203: 10 Ways Parents Can Support Their Students Through The College Application Process

On this week’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) sits down with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy) for Part 5 in our What Colleges Want series to talk about some of the other written parts of the application—the activities list, additional information section, and supplemental essays. Tom and Ethan get into:

• How can students write a great Activities List? 
• How can you find out what colleges are looking for in the supplemental essays?
• And what even is the additional information section?
• What is a ‘Super Essay’ and how might it be useful?
• How does a student know when their application is complete?

Fun fact: You’ll find the YouTube video version of this podcast on the College Essay Guy YouTube channel.

Play-by-Play

• 1:09 - What are the other writing components of a college application?
• 5:26 - How can students write a great Activities List? 
• 9:33 - Does the order of the activities matter?
• 11:41 - Are activities from 9th and 10th grade worth putting in the Activities List?
• 13:37 - When should students elaborate on Activities in their Additional Info section?
• 17:05 - What else can go into the Additional Info section? 
• 23:14 - What are some things to avoid putting in the Additional Info section?
• 24:41 - How should students format the Additional Info section?
• 26:19 - Why do some colleges have supplemental essays?
• 27:31 - What are some of the most common supplemental essays prompts?
• 34:11 - How might institutional priorities impact an individual applicant? 
• 44:14 - What is a ‘Super Essay’ and how is it used?
• 49:12 - How does a student know when their application is complete?

Resources

• How to Write a Successful Common App Activities List
• How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples
• My College List (Research + Essay Topic Tracker)
• School-Specific Supplemental Essays
• Why This College Essay Guide + Examples
• How to Combine Your College Essay Prompts (To Save 20+ Writing Hours)
• What the Heck are "Hooks" and "Institutional Priorities"?
• The Values Exercise
• CEG Podcast Episode 101: Life As an Undocumented Student at Harvard
• CEG Podcast Episode 504: What Colleges Want (Part 4): A Crash Course in the Personal Statement with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy)

On this week’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) sits down with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy) for Part 4 in our What Colleges Want series to talk about the personal statement. According to the latest State of College Admission report – after grades, course rigor, and positive character traits (see previous episodes), the college essay is what colleges care about most. Tom and Ethan get into: 

• What is the purpose of the personal statement? 
• How do you find a topic, especially if you’re not writing about challenges?  
• Why do I recommend students NOT choose a common extracurricular activity as their main college essay topic? 
• How do you stand out? 
• And how do you know when you’re done?

Fun fact: You’ll find the YouTube video version of this podcast on the College Essay Guy YouTube channel.

Play-by-Play

• 1:38 - What is the purpose of the personal statement in the college admission process?
• 2:53 - How might students use this statement for multiple schools? 
• 3:48 - Should students talk about challenges they’ve faced in a personal statement? 
• 6:47 - Should students talk about their major or career goals?
• 8:33 - Where is the best place to discuss extracurricular activities? 
• 10:20 - Should students explain red flags in their personal statement?
• 11:26 - How can students brainstorm potential topics for their personal statement?
• 17:56 - What is the structure of a personal statement?
• 21:11 - How can students stand out?
• 28:57 - Case Study: What does the process look like from brainstorming to final draft?
• 35:39 - How does a student know when their essay is done?
• 38:27 - Is there a place for artificial intelligence in the college essay?
• 41:47 - have personal statements shifted since the Supreme Court ruling on Race-Conscious Admissions?
• 44:04 - Why does the personal statement process matter?
• 49:14 - Closing thoughts

Resources

• YouTube Video version of this episode (504)
• Sample personal statements
• 7 Brainstorming Exercises (YouTube video)
• The “Food” essay (YouTube video analysis)
• The Great College Essay Test
• Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead
• Matchlighters Informaiton
• CEG Podcast Episode 404: Race-Conscious Admission Was Struck Down—What Does This Mean and What Can Students and College Counselors Do? w/ Jay Rosner
• Is It “Okay” to Talk About Race in Your College Application and Essays—And If So, How Should You Do It?

In today’s two-part episode, we’re delving into one of the potentially more confusing aspects of what colleges want — “positive character attributes” — which 65.8% of colleges give considerable or moderate importance. 

