Scholarships - do unis care about extra-curricular? (1 Viewer)

[rumbleroar]

Hi!

I was wondering if universities placed a great deal of emphasis on extra-curricular? I'm looking at applying for USYD's merit scholarship for 95+ ATAR in the engineering or architecture faculty. I think I can probably tick off the academic box (i.e. 95+ ATAR) but was also wondering how much emphasis they placed on extra curricular because I'm planning on doing some more.

Currently, these are my extra curriculars (for year 12 only)
- Leadership: SRC
- Sport: badminton (non competitive) and touch football

I'm thinking of also doing netball next year, after the touch season finishes. Not sure if this is enough??

And please post experiences about applying for scholarships, not only for USYD, but other universities as well Thanks!!

 

[RealiseNothing]

I applied for the merit scholarship at USYD and got an interview. Basically everyone there was either 1) incredibly smart, or 2) had crazy extra-curricular activities.

 

[Drifting95]

Get involved in some volunteering/community work or other school based activities, you won't regret it even if it's not needed for a scholarship. A few yrs down the track it could come in useful when you're applying for internships etc

 

[rumbleroar]

I applied for the merit scholarship at USYD and got an interview. Basically everyone there was either 1) incredibly smart, or 2) had crazy extra-curricular activities.

Do you need to write an application? What was the interview like? (Or have you not done it yet?)

Get involved in some volunteering/community work or other school based activities, you won't regret it even if it's not needed for a scholarship. A few yrs down the track it could come in useful when you're applying for internships etc

Do activities during high school count? Not necessarily in year 12, but in junior years and year 11? I helped my friend organise a public speaking event for BeyondBlue and did some volunteer work in year 9, as well as event coordination in year 11+12 (forgot I was part of formal committee lmao).

 

[RealiseNothing]

Do you need to write an application? What was the interview like? (Or have you not done it yet?)

You need to write a personal statement about yourself/achievements/whatever and hand in certain things like your report with subject ranks. The interview was actually a group interview (5 people for 1 interviewer) and they just asked us questions about either things in our application or current events in science (I applied for B.Science).

 

[D94]

When they 95+, they really mean 99+. If you get 99+ and have those good extra-curriculars, then you have a good chance. There will be students with that so it's pretty obvious who they will choose, 95 and good extra-curriculars or 99 and good extra-curriculars.

Having said that, you should still apply. You never know what may happen.

 

[Crobat]

Get involved in some volunteering/community work or other school based activities, you won't regret it even if it's not needed for a scholarship. A few yrs down the track it could come in useful when you're applying for internships etc

is legit

 

[RealiseNothing]

When they 95+, they really mean 99+. If you get 99+ and have those good extra-curriculars, then you have a good chance. There will be students with that so it's pretty obvious who they will choose, 95 and good extra-curriculars or 99 and good extra-curriculars.

Having said that, you should still apply. You never know what may happen.

I know some one with ~96 ATAR who got the merit scholarship whilst an Olympiad student who actually represented Australia didn't. It really depends on the person, ATAR isn't that big of a differentiator unless you get .95 (in which case you can't actually get the merit scholarship since you get the outstanding student scholarship).

 

[RealiseNothing]

Oh and btw you get offered the merit scholarship before ATAR's even come out, so they don't even know who will get 99+ and who will only just make 95.

 

[D94]

I know some one with ~96 ATAR who got the merit scholarship whilst an Olympiad student who actually represented Australia didn't. It really depends on the person, ATAR isn't that big of a differentiator unless you get .95 (in which case you can't actually get the merit scholarship since you get the outstanding student scholarship).

These applications are obviously prior to students receiving their ATARs. They will get an estimate based on their ranks or whatever. Yes, someone might have gotten an ATAR of 96, but maybe their estimate was 99. Maybe that Olympiad student got an estimate of 98 for whatever reason. You have neither proved nor disproved what I said. The Olympiad is a great extra-curricular. The 96 ATAR student must have had something else to show. Presumably there was an interview, so yes, it does depend on that as well. But to even be offered an interview, there must be something to draw you out of the 1000+ applications. No one is going to read everyone's application in full, no matter how unfair or unethical that may seem. A good differentiator is your ATAR, but at that stage, an ATAR estimate. That may reduce the applications to 50, and then they read your application in detail.

If there was no interview, then my point still stands that there must be a vetting process, and the 96 ATAR student must have had something significant as well.

 

[RealiseNothing]

These applications are obviously prior to students receiving their ATARs. They will get an estimate based on their ranks or whatever. Yes, someone might have gotten an ATAR of 96, but maybe their estimate was 99. Maybe that Olympiad student got an estimate of 98 for whatever reason. You have neither proved nor disproved what I said. The Olympiad is a great extra-curricular. The 96 ATAR student must have had something else to show. Presumably there was an interview, so yes, it does depend on that as well. But to even be offered an interview, there must be something to draw you out of the 1000+ applications. No one is going to read everyone's application in full, no matter how unfair or unethical that may seem. A good differentiator is your ATAR, but at that stage, an ATAR estimate. That may reduce the applications to 50, and then they read your application in detail.

