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Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship Program
Deadline to apply: December 1, 2020 3:00 pm CT

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 institution 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 scholarship, tuition assistance, and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, or national origin.

Applicants to the Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship Program must:

  • Be high school seniors (first year awards only – not renewals).
  • Be bona fide, legal and actual residents of Las Animas County at the time of their selection. Students do not have to be citizens but must be permanent residents of the United States.
  • Plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States other than Princeton University for the entire 2021-22 academic year.
  • Have an unweighted grade point average of 3.00 or higher on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent for the first three (3) years of high school AND have earned the combined score (evidence-based reading and writing and mathematics) on the SAT, the composite score on the ACT OR the combined score (evidence-based reading and writing and mathematics) on the PSAT required for the student’s GPA specified on the Foundation’s website at www.goreescholarship.org.

Awards

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:

  1. Each recipient will receive a minimum award equal to THE GREATER of (1) the amount of Princeton’s full tuition and fees for the year of the award ($51,870 in 2019-2020) or (2) the amount of full tuition and fees at the college the recipient is attending, but not exceeding the full tuition, fees, living (room and board) and miscellaneous expenses (transportation, books, supplies and personal expenses) as published by the recipient’s college. The minimum awards are made regardless of the financial circumstances of the recipient and their family. Minimum awards are applied first to tuition and fees and, if a portion of the minimum award remains after tuition and fees have been fully covered, then the remaining portion of the minimum award is applied to living and miscellaneous expenses, as estimated by the recipient’s college. Under no circumstances will the minimum award EXCEED the sum of (1) full tuition and fees at the college the recipient is attending and (2) the recipient’s living and miscellaneous expenses. For examples of the award calculation, please see “Scholarship Awards” at our website, www.goreescholarship.org.
  2. If, after the recipient’s minimum award has been fully applied, the recipient has remaining unmet living and miscellaneous expenses, they may request an additional award based upon need for those unmet living and miscellaneous expenses by providing the following financial information: (1) a copy of the determination of family contribution under the Princeton University Financial Aid Estimator (please note that this requirement applies regardless of whether the recipient has applied or been admitted to Princeton), and (2) a copy of the first two pages of their parents’ IRS Form 1040 for the year before the previous calendar year. The Foundation uses the Princeton University Financial Aid Calculator to maintain equity between its scholarship awards and those of Our Sister Scholarship, the Mary John Goree Scholarship at Princeton University. For a more detailed discussion of the steps that the Foundation takes to ensure such equity, please see “Scholarship Awards” at our website, www.goreescholarship.org.
  3. (3) Awards are for undergraduate study only. Under certain circumstances, scholarship awards may be used for study abroad while an undergraduate. Awards are annually renewable, at the discretion of the Foundation, for up to three additional years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first. The student must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale both cumulatively and on a per quarter/semester basis (subject to any variances determined at the discretion of the Foundation) and continue to meet all the other terms and conditions of the scholarship.

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 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that was used to compute the student’s need-based award for the previous academic year (no updated financial documentation required):

  1. If the number of children dependent upon the student’s parents attending college will increase or decrease in the upcoming academic year, the student must submit an updated 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. The student’s need-based award will be determined using the EFC from the updated calculation.
  2. If the student submits an updated calculation using the Princeton University online estimator showing a reduction of $1,000 or more in the student’s EFC compared to the EFC used to compute the student’s need-based award in the previous academic year, along with the first two pages of their parents’ Federal 1040 for the year before the previous calendar year, the student’s updated EFC will be used to compute an adjustment to the student’s need-based award.

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.

Selection of Recipients

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 junior 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 appraisals (one from counselor and one from a teacher who has taught you during your 9th, 10th, 11th and or 12th grade years). (Note: SAT is required, but students may also submit their ACT, SAT Subject Test and Advanced Placement Test scores if they so choose). 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 their interview, finalists will be required to submit a list of eight (8) colleges or universities to which they have applied or intend to apply. Should a finalist be selected as a recipient, that student may only use his/her Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship at one of the colleges or universities that are on the list the student submitted at the time of the student’s interview or the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University Fort Collins or the University of Colorado Boulder. In the case of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, only the Fort Collins and Boulder campuses are exempt from the requirement that a college be included in the finalist’s list in order for a recipient to be able to use his/her Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship at that college. Finalists who would like to be able to use their Mary John Goree Scholarship at other campuses of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado must include such colleges on their list. The eight (8) colleges and universities on the list that the finalist submits at the time of his/her interview do not have to be the same colleges and universities where the finalist indicated that he/she had applied or was going to apply in the Academic Essays section of the application. Not all applicants will be selected as finalists. After personal interviews have been conducted, the Foundation will select recipients.

Notification

Applicants will be notified whether they have been selected as finalists and asked to interview by February 15. Finalist interviews will be conducted on March 7th. 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 4. The Foundation will determine award amounts and recipients will be notified of their award in late May.

Due to COVID-19, the timeline may change without notice.

Payment of Scholarships

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.

  1. A current, complete transcript of grades from each high school you have attended from 9th grade on as well as from any junior or four-year college where you have taken courses that are not listed on a high school transcript. The transcript(s) you submit must collectively include all courses taken from the beginning of 9th grade through the end of 11th grade. Senior year grades aren’t required and won’t be considered. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
  2. SAT test scores (required – if student HAS NOT taken the SAT in time to be able to submit an SAT score by the December 3 deadline for required materials, student must take the SAT on the December 5, 2020 testing date and submit that score by December 23, 2020 by logging into the applicant’s account).
  3. ACT test scores (optional).
  4. PSAT scores (optional – will not be used to evaluate applicant, but may be submitted by December 3 to establish eligibility if applicant has been unable to take the SAT prior to the December 5, 2020 test date.  See above for what applicant should do if applicant takes SAT on December 5 test date.  If an applicant establishes eligibility through a qualifying score on the PSAT, the applicant will not lose eligibility if the applicant subsequently receives a less-than-qualifying score on the SAT).
  5. SAT Subject Test scores (optional).
  6. Advanced Placement Test scores (optional).

Two completed recommendations – one from a counselor and one from a teacher (must have taught you during your 9th, 10th, 11th, and/or 12th grade year(s)) – must also be submitted on your behalf. 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 3, 2020 3:00 pm.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

Only ONE counselor and ONE teacher appraisal will be accepted.

The Mary John Goree Las Animas County Scholarship Foundation has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you the Scholarship America Student Hub!