In part 1, I’m joined by Tom Bear (VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) and Bob Massa (former chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University) to discuss:

• What are these positive character attributes?
• Why are they important to colleges?
• How do colleges decide which qualities to seek and how to evaluate for them?
• How do students show these qualities in their application? 

Part 2 is with Trisha Ross Anderson, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project, and we get into:

• How Making Caring Common helps colleges figure out what they are looking for
• How some colleges are working to increase access and equity in admissions
• Advice to parents as they navigate this process with their students
  

Tom Bear has been working in college enrollment since 1987 at a variety of institutions, including as VP for Enrollment at University of Evansville, Senior Director of Enrollment at Notre Dame and now as the VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He joined the Character Collaborative in 2017, served as Board Chair and will chair NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative.

Bob Massa got his Doctorate in Higher Education from Columbia, served as the chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University and Co- founded the Character Collaborative in 2016. Although he has retired from full-time work after 45 years of campus-based work, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s online masters program in enrollment management.

Trisha Ross Anderson has served on research teams at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the past 13 years. She’s worked with the Making Caring Common (MCC) Project to help write reports including one called Turning the Tide that focuses on reform of the college admission process. She leads MCC’s college admissions initiatives with Richard Weissbourd and currently serves on NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative Advisory Council. 

Play-by-Play

• 0:00 - Meet Tom Bear and Bob Massa (Part 1)
• 2:12 - What do colleges mean by “positive character attributes”? 
• 3:55 - What are some examples of these “positive character attributes”?  
• 4:58 - Why is it important for students, parents, and counselors to think about these qualities?
• 7:16 - How do colleges decide what qualities they’re looking for?
• 12:04 - How do colleges evaluate students for these qualities?
• 13:09 - Example of a rubric on extraordinary commitment to others
• 19:10 - Why don’t colleges share their rubrics for what they’re looking for?
• 21:18 - What can students do to better understand what a particular school is looking for?
• 24:08 - How do colleges evaluate “character” in an applicant? 
• 29:58 - What is the high school profile and how is it used in a student’s evaluation?
• 31:20 - Why is it important to think about positive character attributes now?
• 35:56 - How can students demonstrate these qualities in their college applications? 
• 40:00 - What can parents do to help their students in this process? 
• 42:01 - Meet Trisha Ross Anderson (Part 2)
• 43:09 - What is the Making Caring Common (MCC) project?
• 44:37 - How is MCC working with colleges? 
• 46:17 - Why is it difficult to create a rubric for these qualities?
• 48:16 - How is MCC helping colleges decide on what they are looking for? 
• 52:45 - How is MCC helping colleges to increase equity and access in the college admissions process?
• 57:33 - Advice for parents on navigating this process with their students
• 1:01:31 - Closing thoughts 

Resources

• Making Caring Common
  • Character Assessment in College Admission Guide
  • Turning the Tide (2016): Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good Through College Admissions
  • Turning the Tide II (2019): How Parents and High Schools Can Cultivate Ethical Character and Reduce Distress in The College Admissions Process
• How (and Why) to Uplevel Your School Profile Post-SCOTUS: A Guide for Counselors that Predominantly Serve First Generation, Low-Income and/or Underrepresented Students of Color
• How to Research Colleges Without Visiting a Campus
• How to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step Guide
• How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples

Ideas from Ethan for finding what you care about + finding content for your application: 

• Values Exercise (2 min)
• If you really, really knew me… (1 hr)

On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Nitzya Cuevas-Macias (Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep) cover:

• How do students decide which classes to take—and what questions should they ask when deciding?
• Key recommendations for selecting English, math, science, social studies, language, and elective courses
• The most frequently asked questions we get asked about courses and grades

Nitzya Cuevas-Macias was a first-gen college student at UC Berkeley where she studied History and Legal Studies, and earned her Master’s in Mexican American Studies from San José State. She’s been working in education for 16 years where the majority of her time has been in college access and success, in the CBO, non-profit world, k-12 public and charter, and community college. Currently, she is the Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep, a free public charter in San José, CA and serves as a board member of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. 

