Read this the morning of. Then put it down and trust what you know.
You are one of 150 people selected from 43,000 applicants. The hard part is done. You've already been accepted to 10 schools. You're a Miami Presidential Fellow. You're here because you belong here.
Now the job is to be fully yourself — curious, warm, tenacious, funny, genuine. The person who cooks for his team, argues cases in competition, marches a band, builds policy committees, and goes to the river to fail at rock skipping.
That range is your superpower. Don't compress yourself into what you think a "Stamps Scholar" should look like.
You already are one. Now let them see it.
This is what Ms. Atchison said most kids fail at. Know this cold.
I've spent four years founding things: a policy committee, a debate team, a community platform, a research project. Each one taught me that building isn't the hard part — the hard part is designing it so it survives your absence. I want to study law and policy at Georgia Tech because the institutional design questions I've been practicing at a school level are the same questions that determine whether democracies, courts, and public systems actually serve people.
Each pillar is equally weighted. No pillar is more important than another. Lead with vivid, specific moments.
Independent research on vehicle idling behavior at your school. You collected data, ran surveys, and produced a paper on the public health and environmental policy implications. This is scholarship in its purest form — identifying a question nobody asked you to answer and building an evidence base for it.
Your intellectual range is the story. Mock Trial taught you evidence law (FRE 403 — judgment and restraint). Economics taught you incentives and tradeoffs. Theater taught you subtext and beats. You don't just study across fields — you use each field to sharpen the others. You use objection logic from mock trial when writing policy, and theater breath work when arguing a case.
You identified a gap in the mock trial community — fragmented confession pages on social media getting shut down for lack of moderation — and built a centralized platform with educational resources, FRE quizzes, and community guidelines. 300+ users. You saw what wasn't working, built something better, and maintained it.
8 APs completed, 4 in progress (including Physics C and Calc BC). Don't lead with this — they already know your transcript. Lead with what you do with what you learn.
You didn't join student government. You built a parallel structure because the existing one wasn't working. Surveyed 70% of the student body, ran town halls, authored 20+ policy recommendations on dress code equity and lunch scheduling. Real changes happened. SPC wasn't about having opinions — it was about creating a process where student voices actually changed policy.
She froze mid-cross because twelve people were watching, not because she wasn't ready. You called a break, split into pairs, let her finish her argument to one person. She ran that cross at regionals. You built novice on-ramps (low-stakes labs, FRE flowcharts, summer prep) and converted post-round sessions into workshops. You inherited a team and transformed it.
Led 45–55 band members. Translated conducting skills — tempo, dynamics, audience management — into meeting facilitation. Led the group to Carnegie Hall. Every rehearsal scheduled, every fundraiser documented. Running a band taught you that structure is what makes creativity possible.
Built the program from scratch. Established recruitment pipelines, middle-school coaching, a culture that rewards clarity over volume. You had to recruit, train, and retain people who had no idea what policy debate was.
SPC worked, but for a while you were the committee. Missed a meeting, momentum stalled. "Partly efficiency. Mostly, if I'm honest, because being needed felt like proof the work mattered." You had to learn that a thing you built isn't real until it runs on a Tuesday when you're not in the room.
Diagnosed at seven — same year Dad taught you to skip rocks on the Chattahoochee. Your dyslexia made you need structure for everything: flowcharts, color-coded outlines, oral rehearsal, "teach it next week" methods. But the key: you didn't just build systems for yourself. You turned accommodations into shared team infrastructure. Your objection trees, click-through flowcharts, and drill structures became tools everyone used. Dyslexia stopped being a limitation and started being a design process.
Freshman attorney → Sophomore Top Attorney at Regionals → Junior President. You went from competing for yourself to building systems for others. Started score-obsessed (speaker points, W/L, ranks) and evolved into a process thinker: if the system is good, outcomes improve.
Freshman Rookie of the Year → Sophomore Assistant Drum Major → Junior/Senior Drum Major. Four-year arc from section member to leading the entire ensemble. Each year demanded new skills — not just musical, but organizational, motivational, and logistical.
