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I was informed in another thread the my 1600 SAT score (I live in Georgia) would automatically make me a candidate for the Presidential Scholar Award. I was linked to the website, but couldn't find any significant information about the program/award. I saw a couple of threads about this and was hoping that some of you could pass on what you know. Thanks

By Star69 (Star69) on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 07:48 pm: Edit

Assume you took the SAT fairly recently and are class of 2009. You will be notified of Presidential Scholar Nomination in Jan/Feb...this is a $0 award - you get a few days in DC and might get to meet the President...
For the Academic Component of the Program ...

All graduating high school seniors who are citizens of the United States and have scored exceptionally well on either the SAT of the College Board or the ACT Assessment of the American College Testing Program on or before October of each year, are automatically considered for participation. Students who notified ACT or ETS in writing that they did not want their scores released to outside agencies are excluded. Also excluded are students who did not indicate their year of graduation to be between January and August of the current program year.
The U.S. Department of Education then looks at test records for the top 30 males and top 30 females in each of the states/jurisdictions. For each examinee, the SAT score is converted to the ACT Sum of Scores, according to a concordance table. Each individual examinee's highest test score (in a single test administration ) is identified, and duplicates and/or lower scores are dropped.

The combined file of scores from the top male examinees and top female examinees are then ranked from high to low in each state. The scores associated with the top 20 male examinees and top 20 female examinees are used to identify the candidates in each state. When ties occur in the cut off score, more than 20 persons of that gender are selected in that state.

To be considered further, candidates must submit candidacy materials, including essays, self-assessments, secondary school reports, and transcripts. Candidates are evaluated on their academic achievement, personal characteristics, leadership and service activities, and an analysis of their essay.

In late March, approximately 500 semifinalists are chosen by an independent, national committee of educators convened by the Commission on Presidential Scholars. Six to twenty semifinalists are identified for each state/jurisdiction by the review committee. The number of semifinalists identified per state/jurisdiction is based on a proportionate number of test takers for that state.

In April, the Commission on Presidential Scholars makes the final selection of the 121 students. One young man and one young woman are chosen from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families of U.S. citizens living abroad. In addition, up to 15 students are chosen at large.

For the Arts Component