Westmont Magazine Class of 2006 Strongest Ever

With 10 National Merit Scholars enrolling this fall, the class of 2006 is the strongest academically in college history.

The new National Merit Scholars bring to 30 the number on campus. In addition, 97 percent of all incoming students qualified for merit scholarships and were eligible to receive one of three Westmont scholarships based on academic excellence.

The overall grade-point average of this first-year class is 3.74, up from 3.65 in fall 2001, while the average SAT score is 1250, up from 1210 in 2001 and 1190 in 2000.

Westmont received a record number of applications for admission this year and accepted about 64 percent of those who applied. Of those accepted, about 39 percent chose to come to campus.

Some 66 percent of first-year students come from California, which is a slight increase over prior years.

Admissions Director Joyce Luy says Sept. 11 probably led fewer students to come from farther away, a phenomenon other colleges have experienced.

Even so, Westmont has more students from states that don’t typically send students, such as South Dakota, Virginia, Maine and Montana.

The college is hosting two students from Daystar University in Kenya, Africa. Under an exchange agreement, Westmont students have studied in Kenya. But this is the first time Daystar students have come to campus.

Out-reach activities to scholars and students of color have attracted a higher-caliber of student.

Westmont also offered new full-tuition scholarships to early-action applicants, the number of which increased by 62 percent. The college chose 30 finalists, nine of them diversity students, to compete for four scholarships. Two of the four recipients actually enrolled at Westmont.