Built a humane training culture with attendance rituals and reflection prompts for injured runners. MVP, Wolverine Award. Cross country is grit in its most literal form — running when it hurts, showing up when you're tired, leading a sport where improvement is measured in seconds nobody notices.
You go to the Chattahoochee to fail at something nobody scores. The five-second rule: throw within five seconds of picking up a stone. No analysis. No angle calculations. You've tried to systematize it. That's why you go — because you need to practice being terrible at something. It keeps you honest.
You cook for Mock Trial before workshops. You bake banana bread and watch participation patterns shift — the week you bring food, three more people talk. The week you don't, the same five carry it. You almost ended up on a teen cooking show. This isn't a resume line — it's how you build belonging. (GT plan: CHEFS at GT.)
Went back to your alma mater to coach middle-school debaters. Teaching younger students what you spent years learning. Giving back to the place that shaped you. Someone invested in you when you were twelve — you wanted to do the same.
Direct service work. Hands in the dirt. Physical presence in a community that needs it — not policy recommendations, not platforms. Just showing up, doing the work, and contributing something tangible.
The policy recommendations weren't about power — they were about voice. An equitable dress code. Lunch schedules that gave 200 students an actual break. You surveyed, listened, built, and published follow-ups. Service isn't charity from above — it's designing systems where people's needs actually show up in the decision.
You have a rule: count to five before responding. Mississippi-slow, not normal speed. You're at three seconds now. Sometimes four. You keep making color-coded study systems for her pre-calc. She keeps ignoring them. You're learning to choose connection over correction. The hardest person to serve is right across the hall.
In every activity you lead, you design the first experience for newcomers. Novice labs in Mock Trial. First-timers speak first. Clear norms. Welcoming rituals. You lower the barrier so the quiet person in the back can enter. Service is in the architecture of the room.
Use this to quickly identify which stories to pull based on the question's angle. Most experiences hit multiple pillars.
| Experience | Scholar | Leader | Progress | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MockTrialConfessions | ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓✓ | ✓✓ |
| Student Policy Committee | ✓ | ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ✓ |
| Mock Trial President | ✓✓ | ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Carpool Research | ✓✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Drum Major | ✓✓ | ✓ | ||
| Cross Country Captain | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Debate President | ✓ | ✓✓ | ||
| Clue (Wadsworth) | ✓ | ✓✓ | ||
| Community Garden | ✓✓ | |||
| Dyslexia / Systems | ✓ | ✓✓ | ✓ | |
| Banana Bread / Cooking | ✓✓ | |||
| High Meadows Mentoring | ✓✓ | |||
| Natalie (sister) | ✓ | ✓✓ |
✓✓ = primary fit ✓ = secondary fit
20 questions organized by type. These are not meant to be rehearsed — they're here so nothing catches you off guard. Stay calm, think out loud, and land on a takeaway. The situational questions at GT are famous for being tough.
Don't replay the resume. Talk about cooking, rock skipping, Natalie, the lunch table you built from 4 outliers to 12 people. The stuff that shows who you are at 7pm on a Tuesday. This is your chance to be a human being, not a bullet list.
SPC dependency story: "For a while, I was the committee. Missed a meeting, momentum stalled. I had to learn that a thing you built isn't real until it runs on a Tuesday when you're not in the room." Alternatively: Mock Trial loss at regionals that led to building MockTrialConfessions. Both land on the same takeaway — good systems outlive you.
The Priya story. She froze mid-cross. You called a break, split into pairs, let her finish to one person. She ran that cross at regionals. Leadership as noticing, not directing. The room was too big — you made it smaller. That's the whole story.
Institutional design. Why well-intentioned policies fail. "I'm obsessed with the gap between what a rule says and what it actually does to people. That's what drove SPC, that's what drives my interest in law, and that's why I want to study at the intersection of law, technology, and policy at GT." Don't generalize — land on a specific, sharp idea.
Babs — your grandfather, forensic engineer. Evidence, craft, intellectual humility. "Uncertainty is a feature." His slide rule: "Got us to the moon. But the interesting stuff happens in the gaps between what we know." He modeled that rigor and humility aren't opposites.
