The McConnell Center is celebrating its 26th year with a record-high number of applicants this spring for its McConnell Scholars Program. This year’s applicant pool has jumped by 26 percent over last year and by 83 percent compared to the pool just five years ago.
“We have always had outstanding students interested in being McConnell Scholars, but now we are clearly a desired scholarship for top students for Kentuckians who were not even considering joining the University of Louisville 10 years ago” said Dr. Gary Gregg, director of the McConnell Center.
The McConnell Center has held annual scholarship interviews since 1992. Of the 30 finalists invited last weekend to interview for an intense, two-day selection process, the average ACT score was higher than 30 and the average GPA was 4.18. The pool will be narrowed to 10 students who will begin their tenure as McConnell Scholars at an August annual intellectual retreat.
Throughout the past 25 years, more than 250 McConnell Scholars have received more than $3.5 million in scholarships. Scholars take an advanced series of seminars and have access to opportunities to travel the nation and the world. Alumni have gone on to win prestigious scholarships, including numerous Fulbright and Truman awards, and have pursued prestigious law and graduate programs ranging from Oxford to Harvard and from UCLA to the University of Pennsylvania.
