As promised, here’s my personal observation of the University Scholars session this past Saturday. Obviously, comments here are mine and facts may not be accurate.
The one-hour session started off with an overview by Faculty Director, Prof. Brian Colle, followed by a 9-student panel discussion. Then, Q&A session. An informal reception followed with both students and the faculty available for additional questions.
Here are some highlights:
The program admits about 250 students a year, representing the top 10% of the incoming class.
In addition to scholarship (academics), the program emphasizes leadership and services (community services and outreach programs). For instance, about 25% of the student government positions are held by University Scholars.
It was very clear that the program tries to build a sense of community among its students. It has a student mentoring program (PAL?) for incoming freshmen, There are social events and service events to further enhance the sense of community and comradery. This was evident when we personally spoke to the current University Scholars students that were present. There was constant informal mentoring going on among the students in the program. We really got the sense that “it feels like a family”.
Special one-on-one advising was highlighted. Dedicated advisors to the program help navigate students through the maze and bureaucracy at SBU. Essentially, many develop a special, close relationship with their advisors.
The program also serves as a conduit for the students to have access to faculty and be involved in their research. Freshmen get to know as many faculty members immediately early in their first year. There is a special faculty panel event for the students in the program. Obviously, this is very important for any student, especially in STEM.
Priority registration. As some already know, students in the program get to register for classes 3 days earlier before others. This is a big deal, obviously.
One thing I did notice is that a good majority of the students in the program are pre-med (no surprise given SBU’s strong pre-med student population). One current senior in the program commented that it seems like 75% of his University Scholars class started as pre-med. The panel of 9 students were all pre-med except for 2 (a journalism major and a business major). A lot of the programs, events, advising and mentoring seem to be tailored made for pre-meds. If you are a pre-med, the Univesity Scholars program will help you so much. I did get a sense that engineering majors make up about a third of the program. Our DS is an engineering major.
Obviously, we really like the University Scholars program, and its benefits help students get the most out of SBU: priority registration, one-on-one advising, access to faculty and be involved in their research and strong mentoring program among high achieving students.
Hope this was helpful for those who couldn’t attend.