Mock Trial: built novice on-ramps, converted post-rounds to workshops, created the flowcharts and drill structures that became team infrastructure. Measurable: novice retention up, team made regionals, culture shifted from score-obsessed to process-focused. Tie to the broader lesson about building systems that outlast the builder.
Town hall story: 60 students in a room built for 30, half annoyed. A sophomore named Dani raised her hand and said, "I don't get why this matters." You spent four minutes not answering her question and six minutes figuring out you couldn't — not in the language you were using. The policy passed anyway, but the moment that mattered was the question you couldn't answer. That's honest.
Institutional trust. "People don't stop believing in democracy or schools or courts because the ideas are bad. They stop believing because the processes feel rigged or invisible. I want to make institutional design legible — so people can see how decisions get made and actually participate in changing them." Don't go too broad. Land on your specific angle.
Draw from real experience. "I'd do what I do in Mock Trial: pull them aside, not in front of the group. Ask what's going on. Usually it's not laziness — it's that they don't know where to start. I'd find them a specific, bounded task they can own. That's how I onboard novices: give them one thing to be great at before you ask them to do everything."
"A version of Student Policy Committee that scales. Right now I've built it at one school. I'd build the toolkit — survey templates, town hall guides, follow-up frameworks — and make it open-source for any student body president who wants to give students real policy voice. MockTrialConfessions was version one of that instinct. SPC toolkit would be version two."
"I'd start by asking questions, not making declarations. In Mock Trial, the strongest cross-examinations aren't attacks — they're questions that let the witness reveal the contradiction themselves. Same principle: 'Can you help me understand the reasoning behind this approach?' is more productive than 'I think you're wrong.'" Show intellectual humility and method.
"Leadership is noticing. It's seeing that Priya froze because the room was too big, not because she wasn't ready. It's realizing that the week you bring banana bread, three more people talk. Leadership isn't the title — it's whether you changed the conditions so others could do their best work." Land on conditions-setting, not command-issuing.
"I used to think the best leader is the one who does the most. Now I think the best leader is the one whose work survives their absence. I learned that the hard way with SPC — I was so good at running it that nobody else could. That's not leadership. That's dependency." This is the most honest and distinctive answer you have.
Paulo Freire's concept of the banking model of education — the idea that students aren't empty accounts to deposit knowledge into. "That's why I rearranged Ms. Branum's classroom from rows to a circle. Rows assume the teacher is the source. Circles assume everyone has something to contribute. I saw immediate voice redistribution. Now I default to circles for every dialogue I facilitate."
"Service isn't charity from above. It's designing systems where people's needs show up in the decision. When I run a town hall, I'm not doing a favor — I'm building a process where people who are affected by a policy actually have a say in shaping it. That's what drives me toward law and policy." Tie it to your through-line.
Rock skipping. "I go to the Chattahoochee to fail at something nobody scores. My dyslexia makes me need structure for everything — flowcharts, outlines, drill structures. Rock skipping can't be systematized. I've tried. That's why I go. Because I need to practice being terrible at something. It keeps me honest." This is a distinctive, personal, true answer.
Be specific — three things. (1) Andy McNeil and GT Mock Trial: you've argued his Gladiator cases in competition — continuing under his coaching is a major draw. (2) The Pre-Law Certificate through the Carter School, because the policy problems you care about sit at the intersection of law and technology. (3) The GTDC Pathways to Policy semester: you've spent two years writing policy recommendations at a school level — GLIP and GTDC let you test that at the state and federal level.
First priority: the UK, because the common law tradition you study through Mock Trial originated there, but policy gets made through a completely different parliamentary system. Seeing how institutional design questions play out under different governance structures would change how you think about policy reform. Second: conferences and research connecting your mock trial background to policy analysis. Third: the GTDC Pathways to Policy semester in D.C.
"I'd feed them, first of all. But more than that — I build containers. Study groups that start with someone making eggs at 10 on a Thursday. Norms that let the quiet person speak first. I've spent four years learning that the best communities aren't built by the most talented people in the room — they're built by people who make the room safe enough for talent to show up."
