I see lots of discussion of various scholarships- Gates, Coca Cola, Horatio Alger, etc. Even some on the Cooke community college transfer scholarship. There is very little talk, however, about the Cooke College Scholarship for incoming freshman. It seems to be one of the more generous outside scholarships available, and it opens students up to the possibility of grad school funding as well. Why do you think the scholarship doesn’t seem well known or discussed?
Some info for anyone who is interested:
https://www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships/college-scholarship-program/
D applied for this very generous scholarship. Fingers crossed
My D is a young scholar, and hopefully a college scholar as well. It’s just such a wonderful opportunity that I wish the word was out there more for people who could really use it. Good luck to your D!
https://www.jkcf.org/our-scholarships/college-scholarship-program/faqs/ says the following about eligibility:
Considering the demographics of these forums, it may not be surprising that the JKCF scholarship is not mentioned much, since these forums are very heavy with students/parents in families with incomes much higher than $95,000.
@ucbalumnus yes, that makes sense in a general sense but not so much in terms of the scholarship forums. All of the other scholarships that I listed also have financial components and some offer less to recipients (coca cola is $20k a year vs JKC at $40k a year), yet they’re brought up far more often.
JKC gave scholarships to just 106 people last year. It is such a long shot that there really isnt anything to discuss. @ucbalumnus I disagree that it is a matter of socioeconomic profiles of CC members. If you search similar topics for low income, high achieving students - such as Questbridge _ you will lively discussions prior to final decisions. But that program results in annual awards for thousands of kids, not 106.
Son applied but got his rejection email today.
Accepted!!
@ufalumn1997 I hope your son gets the financial aid he needs from his college!
@Jordynklongland congrats!
Coca Cola is 100% merit, so that explains it. Other scholarships have less heavy financial aid components.
For JKCF, you HAVE to be in dire straits [to actually receive it]. HAVE TO. So it’s discussed less, because less people qualify.
Interesting. There are many with financial complements and many who meet Cooke guidelines, which are similar to the Questbridge guidelines. Considering Coca Cola got 95,000 applications for 1,400 scholarships, the odds are terrible there too, just like every other big scholarship. Cooke this year got over 6,000 apps for around 100 scholarships… putting the odds in the same range for both.
It’s also not generally something that people parade around: “Hey, I have significant unmet financial need that might prevent me from going to college!”
Not as fun as discussing Coke, which is “Look at how great I am.”
This is the same reason Timmy’s parents say Timmy got a full ride scholarship… when in fact it’s need-based financial aid that they got.
Just another reason JKCF isn’t discussed as much.
I would argue that JKC isn’t the same as college’s own financial aid based on need. There is definitely a merit component and it is competitive (as pointed out). My child is perfectly happy to announce her place on the semi-finalist list- it’s not as though anyone who knows us was under a delusion about our SES.
Yes and yes, and I never said otherwise. But it’s a reality that for many families – maybe not you – people feel uncomfortable admitting their financial situation.
Also: minor point, but Coke is 20k TOTAL. 5k/yr.
@CourtneyThurston - whoa! I hadn’t realized that about coke- I thought it was per year! Thank you.
@CourtneyThurston wrote: “Coca Cola is 100% merit, so that explains it. Other scholarships have less heavy financial aid components. For JKCF, you HAVE to be in dire straits [to actually receive it]. HAVE TO. So it’s discussed less, because less people qualify.”
I’d be interested in knowing your source for this. I agree with @milgymfam that there is very little discussion about JKCF’s college scholarship program. D19 was selected as a semifinalist yesterday. We were floored actually because she wasn’t even selected as a finalist for QuestBridge. QB selected 40% of its applicants this year, vs. 8% at JKCF. She only knew to apply because she received a letter from the organization, presumably from a College Board list (she qualifies for fee waivers).
QB asks for extensive financial info. (similar to PROFILE) incl. all assets, and in order to qualify income needs to be below $65K for a family of four, with limited assets. JKCF’s asks for income to be below $95K and they ask ONLY for approx. adjusted gross income over the last three years. Not sure if they will ask for more to get to the next stage, as there seems to be very little anecdotal info out there. Our income is close to the QB average, but doesn’t $95K still put one solidly in the middle class?
Regardless, we are ever so grateful that JKCF recognized our daughter for her hard work, academic achievements and service!
This is from JKCF’s press release:
“Cooke College Scholars are selected based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service to others and leadership. Students must be current high school seniors residing in the United States. Scholarships are awarded without respect to religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, geographic region, race or ethnicity.”
Congratulations @cafe9999 for your daughter’s JKC recognition