The applicants aren’t the only ones competing Fellows Weekend.

While Fellows Weekend provides Elon faculty with the opportunity to assess perspective students, the weekend also enables the faculty and current students to impress fellows applicants.

This year’s annual Fellows Weekend hosted the largest number of potential fellows students in the university’s history. For the 2012-2013 academic year, a total of 1,634 perspective students applied to the seven fellows programs, and 602 were invited back this weekend, 10 percent more than last year.

Scott Buechler, interim dean of the School of Business, said that of the 90 Business Fellows who were invited to come this weekend, 90 percent are already committed.

Students were invited to campus on Fellows Weekend March 2-3 to compete for various Fellows programs. Photo by Gloria So, staff photographer.

“We are looking for students with intellectual curiosity and leadership potential” said Buechler.

While those in the program certainly value the quality of each individual, the number of applicants alone indicates the amount of growth the program experienced, Buechler said.

Every year, Elon hosts a weekend for potential fellows who are interviewing and applying for one of 205 spots in the program. The weekend begins with information sessions about the five Elon experiences, campus tours and program receptions and ends with 20-minute interviews for each prospective student and a panel of Fellows alumni.

This year yielded the highest number of applicants and the highest GPA and grade averages, according to Greg Zaiser, the co-chair of the fellows committee.

“We are looking for students with passion, real interest, the ability to articulate and an awareness for the world around them,” he said.

The average GPA of the applicants this year is 4.5, and the average SAT scores is 1250, the highest it has ever been.

Naeemah Clark, director of the communication fellows and chair of the fellows committee, organizes the communications fellows events and said she had high expectations for the weekend’s perspective students.

“We want excellence, and the students give us excellence” she said. “There is a better pool of applicants this year of students with higher GPAs and impressive work.”

In addition to a welcoming reception and mixer for the students, Clark planned a panel of seven communications students and two faculty members, followed by one-on-one interviews.

Spots Available: 205 in the 7 Fellows programs
1,634 applicants to the Fellows program.
Invitations: 602 sent to Fellows program candidates.

Information courtesy of Greg Zaiser

“We are looking for students with a serious interest in Communications as their career path, who are passionate, have good writing skills, is a good communicator and is willing to take chances,” Clark said.

Michael Carginan, assistant director of the honors program, said more than 1,000 students applied to be an honors fellow, and 302 of those students have been invited back, which like the total number of fellows applicants, is 10 percent more than previous years.

“I am always impressed with how many students want to get in the fellows program,” he said. “It seems to get bigger every year.”

Carginan said that during his past 10 years as assistant director he has observed that even those students who do not make it into program generally come to Elon anyway after attending fellows weekend.

“The students come to fellows weekend scared, but leave having had a good experience,” Zaiser said.