"Stamps wants alumni who can convene and solve problems. That's literally what I've been practicing. SPC is a convening tool. Mock Trial Confessions is a community platform. The Policy Task Force capstone at GT is a professional version of the same instinct. I want to spend my career building institutions that give people voice — whether that's through law, policy, or something I haven't discovered yet. The Stamps network is 2,600 people across 37 schools who think that way. I want to be in that room."
You don't need to memorize these. Having a default shape in your head prevents rambling under pressure. Each framework runs about 90 seconds total.
For questions about things you've done: "Tell us about a time..." or "Describe when..."
Example: "Thirty minutes before a Mock Trial workshop, I pulled banana bread out of the oven. [Scene] I called a break, split everyone into pairs. [Decision] She ran that cross at regionals. [Result] Leadership isn't the loudest voice. It's noticing when someone needs a different room. [Takeaway]"
For hypothetical scenarios: "What would you do if..." or "If you had unlimited resources..."
For values and belief questions: "What does leadership mean to you?" or "What have you changed your mind about?"
Key: "I'm still working on that part" is a strength, not a weakness. Stamps values intellectual honesty and ongoing growth.
From Ms. Atchison and from your own prep. Print this and read it Saturday morning.
"I build institutions that give people voice — and I'm learning to make them work when I'm not in the room."
Research compiled March 9, 2026.
The Stamps Scholarship is an internationally prestigious, entirely merit-based undergraduate scholarship program that partners with select colleges and universities across the United States (and one institution in the U.K.). It does not consider financial need. The program and its partner schools evaluate candidates on three pillars: academic merit, leadership potential, and character.
The scholarship is administered through the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation (also referred to as the Strive Foundation), a philanthropic organization established in 1986 by E. Roe Stamps IV and his late wife Penny W. Stamps. The foundation's mission extends beyond scholarships to supporting educational initiatives broadly, but the Stamps Scholars Program is its signature initiative.
"Having achieved our personal goals of pursuing careers, raising children, and providing for our family's future, we made a conscious decision to take our surplus resources and use them for the betterment of our community and the world." — Penny Stamps
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Roe and Penny Stamps establish the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation (Strive Foundation) |
| 1999 | Penny establishes the Roman J. Witt Visiting Professors Program at University of Michigan |
| 2000 | The Stamps begin funding merit-based scholarships for the Stamps Family Georgia Tech President's Scholars |
| 2006 | The Stamps Scholars Program officially launches at Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan — the founders' respective alma maters |
| 2011 | First Stamps Scholars National Convention held at University of Miami (110 students, 9 schools) |
| 2012 | Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design named at University of Michigan |
| 2013 | Convention grows to 228 students from 22 schools (hosted at University of Michigan) |
| 2015 | Convention at Georgia Tech reaches approximately 500 students from all partner schools; CASE recognizes the Foundation with the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education |
| 2018 | Penny Stamps passes away on December 13 |
| 2023 | Convention returns in-person at Georgia Tech (nearly 700 attendees); program spans 40+ institutions |
| 2025–26 | Program encompasses 37 listed partner institutions with 2,500–2,875 total current and alumni scholars |
The financial package varies by institution but is consistently one of the most generous merit scholarships in American higher education.
Stamps Scholars have collectively earned 141+ prestigious national and international awards including Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Goldwater, Gates Cambridge, Schwarzman, Truman, Udall, Beinecke, and NSF fellowships. In 2019, 4 of 32 American Rhodes Scholars were Stamps Scholars. In 2023, 5 of 51 Marshall Scholars were Stamps Scholars.
