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Medallion Scholarship competition draws top students

Jan. 21, 2010

KALAMAZOO--Nearly 800 of the brightest high school seniors from Michigan and around the country will gather at Western Michigan University from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, for the 27th annual Medallion Scholarship Competition.

The competition is one of the biggest events of its kind in Michigan. Since it began in 1984, about $87 million in four-year scholarships has been offered to more than 14,000 students. Medallion Scholarships alone have been given to 420 students, including 15 students in 2009, amounting to nearly $8 million.

Each competing senior will receive a one-time Dean's Scholarship worth $3,000. In addition, competitors will be able to vie for Medallion Scholarships worth $40,000 over four years. The awards will be offered by March 1 and are for students planning to attend WMU this coming fall.

This year, Medallion Scholarship Competition participants who do not receive the full 2010 Medallion Scholarship also will receive a one-time $4,000 Housing Award. To be eligible for this new award, students must live in a WMU residence hall both their first and second years. The award will offset their second-year residence hall costs.

Only the top members of this year's high school graduating classes are invited to attend the Medallion Scholarship Competition. To be invited, students needed to have a 3.70 grade point average by the end of their junior year, earn an ACT composite of 26 or an SAT math and verbal score of 1170, and apply to WMU by Dec. 4, 2009.

On competition day, the students' performance will be measured through essay writing and a group problem-solving activity. The top 35 competitors will be invited back to campus to interview for full Medallion Scholarships in February. A committee will then select the 2010 Medallion recipients based on their performances in the competition and interview.

Registration

Student and parent registration for the Medallion Scholarship Competition will take place from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. in the first floor lobby of the Bernhard Center.

Agenda

At 9:15 a.m., the Medallion competitors' parents will gather in the center's East Ballroom for welcoming remarks by WMU President John M. Dunn. Simultaneously, the students will be escorted from the Bernhard Center to their essay-writing locations to begin the competition.

In addition to the essay-writing and group problem-solving activities, students participating in the competition will attend an Academic Showcase featuring faculty members from a wide variety of University departments. They also will attend a discussion presented by a panel composed of current Medallion Scholarship recipients and representatives of the Lee Honors College.

The parent agenda will include informational sessions on financial aid, housing and dining services, study abroad, and parent and family programs, as well as a panel discussion with current scholarship recipients.

For more information about the competition, visit wmich.edu/medallion or contact Carolyn Smith at carolyn.smith@wmich.edu.

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Media contact: Jeanne Baron, (269) 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/news