FLINT - Sydnee Adams, 17, of Swartz Creek was thrilled to be offered a $6,000 scholarship at the University of Michigan-Flint, with a chance to win a full ride.

Even more thrilled was her father, Joe Adams, an electrician for General Motors.

“That’s my girl,” he said, smiling at Sydnee, a senior at Swartz Creek High School.

They and Sydnee’s mother, Vicki, a dental hygenist, spent Saturday at UM-Flint with 49 other high school seniors - and their parents - who were hand-picked to participate in the university’s’s first scholarship competition.

Based on ACT scores and grade-point averages, each student, from Genesee County and beyond, was guaranteed a $6,000 scholarship over four years and entry into the school’s honors program.

Depending on essays they turned in and group interviews with college officials Saturday, they could receive more money - even a full-tuition scholarship worth about $27,000.

They won’t find out exactly how much they won until later, but Sydnee has already made up her mind about where she’ll be matriculating.

“This is going to be my school next year. I’m very excited,” said Sydnee, who hopes to work in human resources management.

The students and their families spent the day being treated to breakfast and lunch, touring the campus by bus and learning more about UM-Flint from professors and students.

The idea behind the event was to recruit high-performing seniors who may be struggling to finance their college education, said UM-Flint Provost Jack Kay.

“We’re looking at the whole prospect of students affording to come to college,” he said.

“We know so many students don’t get the big scholarships. The ones we invited are not the 4.0s, but they’re still very bright and their parents’ income might be too high for financial aid.”

Melissa McDevitt, 18, a senior at Goodrich High School, received word of her scholarship through the mail.

“I was shocked,” she said. “No one else is offering any scholarships.”

Though she has applied at other colleges, Melissa is giving UM-Flint serious consideration.

“It’s close to home, and it’s more in my price range,” she said, adding that she was impressed by what she and her parents, Douglas and Susan McDevitt, saw Saturday.

What if she’s offered a full ride?

“Then I definitely would come here,” Melissa said.

Source: www.mlive.com

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 12:17 am and is filed under Education News, Scholarship. Tags: College, Education News, Financial Aid, Scholarship, Student, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.