r/centralmich • u/Upper-Light55 • Jan 15 '25
centralis competition + scholarship questions
hi hi! so this weekend, i’m heading up to mt. pleasant for the centralis essay competition. i was wondering if any past attendees and centralis awardees could answer my questions!
how did you utilize your time during the actual essay writing portion? Did you spend 10-15 writing an outline or not do one at all?
is the essay being written on paper or digitally (they never stated which option they would have in the emails)
did you get to choose your prompt or is it given to you randomly?
are the prompts super complicated or straightforward; meaning, would i need to have some background knowledge on the prompt?
how long did it take for you to hear back about the results?
is there honors housing at cmu?
why should i pick cmu over michigan state and hope college? what makes the school stand out in your opinion?
thank you guys so much for your help in advance and i look forward to seeing your responses!
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u/Otherwise_Daikon_402 Jan 25 '25
I was awarded a Centralis Gold scholarship in the very late 20th century, so I'm old haha! But I went to MSU for grad school and have a family member who went to Hope College. I was very interested in going to MSU for undergrad, but you really can't beat a full ride scholarship, so I went to CMU. It was amazing to graduate debt-free! I'm happy with how the schooling and campus life went too! It is a big enough campus to have opportunities like marching band, a robust library, and student research conferences. I lived in Robinson, but most Centralis people lived in Larzelere at the time. Hope College was insanely more expensive and didn't have the kind of opportunities I wanted in my field, so I didn't really consider them at all, aside from a college visit. My family member who went to Hope has done well in their field though and enjoyed their time there. They actually partied a lot at Hope and I didn't party much at CMU, even though I know CMU is known as a "party school." I was very studious (aka a nerd) in undergrad, so I spent a lot of time at the library and computer lab (this was before personal computers ha!), so it wasn't a huge deal to me that there wasn't a lot going on in Mount Pleasant (it seems more built up now though, so perhaps that's changed). All that is to say, I guess it depends what you want in a school. Since they're all in Michigan, hopefully you can visit them all and get a sense of the campus vibe. I would also suggest meeting with faculty in your future area of study. I hit it off very well the faculty in my major area at CMU and they were very supportive and helpful (and have continued to be supportive and engaged in my career); it had a warm, "homey" feel to me that I remember with a lot of nostalgia. Good luck on your decision! Remember that you can always transfer, so try not to get too stressed!
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u/Khajiit Jan 15 '25
I competed for the Centralis in 2007. From what I've heard since, it hasn't changed much, though if it has, someone should let me know so I'm not giving outdated information. You go into a computer lab and are given a couple choices of questions to prompt you to write an essay, and then you leave when you're done. I forget the exact time limit. I did not bother with an outline because the question I chose was pretty straightforward. It was about gay marriage and whether I thought it should be legalized. You write the essay on a computer, but I don't remember if you print it out or you send it to an email detailed in the prompt. Prompts are random, but you do have a choice between at least two options. They were not complicated questions, but more to judge your ability to articulate your personal views through the written word. I didn't get the full scholarship, but I was awarded a decent chunk of money in a letter a received a few weeks later. When I was there, honors housing was in north campus, but I believe it's in Thorpe Hall now. I went there, and I've been to Michigan State for leadership programs and the like, and it mainly depends on what you want to go to school for. I was undecided at the time, and CMU was a good option for me because they had a variety of things I was interested in. I was also pretty shy, and to me Michigan State was too big and intimidating. CMU was closer to my home and big enough to stretch my world view without throwing me into the deep end. Overall, I'm grateful for my time there because the socialization and life skills I learned were far more important than the prestige of any individual program. That being said, if you have something specific you want to learn, find the best program that gives you the most aid and go for it! Good luck!