national merit award, I’m talking about Maryland distinguished.</p>
<p>And, well… let’s just say I go to a really competitive school. I’m not even afraid of getting stalked so here we go: Wootton. No official rank, but I guess my rank is 20%? Maybe as low as 25%? D:</p>
<p>That being said, I definitely have the most rigorous schedule; like, AP Calc BC Freshman year; I’m already (that is, not counting my senior APs) a National AP Scholar with my 10 5’s on AP exams (nothing less than a 5! WOOOOT 
/end bragging 
) so yeah my schedule is rigorous… but still my rank is horrendous.</p>
<p>^
“I’m not talking about a university sponsored national merit award, I’m talking about Maryland distinguished.”</p>
<p>I know, … I’m a MDS. What I was pointing out, was that Maryland will ALSO grant you a NM scholarship … it all adds up.</p>
<p>You should have considered starting college last year, that’s what I did. (3 year HS plan)</p>
<p>
Oh, I see, sorry 'bout that! But aren’t like only 15 awards offered D:</p>
<p>And shoulda-coulda-woulda… too late for that!
Although a) that would have required me to take english over the summer and b)I wouldn’t have been able to land a sweet internship (that’s a story for another time xD)</p>
<p>Bumpity bump :)</p>
<p>My son had almost exact same SATs and approx. the same GPA and got Presidential for 8k.</p>
<p>^A 3.8 is wayyy higher than me xD
Admittedly his SATs are lower by like 100, but I think his GPA makes up way more for that.</p>
<p>First of all, your SATs are pretty close to “the best ever.” Considering the M/V combination is most important, you are only 10 points off from a perfect score. Let’s not kid ourselves here. That score is on par with students admitted to Harvard and its equivalents in selectivity.</p>
<p>That said, you’re spot on that grades+SAT are more important than ECs+SAT. It’s hard to say what you’ll be offered. A friend of mine that I could’ve SWORN would have gotten a full ride or close to it was offered pretty much pittance (only a small sum for 2 years…not even a 4 year one). She was accepted to Columbia, Harvard, etc. SAT scores a taaaad higher than mine (maybe 10-20 points), GPA a tad lower but courseload was harder in the math and sciences (3.7-8 as opposed to 3.9), ECs were out the roof amazing (certainly better than mine). I got a larger scholarship. To me, that was inexplicable and unfair. </p>
<p>Other people who I didn’t think were that amazing (I mean, sure, they had solid grades, scores, and athletics, but I didn’t think they were better candidates than myself or my friend) got the B/K. </p>
<p>Unfortunately with a school this big they really miss the big picture on a lot of candidates I think. They give the B/K to people who aren’t necessarily superstars and pass over a lot of the real superstars…I’d blame it on a very strict GPA+SAT requirement, but sometimes even that formula falls through? A lot of people I know who got B/K were minorities, or women in nontraditional fields (women in sciences or quantitative fields). I could just be friends with a lot of sciency women and minorities so don’t take this as fact.</p>
<p>Furthermore, some schools seem to offer more in school-specific scholarship money. For example I knew several engineering majors who received 8K a year from the engineering school, but very few people who received the 8K/yr in Arts and Sciences or social science discplines.</p>
<p>My guess is that you’re not gonna get the B/K with a GPA like that. My guess is that you are also going to be excluded from the 8K/yr scholarship though you could get lucky there with those near perfect SAT scores. Everything 5K/yr and under is pretty much fair game though I honestly can’t say whether you’ll get something significant or just a thousand bucks for the first year. My confidence in any rhyme or reason to this was pretty much thrown out the window when I compared my offer to my friends’…</p>
<p>^Thanks, useful post for all (I think)</p>
<p>Bumping this.</p>
<p>In terms of Banneker Key/Regents scholarship, it is all about grades and SAT. The presidents (up to 12,000) is more kind on people with a lower gpa or sat and gives out more based on EC.</p>
<p>Really? Where did you hear that?</p>
<p>I haven’t really see that anectdotally .</p>