| # | Institution | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Arizona | |
| 2 | Barry University | |
| 3 | Boston College | |
| 4 | College of William & Mary | |
| 5 | Dartmouth College | |
| 6 | Elizabethtown College | |
| 7 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Founding partner (2006) |
| 8 | Georgia State University | |
| 9 | Louisiana State University (LSU) | |
| 10 | Mercer University | |
| 11 | Morehouse College | |
| 12 | New York University | |
| 13 | North Carolina State University | New partner (Jan 2025) |
| 14 | Northeastern University | |
| 15 | University of Notre Dame | |
| 16 | Ohio State University | |
| 17 | Purdue University | |
| 18 | Tulane University | |
| 19 | University of Chicago | |
| 20 | University of Connecticut (UConn) | |
| 21 | University of Florida | |
| 22 | University of Georgia | |
| 23 | University of Illinois | |
| 24 | University of Miami | |
| 25 | University of Michigan | Founding partner (2006); sunsetting May 2026 |
| 26 | University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) | |
| 27 | University of Missouri | |
| 28 | University of Oregon | |
| 29 | University of Pittsburgh | |
| 30 | University of South Carolina | |
| 31 | University of Texas at Austin | |
| 32 | U.S. Air Force Academy | |
| 33 | U.S. Military Academy (West Point) | |
| 34 | U.S. Naval Academy | Not currently accepting applications |
| 35 | Virginia Tech | |
| 36 | Wake Forest University | |
| 37 | Queens' College, Cambridge | U.K. partner; not currently accepting applications |
The program is relatively young (founded 2006), so its most prominent alumni are still early in their careers. However:
The SSNC is a biennial (every two years) multi-day gathering of Stamps Scholars from across all partner institutions.
| Year | Host | Attendance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | University of Miami | 110 students, 9 schools | Inaugural convention |
| 2013 | University of Michigan | 228 students, 22 schools | |
| 2015 | Georgia Tech | ~500 students | |
| 2017 | Georgia Tech | 700+ students | |
| 2019 | Georgia Tech | Not specified | Featured former NFL coach Daron K. Roberts as speaker |
| 2021 | University of Illinois (Virtual) | Not specified | First fully virtual convention (COVID) |
| 2023 | Georgia Tech, Atlanta | ~700 students | March 31–April 2, 2023; return to in-person |
Threads (focused study groups), Scholar Expo (research presentations), keynote speakers, community engagement, Scholar Talks, Problem-Solving Pods, talent show, and Scholar Soiree.
2023 keynote: Dr. Elizabeth Kiss (Rhodes Scholarships administrator). Leadership panel included Mimi Borders (Rhodes Scholar), Kyme Hersi-Sallid (Alvin Ailey dancer), Dr. Sandra Magnus (NASA Astronaut, Georgia Tech professor), and Bradley Weill (VP of Product at Stord).
The national convention is currently paused. The program has shifted to 30+ smaller cross-institutional experiences per year, including a 2025 leadership expedition to Norway with scholars from 7 partner institutions.
Research compiled March 9, 2026.
The Stamps President's Scholarship is Georgia Tech's premier and most prestigious merit-based scholarship, awarded to roughly the top 1% of the incoming class. It is a full-ride scholarship covering:
The scholarship is renewable for up to four academic years / eight semesters, contingent on honors-level academic performance and continued leadership development.
| Stage | Number | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| EA applicants considered | ~43,000 | Oct 15 (GA) / Nov 3 (non-GA) deadline |
| Semifinalists selected | 425–450 | Late January 2026 |
| Asynchronous virtual interview | All semifinalists | Early February 2026 |
| Finalists named | ~150 | Late February 2026 |
| Stamps Scholars Weekend | ~150 finalists | March 13–14, 2026 |
| Stamps President's Scholars selected | 50 | Shortly after weekend |
| Gold Scholars selected | ~20 | Shortly after weekend |
Georgia Tech evaluates Stamps finalists on four equally weighted pillars. "No pillar is more important than another." A perfect test score is not viewed as better than outstanding leadership.
8-day outdoor leadership expedition before freshman year. Past destinations: Alaska, Colorado, Montana. Bonds the incoming cohort before classes start.
Student-and-faculty-planned expeditions combining outdoor adventure with academic study. Recent destinations: the Balkans, Argentina, Cyprus, Yosemite/California, South Africa, Scotland.
