Unbeknownst to most, the single most important annual event insetting the curve for the incoming first-year class occurs today.Hundreds of high school seniors, their parents and supporters haveconverged upon the Hilltop for Scholarship Interview Day. Thefuture leaders of SMU are interviewing for President and HuntScholarships today, as well as attending classes, forums and campustours.
Ed Board would like to welcome these outstanding youngindividuals to our university. We hope they have an excellentexperience and ultimately decide that SMU is the right place tocall home for the next four years.
“Scholarship Interview Day” is a misleading name forthe event, since it spans three days and includes much more thanthe interview process. The festivities begin with receptions forboth sets of scholarship finalists on Thursday night. The programcontinues at a dinner on Friday evening and culminates with a tourof the Meadows Museum on Saturday morning.
From start to finish, the administration always performsexceptionally well. Months of hard work are undertaken to ensurethat SMU puts its best foot forward for these coveted students.Many have received acceptance letters from Ivy League schools, butlikely few have experienced the personal attention that comes withour university’s prestigious scholarships.
We applaud these meticulous recruiting efforts and thank thoseadministrators responsible for organizing the event. If SMU wantsto rise past the nation’s elite institutions, then we musthave a student body with undergraduates of the highest caliber.These students will win Nobel Prizes and be elected to the U.S.Senate long before one receives the Heisman Trophy. Thus, thesehigh school students on campus today will profoundly impact thefuture of our university.
Of course, those with full scholarships are not the onlystudents making a difference on campus. Therefore, Ed Boardbelieves SMU would benefit from increasing its recruiting effortsto a wider range of prospective students. Ed Board proposes a new,student-run organization that targets highly sought undergraduateapplicants with personal correspondence and invitations to specialevents. MustangLINK does a tremendous job with similarresponsibilities, but due to a dramatic increase in the number ofprospective students during the past few years, the organization isinundated and cannot provide such individual attention to toprecruits.
Ed Board is pleased with Scholarship Interview Day and hope tosee support for increased efforts along these lines.
