By Maya Kostov
Approximately 104,000 students apply to the three major Arizona universities: Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University. Over 900 applicants applied to the Flinn Scholarship, which is a merit-based scholarship awarded annually to 20 Arizona high school seniors. It provides four years of study at an Arizona public university, study abroad opportunities, a funded internship, personal mentorship by faculty and alumni scholars, and other benefits. The total package is valued at more than $120,000. Out of all these applicants, our very own Senior, Clara Moffitt, has been selected as a finalist!
What does it mean to be a Flinn Scholar? First off, the initial Flinn Scholarship application is very long and extensive. Although the essay and short answer questions seem daunting, this is a very amazing opportunity! The Flinn Organization liked Clara’s application because of her strong academics, her success as an All-State musician and participation in other extracurricular activities, her devotion to the City of Tempe and her leadership as president of GirlUp Arizona, her academic research at ASU’s School of Transborder Studies, and many more.
Just like that, 950 students turned to 75, with Clara now being a semi-finalist. Clara says that when she was selected she received “so many emails from the schools and my scholarship money at all three universities increased!”
Then comes the hard part: the interview. The interview lasts only 20 minutes, but that can feel like an eternity when a full ride to any major Arizona public school is on the line. This interview resembles a typical scholarship interview, where there are three people from the organization that ask a ton of questions.
Clara says that it was very intimidating, and the questions asked were about the Flinn Scholarship, current events, herself and her accomplishments, and more importantly, what her plans are for within Arizona. Ultimately, Clara passed the second cut, 75 students dwindled to 35, and Clara became a finalist.
Recently, each college has put on a “Flinn Week,” which is mostly virtual of course, where Clara attends webinars and classes from the schools. NAU is putting her up in a hotel as she explores campus, and she gets to meet all of these officials and faculty members, and she has not even been selected as a Flinn Scholar. Even being selected as a finalist is prestigious because these schools are personally reaching out to Clara to see which professors she would like to talk to or if there is any particular research she would like to learn more about.
Clara explains that “This is something that is very unique. As a Flinn Scholar or even a finalist, it is so much easier to stand out and receive individualized attention from these schools. They really reach out!”
As a very ambitious and high-achieving student, Clara has many colleges on her radar: Stanford, BYU, and USC, to name a few. She is seriously considering this scholarship and she says “I’m trying to postpone my decision for as long as possible because there are a lot of other opportunities that I’m interested in.” Clara is currently visiting the schools, talking to professors, exploring how she can promote her career as an undergraduate and is planning to do that for the other schools she gets into as well.
Right now, Clara is in University of Arizona’s Flinn Week, and they have given her a lot of swag, gifts to convince her to attend the school.
She thinks everyone should apply to the Flinn Scholarship and says that “A lot of times, you might not think you want to stay in-state for college, but it’s really great to have that option available.” This scholarship basically keeps Ivy League Talent in Arizona, and Clara is definitely worthy of it! Clara has her second interview over spring break. Good luck Clara!