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-Play:

• 2:21 - Introductions
• 6:02 - What are key things to keep in mind when planning your high school experience? 
• 10:21 - Subject area recommendations
  • 11:40 - English 
  • 16:04 - Math
  • 21:34 - Science 
  • 28:02 - Social Studies
  • 31:11 - Languages
  • 33:06 - Visual/Performing Arts 
  • 36:17 - Electives
• 36:39 - Rapid-fire FAQs about grades
  • 37:43 How do colleges evaluate my course grades and transcript?
  • 38:22 - Is it important to only get Straight-As to have a chance? 
  • 40:29 - How do colleges evaluate my GPA?
  • 42:05 - How can students balance a high GPA with challenging courses?
  • 44:28 - Should students increase their rigor every year?
  • 45:23 - Is it a good idea to take additional summer or online courses?
  • 49:43 - How important is class rank?
  • 51:19 - Should I pick Honors, AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment? 
  • 54:17 - Are AP and IB scores important if my school doesn’t offer AP courses?
  • 57:28 - How do I know what classes to take if I don't know what I want to study or where I want to go to college?
• 59:59 - Wrap up / closing thoughts

Resources:

• Coursera
• UC Scout
• Episode 403: AP, IB, Honors, Oh My!: How Admissions Officers View Your High School Courses, Rigor, and School Context - Susan Tree
• Episode 213: Self-Directed Learning (Why You Can Quit HS & Be Okay)
• What are AP classes?
• IB vs AP
• Easiest AP Classes
• Hardest AP Classes

Show Notes

On today's episode, Ethan sits down with David Hawkins, Chief Education and Policy Officer at National Association of College Admission Counselors (aka NACAC), and they get discuss, among other things: 

• What are the most important factors colleges consider? 
• What significant changes has he seen in the college admission landscape in the past few years?
• How has the emphasis on college essays (aka the personal statement) shifted? 
• Why has the emphasis in standardized testing changed?
• What have the impacts been of the Supreme Court decision to ban race conscious admission? 
• How can students, counselors, and parents use the info in this report to make their college admission process easier? 

For over 20 years, David Hawkins has worked in enrollment management and admissions to alleviate systemic barriers to accessing higher education. Hawkins has played a key role in setting NACAC's strategic direction, which involved hearing and representing the collective voice of NACAC’s more than 25,000 high school counselors and college admission officers. His priorities include making NACAC a more effective learning organization, with an emphasis on ethics and redefining advocacy. 

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-Play

• 2:04 - Introductions
• 3:03 - What is the State of College Admission report?
• 5:48 - How can students, parents, and counselors use this report?
• 9:50 - Which factors of admissions decisions are most important to colleges?
• 13:34 - How are “positive character attributes” assessed?
• 18:00 - What are some specific qualities that are important to colleges?
• 20:46 - How do students show these qualities in their applications?
• 25:33 - How has the importance of the college essay shifted in recent years?
• 27:13 - Which colleges seem to value the essay more highly?
• 28:47 - How does a student’s interest in attending a particular school influence admissions decisions?
• 32:30 - How are counselor & teacher recommendations assessed?
• 33:58 - What are admissions officers looking for in extracurricular activities?
• 37:38 - Why is high school class rank dropping in rank of importance? 
• 39:30 - Do colleges still want to see standardized test scores?
• 42:52 - Quick thoughts on creative portfolios, interviews, work experience, state exam scores, and subject test scores
• 44:49 - David shares predictions on shifts in equity and inclusion in the future of admissions
• 48:57 - Closing thoughts 

Resources

• State of College Admission Report
• What is Demonstrated Interest? A Practical How-To Guide
• A List of Activities You May Not Have Considered Including—But That Count!
• How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for College: Step-by-Step Guide for Students
• How to Write a Letter of Recommendation: Counselor's Guide + Samples
• How to Write a Recommendation Letter for a Student: Teacher’s Guide + Samples
• Crash Course to Standardized Testing
• Podcast Episodes:
  • 204: What You Need to Know About Standardized Tests and Mistakes to Avoid
  • 411: Finding Your Why, What a Liberal Arts Education Really Is, and How to Figure out What You Actually Want

On today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Amanda Miller, who got her start in financial aid through the College Advising Corps at Davidson College in 2014. A few thousand students, several resources, and dozens of financial aid presentations later, Amanda’s an independent financial aid specialist and college adviser who also serves as the financial aid go-to lady for the Matchlighters program and someone we consider to be a part of the extended College Essay Guy family. 

