Dell Scholars Aps

The Dell Scholars application process opens today.  AVID Center is proud to continue its relationship with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) this year to select another group of Dell Scholars.  Since 2004, nearly 1,000 students have been selected as Scholars, including 176 selected last year.

Many of you have been through this process before and are familiar with the procedures and timelines.  However, for those unfamiliar or who need a refresher, following are important notes regarding the process for 2010-2011. 

1. You should receive an email from the MSDF and Oscar Sweeten-Lopez, for the Dell Scholars next week.  Please note there is not a poster mailing this year.
   
2. You can contact the customer support group for any questions about Dell Scholars.  The email is apply@dellscholars.org and the phone number is 1-800-294-2039.  The web address for the program is dellscholars.org.
   
3. If your students happen to receive a message that they did not pass the eligibility quiz due to their high school not being associated with AVID, please have them submit a request through the built-in response option located below the eligibility message.  The student will be asked to provide the name of his/her AVID counselor and contact information.  Dell Scholar customer support will contact the counselor to confirm AVID is at that high school. Once confirmation from the counselor is received, the school can be added to the database quickly, and students can continue with application process immediately.
   
4. We can also field questions on behalf of AVID Center.  Our emails are lmorse@avidcenter.org and sbaratte@avidcenter.org.
   
5. The MSDF team expects to select 300 Dell Scholars this year.  Based on past practice, it is fair to assume that more than half of those selected will be AVID students, with some from other college-readiness programs.
   
6. The scholarships are $20,000 awards, which can be spread over six years, including graduate studies.  The program website lists the guidelines, but, in a nutshell, successful applicants must have at least a 2.4 GPA, have overcome obstacles, demonstrate an interest in attending a four-year college, and are Pell Grant eligible.
   
7. The application period runs from November 1, 2010 to January 15, 2011.  Students who are chosen as semi-finalists via their applications and essays will then have their AVID teachers submit recommendations.  MSDF anticipates notifying the awardees by April 10.
   
8. As district and regional directors, you can help the process by making sure that all of your AVID sites with seniors encourage the best possible candidates to apply.  Preliminary studies by MSDF indicate that AVID Dell Scholars are persisting in college at a very high rate, well above 90%.
   
9. If you would like to review the list of previous Dell Scholars, please use the dellscholars.org website.  AVID Center also maintains a database limited strictly to AVID students who have been selected, which we can provide.

 

Congratulations on all your past successes on behalf of our students, and good luck this year!