The Governor’s Scholars Program GSP For Juniors Only (but you have to prepare for it in 9th and 10th grades)

What is it? A five-week residential (means you live on a college campus for 5 weeks) program for outstanding Kentucky students. Happens in the summer after your JUNIOR year of high school. Provides academic and personal growth in addition to experiencing a residential life experience (you have to do your own laundry).

Can Anybody Apply? Well, You must be a Junior to apply. You must have taken the ACT, PSAT, or ACT in the 9th, 10th, or 11th grade (PSAT registration starts TOMORROW) You must intend to return to high school after your Junior Year (so if you plan to graduate after your Junior Year, you cannot apply…see Mrs. Ison for more on EARLY GRADUATION!)

If it is only for JUNIORS (why are 9th and 10th watching this?) If you wait until your JUNIOR year to prepare for the GSP program, you might be too late to be competitive (a nice way of saying having a snowball’s chance of succeeding). The next few slides will show what is expected on the GSP application. (the application is a bear!)

The Part You DO NOT Do While YOU (student) are completing your part of the application, someone else (usually yours truly) is completing THIS information for your application: Your ACT, PSAT, or SAT highest score from 9th 10th or 11th grades Your UNWEIGHTED GPA (ask your teacher what unweighted means) The DIFFICULTY of your Course Load (the ratio between hard courses and easy ones)

How Will I Know if I can be “Competitive” or not? Juniors are receiving a handout that tells how many points each item is worth. (9th and 10th can find the same info on-line) I cannot recall any one with LESS than a 3.7 GPA by the end of term 1 of the JUNIOR YEAR being a GSP candidate. I cannot recall anyone with an ACT score of LESS than a 26 being a GSP candidate (or PSAT lower than 80%ile) I cannot recall anyone with lots of Peer Tutor sections on their JUNIOR schedule being a GSP candidate. I cannot recall anyone who has not taken at least 2 years of a foreign language being a GSP candidate

Difficulty of Course Load? If you have only taken the required curriculum in lower level classes and have not selected ACADEMIC classes as electives…you would get only 1 point out of a possible 5 for your Course Load (see why you have to start early to challenge yourself with tough classes?)

The Part YOU do Student Profile: “List the activities in which you have been involved and provide a description of your contribution to that activity.” (grades 9-11 only) Activities can be in school, church, community, hobbies, civic functions, talents. The key is bolded above. (BTW, space for 33 activities is listed)

More That You Do Service: “List your volunteer or paid service. Explain your specific responsibilities and the impact these experiences have had on your awareness, growth, and development.” They want to know how much time, how often, and the length of time you have been involved in your service activities. (‘nuff said)

And More Honors/Awards: “List awards received for school activities or from outside organizations.” (grades 9-11 only) They want you to list International, National, State, Regional, District, and School honors and awards. They want to know if the award is individual or a group honor.

The Writing Entry (…in 500 words or less) You must choose from 4 writing prompts They change every year. They require writing and re-writing and editing and re-writing and editing and re-writing (you get the picture) Writing Entries will be judged on: Format Purpose/Audience Idea Development Organization Sentences Language Correctness Pay attention in ENGLISH CLASS!

So Why Would I Want to DO All That to be a GOVERNOR’S SCHOLAR? Most colleges in Kentucky will offer partial or complete tuition scholarships to GSP students. Some, depending on your ACT score, will offer FULL RIDES (ask your teacher what that means) It’s more FUN than you ever thought possible to live in a dorm on a college campus for 5 weeks! Bragging Rights for you, your parents, your school! (even if you go to an out-of-state school)

gsp.ky.gov Want to Know MORE? Search on-line: The application is available for you as well as “Helpful Hints” for completing it. If you are a JUNIOR, go for it! If you are 9th or 10th PREPARE for it!

FOR JUNIORS ONLY Part 1 IF you are interested in becoming a Governor’s Scholar, you will have the opportunity to submit a LETTER OF INTEREST form. The LETTER OF INTEREST form will be available in your FLY class on October 1. There will be directions for completing your LETTER OF INTEREST. You should take the PSAT You should begin thinking about teachers and community leaders for recommendations

FOR JUNIORS ONLY Part 2 Once you submit your LETTER OF INTEREST and attach all required documents, you may begin to complete the application (did I mention it is a bear of an application?) Pay attention to ALL deadlines for GSP after you have submitted your LETTER OF INTEREST. If you miss a deadline, it may hurt your application…because…(see next slide)

FOR JUNIORS ONLY Part 3 Dr. Sapp will appoint a school-based committee to review applications and select the most able and talented students to forward to the District Selection Committee. The school-based committee will consist of a community representative, principal or designee, counselor, and two teachers (one who is a teacher in gifted education).

FOR JUNIORS ONLY Part 4 The committee will need time to review all applications and select the ones to forward to the District Selection Committee. All of this takes TIME! Don’t hurt your chances by procrastinating! You will need to complete a Letter of Interest (or Intent) found elsewhere on Scott’s website.