Ethan and Amanda discuss: 

• How do people identify the best ways to pay for college?
• What are some things that people who win scholarships do differently?
• What’s the most important thing a student can do to make college affordable and avoid going into tons of debt?
• How can you learn which colleges are likely to be affordable to you?
• Myths on topics ranging from financial aid appeals to applying out of state

Play-by-Play

• 1:45 - Intro
• 2:49 - How do people pay for college?
• 4:39 - Where does most of the money come from when it comes to paying for college?
• 5:28 - What are the three types of scholarships?
• 7:28 - How do students win scholarships?
• 10:38 - How does the FAFSA help students pay for college?
• 15:21 - How do students avoid taking on too much debt?
• 19:23 - How do students figure out what kinds of colleges will be affordable?
• 27:30 - What are some of Amanda’s favorite affordability tools for students and parents?
• 29:43 - Amanda busts some college affordability myths
• 37:33 - How can families determine if college is truly worth the cost?
• 41:42 - What is the difference between “cost of attendance” and “net cost”?
• 44:04 - Why should most people still complete the FAFSA?
• 47:57 - What is a reasonable amount of debt to graduate with?
• 50:21 - What steps should students take to figure out their financial plan for college?
• 51:52 - Closing thoughts

Resources

• Financial Aid Advising with Amanda Miller (The Counselor Lady) Meeting Request
• Crash Course on How to Pay for College 
• How to Make College Affordable Mini-Course for U.S. Students and Families
• How to Make College Affordable Mini-Course for College Counselors and Educators
• College Scorecard – US Department of Education
• TuitionFit – Mark Salisbury 
• CollegeXpress
• The College Finder: Choose the School That’s Right for You! Fourth Edition – By Steven R. Antonoff, Ph.D.
• Podcast Episodes:
• 121: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (US Version) – Jeff Levy, financial aid expert
• 122: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (International Version) – Jennie Kent, international financial aid expert
• 411: Finding Your Why, What a Liberal Arts Education Really Is, and How to Figure out What You Actually Want – Ann Marano (Colleges That Change Lives)

In today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Susan Tree (a college counseling and admissions legend with 40+ years of experience) chat about “intellectual curiosity”: a quality that many colleges actively look for in students, yet is a little more ambiguous and nuanced compared to mapping out a high school course plan.

This is part 2 of a series about students’ academic background and interests and how they factor into the admissions process. Part 1 is about all things related to the academic part of a student’s college application— which, at many selective colleges, is seen as the “foot in the door” of their selection process.

On the episode you’ll hear Susan and Tom discuss:

• Identifying an academic superpower and framing it in that way in your college application
• How coming across as "too complete" to colleges (as in, you have no bigger questions you'd like to solve) can actually make your application less competitive
• How to infuse intellectual curiosity into your supplemental essays
• Showing academic and nonacademic alignment for particularly popular majors

Hope you enjoy.

Play-by-Play

• 1:38 - Reframing your accomplishments as superpowers
• 7:12 - Identifying your learning style among Architects, Gardeners, and Explorers
• 10:22 - Why colleges want different types of learners  
• 13:52 - Why communicating what you’re curious about to admissions officers is a good idea 
• 15:07 - Staying in touch with who you are on your application 
• 19:17 - Understanding the pressure to present a complete version of yourself
• 22:55 - An example of showing intellectual curiosity through supplemental essays 
• 26:44 - The value of curiosity in non-academic spaces
• 32:52 - How highly-selective colleges evaluate quality vs. quantity in their applicants
• 38:51 - What is academic alignment vs. non-academic alignment? How does this impact the way colleges read applications?
• 43:34 - What if your high school doesn’t offer specialized programs to help you explore your intellectual curiosity?  
• 46:49 - Final thoughts

Resources

• Episode 403: AP, IB, Honors, Oh My!: How Admissions Officers View Your High School Courses, Rigor, and School Context (with Susan Tree)
• How to Choose a College Major (Step-by-step)
• How to Write the "Why this Major" College Essay
• What the Heck are "Hooks" and "Institutional Priorities"?