Each cohort is paired with two dedicated Faculty Guides (professors) who serve as mentors. Also one-on-one mentoring from professors, staff, alumni, and current scholars.
| Item | Gold Scholar Coverage |
|---|---|
| OOS tuition waiver | ~$21,000/year (reduces OOS to in-state rate) |
| In-state students | Tuition, fees, and books |
| Housing / meal coverage | NO |
| Enrichment funding | NO |
| Laptop stipend | NO |
| National Stamps network access | NO |
| Approximate number per year | ~15–20 Gold Scholars |
Venny Kojouharov (Churchill Scholar, Knight-Hennessy Scholar): "Stamps gave me perspective" through friendships across disciplines — biomedical engineering, public policy, biology — and international study opportunities.
Jacqui van Zyl (ACC InVenture Prize winner): "the biggest support system, especially as I moved through my academics."
2025 Gold Scholar: "There are 20 of us, and genuinely, I consider them some of my best friends. We come from such drastically different backgrounds in the sense of upbringings and beliefs, but they are truly amazing people."
Research compiled March 9, 2026.
The enrichment fund — often called the "dream fund" by scholars — typically ranges from $8,000 to $16,000 over four years, depending on the partner institution. Georgia Tech provides $12,000; University of Missouri provides $16,000; University of Miami, UConn, and Oregon each provide $12,000.
Emma McDougal (University of Missouri, Class of 2025) used enrichment funds to study abroad three times and will pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT.
Rhodes, Fulbright, Gates Cambridge, Goldwater, Knight-Hennessy (Stanford), Marshall, Schwarzman, Truman, Churchill, Beinecke, NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, Udall, and 20+ additional fellowships.
The most recent major convention was SSNC23 at Georgia Tech (March 31–April 2, 2023): nearly 700 scholars from 33 partner schools. First in-person convention in four years (post-COVID).
Convention is paused. Replaced by 30+ smaller cross-institutional experiences per year, including the 2025 Norway outdoor leadership expedition.
Scale: ~4,000 current scholars and alumni globally.
Spans 37 institutions — unlike single-school scholarships (Morehead-Cain, Jefferson, Robertson), a Stamps Scholar has peers and alumni connections at Georgia Tech AND Michigan AND UChicago AND Notre Dame AND Miami AND Purdue AND Virginia Tech simultaneously.
Obligations vary by institution.
| Feature | Stamps | Morehead-Cain | Robertson | Jefferson (UVA) | Posse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institution(s) | 37 partner schools | UNC-Chapel Hill only | Duke + UNC dual | UVA only | 70+ partner schools |
| Cohort Size | ~400/year across all schools | ~70–80/year | ~30/year | ~35/year | ~60 cohorts of 10 |
| Coverage | Full COA at most schools | Full COA | Full COA at Duke or UNC | Full COA | Full tuition |
| Enrichment Funds | $8K–$16K | Discovery Fund grants up to $8K | 3 funded summer experiences | Annual stipend + enrichment | Leadership training |
| Summer Programming | Self-directed via enrichment fund | 4 structured summer experiences (mandatory) | 3 domestic/international + semester swap | Self-directed | Pre-collegiate training |
| Network Span | National (37 schools) | Single school | Dual school (Duke/UNC) | Single school | National (70+ schools) |
| Selection Basis | Merit, leadership, character | Leadership, character, scholarship, physical vigor | Leadership, curiosity, character, collaboration | Leadership, scholarship, citizenship | Leadership, diverse backgrounds |
Beyond education, the Stamps family supports arts, health, and human services. Affiliations include University of Miami (Roe is a trustee), Fairchild Tropical Garden, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, Breakthrough Miami, the American Red Cross, and the Knight Foundation.
"Creating leaders who will make it a point throughout their lifetimes to pay forward those benefits and inspiration they have received." — Official GT Stamps Program Goal
Research compiled March 9, 2026.
