Penn students shut out of Rhodes Scholarship award

No Penn seniors were among the 32 winners of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship this year, the results of which were announced Nov. 20.

Chosen from a highly competitive pool of 904 applicants from 341 American colleges and universities, the 2005 Rhodes Scholarship winners will be given a scholarship to continue academic study at Oxford University in England.

Last year, College senior David Ferreira won a Rhodes Scholarship, considered the top collegiate academic award.

Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Director Art Casciato said he is not discouraged by this year's Rhodes results.

"It's hard for us to look at this year as anything but highly successful," Casciato said. "In the five years since CURF was established, we have won two Rhodes Scholarships and four Marshall Scholarships."

The Marshall Scholarship is granted to at least 40 students nationally and awards two paid years of graduate study at any British college or university.

This year's Rhodes winners include six students from Harvard University, three from the U.S. Naval Academy and two each from the University of Virginia, the University of Chicago, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Penn is certainly not alone this year in not winning any Rhodes Scholarships. Aside from Harvard and Yale, no members of the Ivy League had any students among the 2005 winners.

Since its creation, CURF has helped students with the application process, which includes personal statements, lists of activities, a copy of the student's transcript and multiple interviews and recommendations.

The number of Penn students applying for Rhodes Scholarships has increased since CURF was created, according to Casciato. Before CURF, six to 10 students applied each year, compared to the high of 41 three years ago.

Common application numbers range from the high 20s to the low 30s, which puts Penn on the same level as Princeton University, among others. Harvard has long been known to dominate the Rhodes Scholarship.

"We believe that the more applicants we have, the more awards we will win," Casciato said. "It turns out that that has been the case."

Since the creation of the Rhodes Scholarship in 1902, 3,046 American men and women have been awarded scholarships.

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