Hey all, today’s episode is a special one. We had one of our rockstar essay coaches, Shira Harris, sit down with two of her former Matchlighter students, Milena Veliz and Sayem Kamal, to discuss their experiences navigating the college application process as First Generation Low Income Students. At the time of the recording, Milena was an incoming sophomore at Macaulay Honors College at John Jay and Sayem was an incoming freshman at Columbia University. They both received full scholarships at their respective schools. 

In the episode, we’ll listen to Shira, Milena, and Sayem discuss (among other things): 

• Milena and Sayem’s backgrounds and how they found out about the Matchlighters program
• The process of working with Shira and some of the most helpful resources they used to write their essays
• Leveraging scholarships to pay for college
• Difficulties Milena and Sayem encountered in the application process and why having a mentor was so helpful
• What Milena and Sayem wrote in their personal statements
• Tips, hacks, and guidance for students going through the process right now

If you’ve never heard of Matchlighters, it’s our 1-on-1 coaching support program where we pair students from low-income households with volunteer counselors. We’re in our 8th year of the program with over 2,000+ Scholars supported from 45 states and 5 continents — with our scholars attending more than 150 colleges and universities.

Shira Harris, whom you’ll meet in a moment, is an alternative educator, mediator, former civil rights attorney and queer activist who received a BA from UC Berkeley, law degree from New York University, and an international masters on migration and mediation in the Mediterranean region.

We hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Play-by-Play

• 2:20 - Milena & Sayem share their backgrounds 
• 5:13 - How they found Matchlighters and what their sessions were like 
• 9:41 - What resources did they find helpful in the college essay writing process?  
• 12:36 - How did Milena & Sayem start to build their college lists? 
• 15:35 - What was difficult or unexpected about this process? 
• 19:45 - What tips do Sayem & Milena have for students going through this process right now? 
• 23:20 - How did they overcome concerns about college affordability as low-income students? 
• 26:35 -What scholarship resources did Milena & Sayem find in their search?
• 29:29 - How are Milena & Sayem connecting with their college campuses?
• 33:03 - What parts of the application process have stuck with Milena & Sayem? 
• 36:55 - What advice would Sayem & Milena give to their former selves? 
• 38:45 - Resources for First-Gen, Low-Income students 
• 41:11 - Wrap-up / closing thoughts

Resources

• Matchlighters
• The Values Exercise
• Corsava Card Sort
• CollegeXpress
• QuestBridge
• Why Us Guides
• Super Essays
• Macaulay Honors
• Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be by Frank Bruni
• Reddit - r/applying to college
• Reddit - r/questbridge
• CollegeBoard
• CEG Discord
• First Gen Support Discord
• UStrive (mentorship program for FGLI students)

On Season 1 of the podcast, Ethan had a great conversation with Maria Furtado, then Executive Director of the Colleges That Change Lives organization (also known as “CTCL”). It’s a lovely chat and to date one of our most downloaded episodes. 

On today’s episode Ethan had the pleasure of sitting down with her successor, Ann Marano, and they get into:   

• Where to start when it comes to the college search
• How to myth bust yourself (a practical exercise)
• What questions to ask when you’re searching for a college
• Some things Ann and Ann and Ethan wished they had done differently when they went through the process themselves 
• Busting some affordability myths
• What it means to keep a student at the center of the college search 
  

If you’ve never met Ann, you should know that she is a proud first-generation college graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University (CA) who earned her M.A. in Education-Psychology from Pepperdine. She’s served on several counselor advisory boards, including the Common Application Board of Directors and the Johns Hopkins University Access Advisory Board. After 20 years in college admissions counseling at several different universities and high schools and 12 years as the college bound advisor at the first all girls’ public school in the state of Texas, Ann Marano moved into the role of Executive Director for the Colleges That Change Lives.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-Play

