OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

The details of the Honors Program are continuing to unfold as its inaugural semester is fast approaching. A total of 115 freshmen have committed for the initial year. They were accepted based on the criteria of leadership, scholarship and potential as demonstrated in their applications. Honors students will live together in Howell Hall and have opportunities to foster a community outside of dorm life. We hope that these students build a close community as well as integrate into the institute.

Furthermore, a section has been added to this year's admission application for those wishing to be considered for the Honors Program and the President's Scholarship. The new optional section will require students to pick two additional essays from five choices. This addendum brings both positive and negative consequences.

A separate application is a good way for the Office of Admissions to pull more information about similar applicants and distinguish who best fits the criteria for the programs. Additional essays will allow the Office of Admissions to target students who are interested and likely to enroll in the Honors Program, thereby reducing the percentage of students who choose not accept offers.

However, some valuable applicants may be discouragedfrom filling out the optional section because of the additional effort it requires when balanced against the time required to apply to other schools of interest. In the past the President's Scholarship has been an excellent tool for drawing bright minds from a pool of open applications. The President's Scholarship program gives some semifinalists and all finalists the opportunity to come for an interview and get a sense of the Tech community which has helped attract students that otherwise might not have considered taking the visit and ultimately choosing Tech over other institutions. Narrowing down the applicant pool may cause Tech to miss some of these students.

Additionally, the optional section being used for both the Honors Program and President's Scholarship limits the possibility of looking at distinct attributes for the respective programs because information is being drawn from the same questions.

Moreover, with so few students in this year's Honors Program, Tech must make sure they uphold their commitment to theses students and the program's future by providing diverse honor class opportunities through graduation. Tech must honor its strong tradition in engineering and science by challenging the incoming honor students in these fields as well as liberal arts classes.