The Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship Foundation has established a scholarship program for high school seniors who are residents of Las Animas County and plan to continue their education at a four-year college or university. For more information about the Foundation or the Scholarship, please visit our website at www.goreescholarship.org. Renewable scholarships are offered each year for full-time study at an accredited four-year college or university of the student’s choice in the United States other than Princeton University. Please follow this link if you are interested in Our Sister Scholarship: Mary John Goree Scholarship at Princeton University.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by the sponsor.
Applicants to the Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship Program must:
The authorized distribution for new (first time) awards is established annually by the Foundation. Up to six (6) new awards each year, in amounts to be determined by the Foundation, will be granted pursuant to the rules described below:
Minimum awards (adjusted, as necessary, to reflect changes in the college’s tuition and fees and published living and miscellaneous expenses) will be renewed annually upon a student submitting his or her transcript to Scholarship America. Subject to the two exceptions listed below, a student’s need-based award will be renewed based upon the Family Contribution that was used to compute the student’s need-based award for the previous academic year (no updated financial documentation required):
Students requesting a new need-based award must submit a calculation using the Princeton University online estimator along with the first two pages of their parents’ Federal 1040 for the year before the previous calendar year.
Students will apply using the on-line application process. The application will include questions or request statements aimed at giving students an opportunity to demonstrate (1) their extracurricular activities and special talents, including athletics, the arts, speech, student government and employment; (2) their leadership in and service to the school and the larger community; (3) their strength of character, including concern for others as shown by service to school, religious organization and/or community, commitment to a cause greater than oneself and/or overcoming obstacles; and (4) extent to which (a) the student’s contemplated major and/or career path require a four-year college education and cannot be satisfied at a two-year college or a trade school or with only a high school diploma, (b) the student has thoughtfully assembled a list of colleges to which the student intends to apply in which the colleges represent a range of difficulty of admission for that particular student and that have reputable programs in the student’s field(s) of interest, and (c) the student has demonstrated the intellectual curiosity that will enable and motivate the student to make the best possible use of the academic resources at the college the student decides to attend.
Applicants will be required to submit their transcripts, test scores and two recommendations (one and only one from a counselor and one and only one from a classroom teacher who has taught you during your 9th, 10th, 11th and/or 12th-grade years). Recommendations from academic advisors, academic coaches, athletic coaches, extracurricular advisors and other individuals will not be accepted unless the recommender has also taught the student as a classroom teacher during the student’s 9th, 10th, 11th and/or 12th grade years.
(Note: SAT is required, but students may also submit their ACT and Advanced Placement Test scores if they so choose; PSAT scores are not accepted). No financial information will be requested at the time of application.
The Foundation will review applications and select finalists, who will be asked to appear before the Foundation’s board for a personal interview. At the interview, students will be required to submit a list of all colleges or universities where they have an active application as of the date of the interview. For this purpose, an application is considered active unless (a) the college or university to which the application was made has denied the student admission, (b) the student has withdrawn the application, or (c) the college or university to which the application was made has admitted the student, but the student has formally declined their offer of admission. Recipients may use their Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship at any accredited four-year college or university in the United States other than Princeton University regardless of whether the institution was included in the list of active applications they submitted at the time of their interview. Not all applicants will be selected as finalists. After personal interviews have been conducted, the Foundation will select recipients.
Applicants will be notified whether they have been selected as finalists and asked to interview by February 10. Finalist interviews will be conducted on March 2. The determination of whether finalist interviews will be conducted in-person or remotely will be made at the time that finalists are asked to interview. Finalists will be notified whether they have been selected as recipients within two weeks of their interviews. An alternate list may be created.
Recipients will be required to accept the award, notify the Foundation of their final college choice, and provide financial documents (if applying for need-based aid) by May 2. The Foundation will determine award amounts and recipients will be notified of their award in late May.
If a recipient chooses to remain on the waitlist of any college or university to which they have applied past May 2, the recipient must meet the following deadlines. First, the recipient must inform the Foundation by May 2, whether they are accepting the award. Second, the recipient must provide financial documents by May 2, (if applying for need-based aid). Third, the recipient must inform the Foundation by May 2, of the identity of all colleges or universities where the recipient is choosing to remain on the waitlist. Finally, the recipient must inform the Foundation by June 23, of the recipient’s college choice.
Payments are made in equal installments in August and January after the fall term transcript is reviewed and approved by the Foundation.
The below documents are required as part of the application. Please note that if your transcript contains your standardized test scores, no further documentation of your scores needs to be submitted. If your transcript does not contain your standardized test scores, you may submit a photostatic copy of the report of your scores sent to you by the testing service, or a screenshot from an online score report which includes the student’s name. It is not necessary or possible to have the testing service submit your scores directly to Scholarship America. For standardized tests, essay scores are not required and are not considered.
Two completed recommendations – one from a counselor and one from a teacher. The teacher recommendation must be from an individual who has taught the student as a classroom teacher during the student’s high school years. Recommendations from academic advisors, academic coaches, athletic coaches, extracurricular advisors and other individuals will not be accepted unless the recommender has also taught the student as a classroom teacher during the student’s 9th, 10th, 11th and/or 12th grade years. You will be asked to provide an email address for your counselor and teacher as part of the application process. This will generate emails to the counselor and teacher to complete and submit the recommendation electronically on your behalf. Your counselor and/or teacher will need to submit the completed recommendations no later than December 9, 2024 3:00 pm Central Time.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
Only ONE counselor and ONE teacher recommendation will be accepted.