• 1:57 - What is CTCL and what is Ann’s role as Executive Director? 
• 3:58 - What’s it like to be a student at a liberal arts college?
• 8:09 - What kind of student is right for a liberal arts college? 
• 10:01 - What’s a good place to start in the college search process?
• 14:49 - How to combat myths about colleges 
• 19:04 - What are some questions that are important for students and families to be asking themselves as they go through this process?
  • 25:52 - An exercise for picturing yourself on a college campus 
• 29:45 - What would Ann and Ethan have done differently in college?
• 32:04 - How does a student get a sense of a school if they're not able to visit the campus?
• 34:15 - College affordability at private schools
• 39:17 - What are some tips for parents about keeping students at the center of the search?
• 43:56 - Another example of what it’s like to be a student at a liberal arts college
• 48:27 - An exercise students can do to begin this process of finding a great college
• 52:55 - Final thoughts / wrap-up

Resources

• CTCL.org
• CTCL How To Choose A College Brochure
• The Values Exercise
• How to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step Guide 
• How to Research Colleges Without Visiting a Campus
• Paying for College in Four Steps: The Five College Types
• U.S. Department of Education College Affordability and Transparency Center
• College Cost Transparency Initiative
• The Common Data Set: What It Is and How to Use It in College Admissions 

On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) hosts the first installment of a new series called Regional Spotlights, which will bring on college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options from (and cultural nuances of) a particular geographic region.

We’re kicking off this series with Colleges in The South. Our Southern specialist and special guest today is CEG’s very own Renee Ferrerio. 

Renee began her career more than 30 years ago, first as a public-school counselor and more recently as the Director of College Counseling at The O’Neal School. She is Co-Chair for North Carolina’s State and Area Initiatives Committee and might be considered by some as a counselor-fly in connoisseur, having participated in dozens of visit programs at various colleges and universities across the country.

On the episode you’ll hear Tom and Renee discuss:

• The myths and realities of going to college in The South
• Admissions trends at Southern flagship public universities
• How to make studying in The South more affordable, including special scholarship opportunities
• Hidden gems and unique, specialized programs that you may not have heard of before

Our hope is that, for students and families, spotlighting some of these “little things” about studying in the South will help you see that there may even be bigger things in store for you there than you originally anticipated… beyond BBQ.

Play-by-Play

• 0:24 - Welcome & Introductions
• 2:57 - Why are we doing regional spotlights?
• 3:56 - Why should geography be a factor in a student’s list-making process?
• 7:26 - What are some cultural realities students should keep in mind as they're putting together a college list with Southern schools?
• 15:57 - What are some misconceptions about Greek Life?
• 24:03 - What should students applying to public flagships know?
• 31:06 - College affordability in the South
• 39:50 - Studying STEM in the South
• 47:51 - Rapid-fire Southern Spotlights
  • 48:34 - Schools in Florida
  • 55:02 - Schools in Georgia
  • 59:16 - Schools in South Carolina
  • 1:02:45 - Schools in North Carolina
  • 1:08:31 - Schools in Tennessee
  • 1:10:39 - Schools in Texas
  • 1:12:01 - Schools in Virginia
• 1:16:26 - Wrap Up & Closing Thoughts

Resources

• Academic Common Market
• Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO)
• Regent’s Engineering Pathway (REP) at Georgia Tech
• The NC State Engineering 2+2 Transfer Program
• UNC Asheville 2+2 Engineering Program

Scholarships in the South:

• Davidson College John M. Belk Scholarship
• Emory University Scholars
• Georgia Tech Stamps President's Scholars Program
• North Carolina State University Park Scholars
• University of Alabama Presidential
• University of Georgia Foundation Fellowship and Bernard Ramsey Scholarship
• University of Kentucky Singletary Scholars
• University of North Carolina Charlotte Levine Scholars
• University of North Carolina Morehead-Cain
• University of Texas at Dallas Eugene McDermott Scholars
• University of Virginia Jefferson Scholars 
• Washington and Lee University Johnson Scholarship
• Wofford College Scholars