Briefly, this rejection does not reflect your character or your accomplishments. Only you dictate your success and story.
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To you (an HSF applicant),

Hi, my name is Cameron, executive director and cofounder at HSF, as well as a soon-to-be graduate at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. When I started this nonprofit five years ago with my friend Charles, we had never come close to envisioning how much this nonprofit would grow.

And yet, I'm disappointed in my and HSF's inability to serve as many students as we would hope to. This year, Charles and I planned to pause our work with HSF to focus on our academics and career; this application season was never supposed to happen.

Yet it did, and we received nearly 10,000 highly qualified applicants while we grappled with a self-raised budget of $2500 or 1 award. In other words, we had to choose 1 out of nearly 10,000 students (a ~0.01% award rate).

But, I genuinely cannot stress enough about how this rejection does not reflect your character or your accomplishments. Success is not defined by a singular acceptance, whether it be this award or a university decision.

I am no wise sage, but if my experience so far has taught me anything, it is that there are always paths ahead even when a mountain appears. Your strength is the ability to pave your path. Some days, you might be beat. But resilience isn't about how far or hard you fall, but simply about how you can climb back up.

We are young — our journeys will take us to many places, and if you ever find yourself lost or stuck, don't hesitate to look for support. While it's unrealistic to say that all problems will be fixed and all help granted, there are always more resources and opportunities than you might initially expect.
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Remember: this decision is just one moment in your story, not the whole narrative. Seek out those who believe in you and lean on them when you need to stop and catch your breath. We at HSF believe in your potential and your story. We can't wait to see where you may go next (even if takes a while).

Cameron
House Scholarship Foundation

P.S. I promise this wasn't AI generated — I stayed up until like 5:00 AM writing this. Also, if you feel helpless with no one to contact, please reach out to us at HSF (info@nationalhsf.org) and to a helpline.

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FAQ:
1. Why did it take so long?
The number of applicants tripled this past cycle. It took a long time to parse through and read applications. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the delay.

2. Where is my email?
Due to the magnitude of applications, our email system cannot support so many mass emails. Emails are being sent out over the course of the next few days and may arrive in spam folder.

3. Why didn't you respond to my email?
Again, we deeply apologize for this. Due to so many applications and so many emails, we have not been able to get back to all inquiries and emails as all members of the HSF team are current, full-time college students.
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4. I have questions and/or need support. What do I do?
Please contact us at info@nationalhsf.org and reach out to an appropriate helpline (if necessary).