Scholarship Students Make the Grade at Scholars Day
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April 2, 2004 Feature Scholarship Students Make the Grade at Scholars Day
"Prospective students and parents are savvy and consumer-conscientious in the college choice process," said Melissa Kincart, assistant to the vice provost. "Utah State must continue to set itself apart from other schools." Helping students find the right fit at Utah State efficiently can mean a lot to families in terms of tuition costs and in the time it takes to graduate, said Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for undergraduate studies and research. "We wanted to spotlight some of Utah State's very best faculty members, scholars and artists at Scholars Day so students got to see them early on and question them about their fields," said Kinkead. "My main interests are music, political science and engineering," said Grayson Weeks, one of the top prospective students at Scholars Day. "The fact that I was able to meet and be interviewed by professors from each of those facets impressed me."
Other goals for Scholars Day, according to Kincart, were to provide Utah State's scholarship recipients with a comprehensive overview of Utah State and to inform them of opportunities should they decide to enroll at Utah State. Another objective was to have its scholarship awards out earlier than other schools and to increase the yield of high-ability students. "This was truly remarkable, as we have never had the scholarship awarding process completed by the end of February — months ahead of most of the local competitors," said Kincart. "Also, it is not just about recruiting and enrolling these students, but also graduating them," said Kinkead. Prospective student Weeks has the academic history, grades, service, talent and work ethic to attend schools such as Oxford, Harvard and St. John's, but has chosen Utah State. Weeks, student body president at Madison High School, said he knows if he employs resources given him at Utah State in the right manner, he can be successful. "Utah State is my first choice of any school," he said. "I like homework and I love challenging things. I didn't want to apply anywhere else when I had already made my decision to attend Utah State. At first I felt that I would be settling for Utah State should I go there, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized this school can really get me where I want to go."
"I would also love to be a professor," he said. "Hey, if all else fails, I'll use my music and become a professional guitarist." The quality of students now being recruited at Utah State is part of the shift in recruiting philosophy, as well as Utah State's new marketing efforts, Kinkead said. "It's about our more effective communication of the image that Utah State embodies in our THINK campaign," she said. "As a result, through our publications students know much better what Utah State is all about." Lincoln Andreasen, one of the top 200 scholarship recipients, said successful alumni of Utah State he met throughout his life were a big influence on his decision to apply to the university. "Everywhere I go, I see Utah State University," he said.
Speaking of impressive, Andreasen is so smart he takes tests for fun. While at Athens High School he participated in the Scholastic Bowl and World Wide Youth Science and Engineering, among other activities. Because of his broad interests, Andreasen said he appreciates the wide range of excellent programs offered at Utah State. In addition to academic excellence, Kincart knows the importance of the environment when recruiting students.
"Relationships, connections to the university and feelings one experiences while visiting campus are crucial in enrolling a student," said Kincart. "We know students choose to enroll at Utah State because of our outstanding academics and caring faculty and staff, but enrolling academically-prepared students is the responsibility of all of us at the university." Contact: Joyce Kinkead (435) 797-1706,joyce.kinkead@usu.edu |
With the implementation of the first Scholars Day in Utah State University's history, the office of Admissions has employed a highly-focused campaign to actively court more than 300 prospective scholarship recipients and, in turn, raise the academic quality of the entire university.
Sara Sampson, a high school senior from Texas, is interested in engineering and said she enjoyed being able to sit in on a real lecture from an engineering professor at Utah State.
Weeks is actively involved in his high school's orchestra, newspaper, speech/debate team, track/cross country team and many other clubs in which he has held office. His plans are to graduate in political science at Utah State and eventually become a lawyer and a judge.
Born and raised in New York, Andreasen said he knew a bio-chemist at Eastman Kodak who graduated from Utah State. When Andreasen's family moved to Champagne, Ill., he met another Utah State alumnus who was an electrical physicist. These individuals and other alumni he has met impressed him because of the wide range of sciences they were successful in.
"At first I was nervous about coming to a university, but during my visit here a lot of people have said hi or waved to me, and that made me feel a lot better," prospective student Diana Maxfield said.SHARE
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