If there was no interview, then my point still stands that there must be a vetting process, and the 96 ATAR student must have had something significant as well.

I see exactly what you mean, but doesn't "the 96 ATAR student must have had something significant as well" kinda contradict your point that they really mean 99+?

In all applications they are going to take into consideration EC's and whatnot, and so if you have enough suitable EC's (like the 96 ATAR person), then you have a good chance of being offered the scholarship. Which would mean that it really isn't necessary to have 99+? Like sure it would be a bonus, but saying they mean 99+ instead of 95+ is a bit of a stretch.

Also with the merit scholarship (I can't comment on any others since this is the only one I applied for), they don't even request an ATAR estimate. I know they could use your ranks, but I think it'd be hard for the uni to get a good idea of exactly what ATAR you will get except for the fact you are probably looking at 95+.

 

[D94]

I see exactly what you mean, but doesn't "the 96 ATAR student must have had something significant as well" kinda contradict your point that they really mean 99+?

The first time I said 99 and 96, I should have said ATAR estimates, and 96 was a bad number because you used 96 in your response. Then when I said '96 ATAR', I was referring to that person you know.

In all applications they are going to take into consideration EC's and whatnot, and so if you have enough suitable EC's (like the 96 ATAR person), then you have a good chance of being offered the scholarship. Which would mean that it really isn't necessary to have 99+? Like sure it would be a bonus, but saying they mean 99+ instead of 95+ is a bit of a stretch.

Also with the merit scholarship (I can't comment on any others since this is the only one I applied for), they don't even request an ATAR estimate. I know they could use your ranks, but I think it'd be hard for the uni to get a good idea of exactly what ATAR you will get except for the fact you are probably looking at 95+.

My main point was that they have a process that discriminates between applications. It's unlikely they will read everyone's application (at least 500-1000 applications), which I recall the merit scholarship was a 1-2 page 'essay' about yourself. They want the top students and then they want the best all round students. It's easier to vet students by ATAR estimate than by extra-curricular. The latter would mean reading through 1000 applications. The former would mean culling down maybe to 100 applications and then reading that.

 

[RealiseNothing]

My main point was that they have a process that discriminates between applications. It's unlikely they will read everyone's application (at least 500-1000 applications), which I recall the merit scholarship was a 1-2 page 'essay' about yourself. They want the top students and then they want the best all round students. It's easier to vet students by ATAR estimate than by extra-curricular. The latter would mean reading through 1000 applications. The former would mean culling down maybe to 100 applications and then reading that.

Ah right, I see what you mean. I guess ATAR would be more important in the "culling" stage, then once they get to the top ~50 it's more about all-roundedness as long as you make their ATAR threshold.

 

[anomalousdecay]

When they 95+, they really mean 99+. If you get 99+ and have those good extra-curriculars, then you have a good chance. There will be students with that so it's pretty obvious who they will choose, 95 and good extra-curriculars or 99 and good extra-curriculars.

Having said that, you should still apply. You never know what may happen.

Not really. My friend got a co-op interview and had an ATAR estimate of 90. He also said that they grade co-op based on interview performance, then on relevant subjects, then ATAR. Not sure though about Usyd.

 

[D94]

Not really. My friend got a co-op interview and had an ATAR estimate of 90. He also said that they grade co-op based on interview performance, then on relevant subjects, then ATAR. Not sure though about Usyd.

Was that in BIS?

Once they get to the interview stage, then of course, it is the interview that matters.

 

[obliviousninja]

I applied for the merit scholarship at USYD and got an interview. Basically everyone there was either 1) incredibly smart, or 2) had crazy extra-curricular activities.

Pls. Just as bad as me saying i bio state ranked.

You need to write a personal statement about yourself/achievements/whatever and hand in certain things like your report with subject ranks. The interview was actually a group interview (5 people for 1 interviewer) and they just asked us questions about either things in our application or current events in science (I applied for B.Science).

lol. I was in one of those group interviews for a scholarship at king's. there's always the one kid who bags out everyone else and specifically aims to go a bit further than someone else's response.

Was that in BIS?

Once they get to the interview stage, then of course, it is the interview that matters.

900+ applied for business. 200 only got interviews.

50 people interviewed for BIS, only 15 spots available. *crosses fingers, pls be me*. 30 people for CIS, only 6 spots available. *crosses fingers, pls be me*

 

[RealiseNothing]

Pls. Just as bad as me saying i bio state ranked.

Who is to say I don't fit into the latter category?

 

[anomalousdecay]

Was that in BIS?

Once they get to the interview stage, then of course, it is the interview that matters.

Yes.

 

[rumbleroar]

Oh and btw you get offered the merit scholarship before ATAR's even come out, so they don't even know who will get 99+ and who will only just make 95.

Do the uni's base offers out on the report marks and stuff? What happens if you get a 94? (awks)

 

[rumbleroar]

Also did anyone here "bend the truth" slightly in their applications? And how crucial is the interview process?