High
school scholars shine at CSULB
By Jeff Tyson
Special to the On-line Forty-Niner
When
Melissa Winter was in high school, she wasn’t
sure if she was going to be valedictorian
when the Cal State Long Beach Presidents
Scholars program contacted her school.
When she heard about the scholarship, she
said she talked to her counselor but was
told that it did not apply to her because
she was not going to graduate with that
top honor.
Winter, who eventually did become valedictorian,
said she contacted the program and applied
on her own.
“The overall program has helped tremendously,”
she said. “It has made it such an easy transition
to college life.”
Starting in spring of 1995, under the personal
direction of President Robert Maxson, the
program represents 40 California counties
and 253 high schools, according to the President’s
Scholars Web site.
Armando Contreras, executive assistant to
President Maxson, said the program was stared
by Maxson with the goal to get students
who could attend any university to choose
CSULB.
Each year, approximately 70 students are
admitted through the highly intense selection
process. Contreras said the goal is to have
350 to 400 President’s Scholars at the university
at one time.
If selected to the President’s Scholars
program, the student receives full payment
of tuition, paid housing in the campus dorms,
priority registration, academic advising
abnd other incentives.
Bonnie Ryan said priority registration helped
her graduate in four years.
“Without priority registration and the President’s
Scholars program, I know that I couldn’t
have graduated in four years,” said Ryan,
a biology major. “I guess the hard work
in high school paid off,” she added.
The program can handle a maximum of 400
scholars to provide adequate service with
the money that the program has, Contreras
said.
The President’s Scholars program relies
solely on private funding that is donated
to the program, Contreras said.
Contreras said groups contribute the most
amount of money to the program, the Presidents
Associates and the Corporate Scholars Council.
The Presidents Associates are single donors
that give a minimum of $1,250 a year, which
is used solely on scholarship money, Contreras
said. The Corporate Scholars Council are
donors that give a minimum of $5,000 a year.
The process of becoming a President’s Scholar
has become more and more competitive as
the program develops, Contreras said.
The first part of the process to become
a President’s Scholar starts with the student.
To qualify, scholars must be valedictorians,
or National Merit semifinalists and finalists
from accredited high schools.
Valerie Bordeaux, director of University
Outreach and School Relations, is in charge
of recruiting the qualified students for
the program.
Bordeaux contacts counselors at accredited
high schools throughout California for lists
of valedictorians and students who would
be eligible for the program, Contreras said.
After the acceptance deadline, all applications
are looked at and the top-qualifying students
are chosen.
Many graduating scholars are at prestigious
professional schools, such as Yale, Harvard,
Scripps Institute, as well as many more,
Contreras said.
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