SEAS students win awards

Two students in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Izaak Beekman and Nathan Green, recently received Goldwater and Fulbright scholarships, respectively.

Beekman, a junior studying mechanical engineering, has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, which promotes excellence in science and mathematics. This year, 323 scholarships were awarded from a pool of 1,081 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities from across the country.

Green, a master’s candidate studying computer science, was selected as a winner of a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Iceland in the upcoming year. Annually, the Fulbright Scholarship Program, which was founded in 1946, sends 800 scholars to 140 countries around the globe.

-Lizzie Wozobski

Applications slightly down

There was a 1 percent decrease this year in the number of undergraduate applications. That percentage calculates to about 200 fewer applications. GW admitted about 7,000 students, which officials believe will translate into about 2,350 rising freshmen.

“The academic quality of the applicant pool is similar to last year,” said Kathryn Napper, director of Undergraduate Admissions, in an e-mail.

This is the second year in a row that the application pool has decreased. In a February Hatchet article, Napper attributed the decrease to self-selection among prospective students, who are less likely to apply if they think they will be denied admission.

In 2005, the University received 19,500 applications, while in 2004 GW received a record 22,000 applications for admission.

With an applicant pool of 19,250, GW will have an admissions rate of 36 percent; the admissions rate last year was 37 percent. GW may end up accepting 37 percent of the applicants if names are removed from the waitlist, Napper said.

Of the 19,250 applicants, 1,000 applied in the first round of early decision, and 350 were accepted; 650 applied in the second round, and 350 were accepted. Of the 17,600 regular decision applicants, 6,050 were accepted.

When broken down by specific GW colleges, the number of applications rose for every college except for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

-Leah Carliner