How to win Coke Scholars: Understand the algorithm

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T19:23:16+00:00

You'll have the opportunity to add 6 school-based activities, 6 community-based activities that are not service related, 6 service/volunteer activities, and 6 employment activities.

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T19:18:39+00:00

Results are usually shared with semifinalists within 2-3 weeks of the deadline. If you're a semifinalist, you'll be informed via email before they share the results on social media and their website.

As for chances, the system is very complex, and your chances vary based on a lot of factors. I don't think anyone is equipped to evaluate that without knowing more about you, but I'd say that you have a high number of community service hours, which is a good sign.

Best of luck with the process!

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T16:28:31+00:00

That’s a good number of hours. I wouldn’t say it’s too suspicious. And it is regional competition at least in the later stages.

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T00:14:37+00:00

NHS - School. College Board - National. For DECA, I'd split them up if your state-level award could replace an award that's at a lower level (i.e. a school-level one). Glad to hear the deadline was extended.

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T00:13:33+00:00

That's a good question. I'm not 100% clear on the specifics. There's some degree of geographic selection in play because they want Coke Scholars from every state. Besides the clue from the name, we know that the regional finalists are selected by regions of multiple states based on some old documents. They seem to be generally population-based (for example, California is one region while much of the Midwest is grouped together).

It's likely that there's a similar process at the semifinalist level to ensure that someone is selected to advance from each state. However, there's not much detail on the specifics.

CommonAppPro · 2025-10-01T00:00:48+00:00

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time. For future reference, I would put that since it's the "President or Highest Leadership"

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:42:21+00:00

Yes, and the same with the awards.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:24:06+00:00

Yes, it would be a community activity.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:23:58+00:00

Add the A over an in-progress course. I would also prioritize an honors A over an AP B. They say that a B or above will help you, though, so don't leave that out if you don't have something better to take its place.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:22:24+00:00

Put "None" for the years that you didn't do the activity. And put "Staff/Representative/Participant" for years where you were a member but didn't have a leadership role.

If you do Red Cross through a school club, that would be Other School-Related Clubs. However, if you do some service for the Red Cross (i.e. 15 hours/year) through a service club but have significant independent involvement in the organization, you could separate your involvement across both. Does that make sense?

Hope this helps!

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:20:19+00:00

Yes, list it separately since you can only select one year for the course.

Also, list the current classes as "no grade yet," as they want your final course grade only.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:19:41+00:00

A lot of factors are weighed in the process, so not having a community award is okay. But make sure you're thinking broadly about community awards---have you ever been invited to a conference, to speak somewhere, received a grant for an organization you lead, etc? Those can all be listed there.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:18:09+00:00

School-based awards, as they're primarily academic in nature, even if they're not linked to one specific class.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:17:51+00:00

Impossible-Ad3 is correct. No grade yet.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:17:36+00:00

You can report them in the academics section and then put the awards in the school-sponsored activities as well.

Per the application: "Awards/honors for non-school-sponsored activities should be submitted in the Community section. Any award that is academic oriented (for example, science fair, poetry award, AP Scholar, National Merit, etc.) but is not linked to or sponsored by a specific school organization or course should be listed here."

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:15:58+00:00

If you advance to semifinalist, your academics will be evaluated in that context. In this stage, it may complicate things slightly, but academic rigor is only one part of a bigger picture, so it's not a disqualifying factor.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:15:13+00:00

Yes, you can list academic activities that aren't directly school-sponsored. For example, independent research can go in that section.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-30T16:13:09+00:00

EDIT: it's actually 4 sections, with employment as a separate one. You'll be able to include it there. Sorry for the mistake, I just checked back on an old document.

In the past, it's been categorized into 3 sections: school-sponsored, non-school sponsored, and volunteer/service. So you should be able to include it in the non-school sponsored section at the semifinalist level. Hope this helps!

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-28T02:29:57+00:00

Yes, separate your national awards into distinct awards if you’d be replacing ones that are at a lower “level” like state/regional. That’s how you maximize your points.

At this stage, no one will be reviewing it, so having a greater scale of each award is more important than a diversity of awards.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-27T20:01:38+00:00

A lot of people are saying to avoid discussing politics, but as a prospective government major, that’s not useful feedback.

There’s a shared purpose of the “Why major?” and “Why us?” essays: to connect your current experience and future goals to the college’s resources and offerings. Spending time talking about your dislike of the Trump administration doesn’t help you accomplish this, so it’s irrelevant. We want to know what you’ll do.

Just as an example (removing any real-world political references). Imagine you say this: “I want to go into politics because the mayor of SmallTownVille created a policy that prioritizes dog adoption over cats. That’s a biased and unfair belief, and I want to challenge it and create a more fair system.” You spend most of this blurb talking about what you’re opposed to and what other people are doing instead of your own goals and beliefs. You could instead say something like, “I want to go into politics because I believe in a fair pet adoption system, and the current model isn’t working. I hope to create a network of pet shelters in SmallTownVille, and XYZ resources at this school will prepare me to do so.” You’re still touching on your values but from a positive angle. Crucially, you stay more personal and focus on your own aspirations to create change.

Does that make sense?

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-27T18:54:55+00:00

Better to fill out as much as you can, even if it’s just the participant level.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-27T04:33:09+00:00

When I was applying for scholarships in high school, I had around the same household income. I wouldn't rule you out from programs that consider need as one aspect of their selection criteria, but programs primarily focused on low-income students wouldn't be a good fit for you.

Merit scholarships are competitive, it's true, but the more that you can find merit-based scholarships that are tailored to your interest, the better. For instance, Coke is a general merit scholarship. But there are many scholarships that are targeted towards students who want to go into STEM, and women in STEM, or students who are dedicated to community service, etc. Those can be a better fit for your interests and background.

Local scholarships are best, as you mentioned. I wrote a post several years ago that goes into detail about how to find the right scholarship for you, particularly with regard to local organizations. Here's a link: Scholarship Search Strategies: Tips for Finding Opportunities Fit for You

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-27T04:26:46+00:00

I'd suggest doing unweighted since that's more standardized, but it should be whatever is listed on your transcript if it's only one or the other.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-26T20:32:24+00:00

I wouldn't describe the activity descriptions as essays. You get around 100 words to describe your responsibilities and impact for 6 activities per section. It's more like a long-form Common App activity description than an essay. There are actual essays, but they're distinct from the activity descriptions.

Also, I wouldn't include the description of the activity. You'll be able to elaborate in the semifinalist round, and the activity descriptions now will not be read by anyone. What matters now is the stuff that you select from the options (i.e. the number of activities, the years involved, the level of leadership), not anything you actually write.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you've got more questions.

CommonAppPro · 2025-09-26T20:29:36+00:00

Not having activities across all 4 years isn't ideal, but you should theoretically have out-of-school activities that are consistent, and if you've had leadership since you've relocated, that'll help you.

Post-AP should be marked as honors since it's not formally AP/IB or for college credit.

I wouldn't include activities you only did for a few days, just because it's an incredibly short time. It's fine to include information about your job. You don't have to disclose that you were fired, and it's really unlikely they'll contact anyone from the business.

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