Confirmed details from the 2025 cycle and official program pages:
| Date | Feature |
|---|---|
| Jan 2026 | GT scholar Esha Venkat — building a global community of kindness |
| Jul 2025 | Norway leadership expedition reflections (9 scholars, 7 institutions) |
| Jun 2025 | 20th class celebrated — 398 scholars from 34 partners |
| Jan 2025 | Costa Rica backcountry expedition feature |
| Nov 2024 | Air Force Academy scholar's original theatrical production |
| May 2024 | U Miami scholars launched "Bonsai" interdisciplinary research initiative |
"Everybody has a phenomenal resume, so it comes down to how they want to balance the class." At the finalist stage, all 150 are exceptional on paper — the weekend determines cohort fit.
| Platform | Handle | Following |
|---|---|---|
| @gatechstamps | 1,147 followers, 197 posts | |
| GT Stamps President's Scholars | 1,681 likes | |
| LinkedIn (national) | Stamps Scholars Program | 1,283 followers |
Instagram bio: "Developing exceptional students into meaningful leaders in society through Scholarship, Leadership, Progress & Service #gatechstamps #stampsscholars"
Georgia Tech Stamps/Gold Scholarship — Finalist Questionnaire. Approved responses — February 16, 2026.
These are your approved answers verbatim. Review them before the weekend so your in-person answers expand on these — not contradict them.
Pre-law is the goal. I'm drawn to the Pre-Law Certificate and the LST Minor through the Carter School because the policy problems I care about live at the intersection of law and technology, not just traditional legal practice. I'm also interested in the Economics Certificate since my policy work keeps coming back to incentives and tradeoffs. The question driving all of this: why do well-intentioned policies fail, and what does legal structure have to do with it?
The GTDC: Pathways to Policy semester is my top priority. Interning at a think tank or on the Hill while taking policy courses is where I want to test what I've been building through Student Policy Committee and Mock Trial. Internationally, I'm interested in the UK because the common law tradition I study through mock trial originated there, but policy gets made through a completely different system. Seeing how parliamentary governance handles the same kinds of institutional design questions I've worked on at a school level would change how I think about policy reform.
Georgia Tech Mock Trial is my first priority. I've been president of my high school team and have argued Andy McNeil's Gladiator cases in competition, so continuing under his coaching at Tech is a big part of why I'm here.
DramaTech Theatre and Let's Try This! (LTT!) are the other side of that. I've had three lead roles in high school (Wadsworth in Clue, Dr. Gray in Anatomy of Gray, Vince Fontaine in Grease), and I want to keep doing full productions. But LTT!'s improv workshops are what I'm most curious about. The crossover between improv (thinking on your feet, reading the room, committing to a choice) and courtroom performance in mock trial is something I haven't seen anyone else talk about, and I want to build that connection intentionally.
CHEFS at GT because I love cooking and almost ended up on a teen cooking show instead of applying to college. It's how I decompress, and it's how I build community outside of the competitive stuff. Every team I've led, I've fed.
The Georgia Legislative Intern Program is the one I think about most. I've spent two years authoring policy recommendations through Student Policy Committee at my school, running surveys, town halls, and follow-up reports. GLIP is that work at the state level: researching bills, drafting policy briefs, sitting in committee hearings at the Capitol. I want to see what happens to policy recommendations when the stakes are real legislation, not a school dress code.
After that, the Federal Jackets Fellowship is where I'd want to go next. Securing my own placement in a Congressional office or executive agency and spending a semester in D.C. connects directly to the GTDC semester I mentioned. State policy first, then federal.
I'm also drawn to the Policy Task Force capstone because the real-client model (teams of six working with organizations like the CDC or City of Atlanta) is basically a professional version of how I already work: identify the problem, build the analysis, present recommendations, and measure whether they land.
Pre-law advising through the LST Program, specifically Andy McNeil's office. I want a relationship with an advisor who knows the law school pipeline from a tech-policy angle, not just a generic pre-law track.
UROP for independent research. I want to work with a faculty member on a policy question early, not wait until the Task Force capstone to do real analysis.
Writing center resources. I have dyslexia, so writing support isn't a nice-to-have for me. My ideas come fast; getting them on paper clearly takes more work. I've built systems for it, but having consistent feedback on policy writing specifically would make a real difference.
Tenacious. Builder. Advocate.
You've read everything. You know your stories. You know the program. You know what you're building and why.
Now put this away. Go eat something. Sleep well. Show up Saturday as the person you already are.
Good luck, Jack. You've earned the room.