Class of 2011 Arrives at Westmont
ORIENTATION BEGINS THURSDAY FOR TALENTED CLASS OF STUDENTS
The 388 members of the incoming class of 2011 will begin arriving at Westmont this week. They belong to one of the strongest academic classes in the college’s 70-year history.
“This is another fine, diverse, talented group of students who will contribute a great deal to Westmont and the community,” says Joyce Luy, dean of admissions. “For 91 percent of them, Westmont was their first choice.”
Westmont also welcomes 56 transfer students from 23 California community colleges and such four-year colleges and universities as Vanderbilt, U.S. Military Academy, Vassar and Bucknell.
Orientation programs begin Thursday, Aug. 23, and run through Sunday, Aug. 26. The first day of classes is Monday, Aug. 27.
The freshman class arrives with an impressive overall academic GPA of 3.8 and an average SAT score of 1200. Nearly two-thirds (250 students) have earned academic merit scholarships ranging from $7,000 to full tuition.
Hannah Cochran of West Linn, Ore. is one of three first-year students who earned full-tuition Monroe Scholarships. The political science major says she took advantage of every opportunity in high school.
“I took every honors and AP class that I could and worked equally hard outside of school,” she says. “I was first-chair flute in the band and orchestra, played tenor sax in jazz band, coordinated Grace Notes Music Program at the local nursing home and competed on the school’s mock trial team as a student attorney. We won the state competition and advanced to nationals.”
The other Monroe scholars are Bradley Pearson, a possible math major from Temecula, and Felix Huang, a talented musician from Arcadia. The average academic profile of the Monroe scholars is a 4.52 GPA with honors and a 1500 SAT score.
Westmont continues to make gains in diversity. There are 97 students of color, a quarter of the freshman class.
First-year students come from all over the world, including 21 states and three foreign countries. Four new international students join Westmont from Korea, Venezuela and two from Kenya. Seventy percent of the class of 2011 is from California, including 49 first-year students from the Tri-County area.