<p>Nevermind Mesquite, I see where you plan to attend from a post I came across on another thread today:</p>
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<p>The University of Alabama? I agree, they have a great honors program - congrats on getting in. But “lesser” partiers? No drinking? Diminished influence of the greek community? At UA? Lol, okay… nuff said. Hope it works out for you …seriously.</p>
<p>It’s a shame that these stereotypes are turning people away from a spectacular school. I had my misgivings too, but based on my stay at W&L and from the class of 2013 fb group, there seems to be a good mix of partiers and non-partiers, those who drink and those who don’t. I would hope that people are mature enough by the time they reach college to make their own decisions despite what they feel is the norm and to respect other people’s right to do what they want.</p>
<p>why are yall so obsessed with partying at w&l?? sheesh. give it a break</p>
<p>I’m on their waitlist and not at all interested in drinking or joining a sorority. I am interested in W&L for their outstanding academics! 
And Lexington, small as it is, strikes me as the perfect place to live and study for four years.</p>
<p>I saw this in the local paper. W&L must send the press release to the paper, since it showed up in the same section as the kids who made dean’s list etc.</p>
<p>In 2009, nearly 2100 students applied for the Johnson Scholarship.</p>
<p>211 Finalists were selected to compete in the on-campus competition in March.</p>
<p>78 individuals were named winners of the scholarship.</p>
<p>38 individuals accepted and will matriculate in September.</p>
<p>Just 38 accepted it? If I remember what they told us on campus during the competition, that’s quite a bit (about 10) below their target for matriculating Johnson Scholars.</p>
<p>I have a few questions…</p>
<p>1) Can anyone confirm whether you’re notified both ways about being a finalist?
2) Can someone who was a finalist last year describe a little bit what the set-up was like when you went down for the weekend?
3) Does anyone know how many of these Robert E. Lee awards I keep hearing about in this thread are offered? </p>
<p>I’ll just be sitting here in the corner, biting my nails as I wait for the nebulous “end of January” notification deadline…</p>
<p>@flying_phoenix: fat envelope frenzy, a book which follows harvard applicants, details the johnson scholarship weekend. i’m going to re-read it if i get finalist status to brush up on the process. i believe you are NOT notified if you are not a finalist, and i think the majority of the awards are REL awards.</p>
<p>REL? What does that mean?</p>
<p>If you don’t get full, can you at least get partial?</p>
<p>Sorry, I went back and found out that REL is Robert E Lee. Does that require a seperate application from the other one? My child is a bright kid, non-minority, and I earn a good living, so financial aid is pretty much out. Johnson Scholarship seems like it might be a ticket for her. She has a 4.0 (unweighted), took mostly AP courses, scored a 34 ACT, 790V, 780W and 660M SAT. The idea that she has a 1 in 10 shot at a free trip to W&L is amazing to me, and from there a 1:3 shot at winning…Amazing. How is the REL decided?</p>
<p>Did your daughter apply for the Johnson? With her stats, she should be a finalist, in which case she has about a 40% shot. The Johnson is strickly merit. Need is a factor for the REL.</p>
<p>Thanks, I sure hope she is a finalist!</p>
<p>I am a mother of a student at W&L. This is an amazing school that my daughter loved from the moment she put her foot on the campus. She was a Johnson finalist and was notified via the USPS mail. It was not a Johnson weekend. The finalists were flown mid-week to campus. There was a faculty interview, a student panel interview and interviews with Admissions. I can not stress enough what a fabulous school this is. A side note that I found of interest: A group of 6 students were talking ACT scores. Out of the 6, 4 or 5 of them had scored a 34.</p>
<p>cassie_skye: Same experience for our son, now a senior at W&L. He called us after the student panel interview to tell us that “this is it” – and it surely has been. </p>
<p>dadwonders: we fit your family description as well. </p>
<p>W&L has been everything our family could have wished for in terms of the education, the growth, the friendships, and the experiences. And we still are in awe that it’s been tuition-free for him (us!). He will never be able to repay all that he has been given. We completely understand why W&L alums are remarkably committed to their alma mater.</p>
<p>Wow, you parents really get me excited about W and L. Can you tell why it has been such a great experience for your kids and how you think it might have been different from other colleges where your kids applied?</p>
<p>As the parent of a W&L freshman, I would say that the personalized attention of the faculty in combination with the richness of peer relationships has made the W&L experience so great for my son. It is always difficult to predict what might have been. However, the personalized attention of W&L stands out and allows each student great opportunities for personal and intellectual development. Additionally, just about everything at W&L (facilities, faculty, students) is top drawer.</p>
<p>Honestly, I am not comfortable speculating about how my son’s experience might have been different somewhere else. But I expect that he could have been happy at other schools (also applied/accepted UVA, Wake, Vanderbilt, Richmond), because it’s really up to each student to make a successful experience wherever s/he lands. </p>
<p>That said, I do believe in the “gut check” school of college selection. Pay attention to whatever combination of reactions you may have while visiting each campus. For my son, it was really his third visit to campus, during the scholarship competition, that he had seen enough of W&L and of other campuses to conclude that W&L “is it.” And I think of my other son, who is equally happy at another LAC where from his first visit, he “could see myself here.”</p>
<p>One of the most fundamental aspects of W&L, which I feel confident in saying has made our son’s experience different than it would have been anywhere else, is the Honor System. It’s not a code, it’s a way of life. See it in action when you walk into Elrod Commons – I’m not sure there are many other places where laptops, backpacks, and other personal belongings are arrayed on the staircase outside the dining hall while their owners eat. Or where extra bluebooks are sold on the honor system in the bookstore, with an open can for change and dollar bills sitting next to them on a bottom shelf that cannot be seen from the cash register. </p>
<p>One of the best aspects of the Honor System is that students self-schedule their exams, so that you can take them in the order and on the days you choose. This applies to tests during the term as well – students often go get the test and take it elsewhere, then turn it in by a designated time at a designated location. I recall a friend of my son’s walking up and down their freshman hall bouncing a ball while he was in the middle of a test, talking to himself trying to get something straight. I was tempted to say something about the subject matter, but my son warned me not to. </p>
<p>The Honor System is student-run based on the principle articulated by RELee when as President of W&L, he simplified the rules of conduct to something equivalent to “a gentleman does not lie, cheat, or steal.” I am not aware of many other schools with a comparable Honor System.</p>
<p>Esquette’s comments just reminded me about an early impression we got of W&L dealing with local alums. D had a local interview with a young couple from W&L that had only graduated a couple years prior. I just kind of thought, “How nice.” Well, after she was accepted, the local chapter had a reception for area prospects and alums. There might have been 5 or 6 accepted students and their parents in attendance, but the place was packed. There were so many proud alums, and as I recall, a few current students as well. Their enthusiasm for W&L was really impressive. I remember one of them saying to me, “Don’t let us scare you away, it’s not a cult or anything; we just really love the school.”</p>
<p>My daughter at Christmas told me that she thinks it would be wonderful if she met her future “Mr. Right” at W&L. This is not to imply she went there to find a husband. I asked her why and she told me that to meet someone who has the shared experience of W&L would be awesome. She spoke of the Honor Code, the intellect, community service, parties, and living in Lexington. She told me she plans to be a successful alum so that she can give back as she has received and hopes one day to have a son or daughter want to attend.</p>