Luke Melloh, a senior at Noblesville High School, raises his hand during a Media Fellows presentation on Sunday night. SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
Campus flooded last weekend with dozens of prospective future Tigers who were eager to learn more about the honors programs and scholarships during the annual Honors Program Weekend. After completing an application process for various honors programs, students from all over the country were invited to interview in hopes of gaining acceptance into one of the five Honors Fellowship or Scholar programs.
Programs that prospective students interviewed for included Media Fellows, Management Fellows, Environmental Fellows, Science Research Fellows and the Honor Scholar Program. Additionally, select prospective students interviewed for the Rector Scholarship, which is one of DePauw’s most prestigious awards.
During their visits, prospective students were dealt a wide array of activities to participate in, from campus tours to lectures and presentations from various DePauw students and alumni, and receptions where the students intermingled and got to know some of their potential future classmates. The Admissions Office created a complete menu of activities that allowed hopeful Tigers to immerse themselves in the DePauw experience for a weekend.
The Media Fellows Program saw 36 of the 55 prospective Media Fellows interview for the program over the weekend. While this year’s Media Fellows applicant pool was almost 40 fewer than that of last year, Media Fellows Assistant Director Marilyn Culler and Media Fellows Director Jonathan Nichols-Pethick still aim to accept roughly 30 people into the program.
“This is the time we get excited about a new class,” Nichols-Pethick said. “[The students] go from being names on paper to being people that we recognize and have personalities that we experienced.”
The Honors Scholar Program was one of the most popular honors programs among prospective students this year. Director Amy Welch reported 254 applicants this year, an 11 percent increase from last year. Welch stressed the importance of the application and interview processes, as the Honor Scholar Program is, “a 100 percent faculty-selected student body.”
But faculty and staff of these Honors programs were not the only ones who had their eyes on the students who came to visit this weekend. Tiger coaches were paying close attention to this weekend’s activities, as many of the students who have applied to Honors programs are also prospective athletes.
“This was arguably the most important weekend [for admissions,]” said Men’s and Woman’s Golf Coach Vince Lazar. “A lot of decisions will be made based off of the responses students will get from their interviews.”
Students who were invited but were not be able to visit campus this weekend will be interviewed over Skype or phone for their respective programs.