stentorian
voL XXVII, issue 5
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics
UNC-CH Jackson Hall Undergraduate Admissions fills with prospective students and thdi^^nt^Mi^^
to tour the campus.
Rejected, waitlisted
Students, staff shocked by UNC-CH admissions ’
decisions, new impressions on quality of NCSSM
By Amy Bryson
While 100 percent of students fix)m NCSSM
are admitted into a University of North Carolina
system school, this year many rejections and
waitlists into UNC-CH caught counselors,
parents and students off guard.
“At first I was really just shocked,” senior
Scott Ouzts said. “I could have seen myself
possibly getting waitlisted but never rejected.
Then I heard of all the names of the people who
didn’t get in either.”
Gail Hudson, dean of counseling services,
said this reality is being faced across the state
and nation. «
“There has been an increase in quantity
and an increase of quality of
[applicants]. This is a trend
nationally, especially in
North Carolina. Here we have
the same problem in which
students who would have been
accepted to NCSSM in the past
have not been.”
Hudson said that UNC-
CH admissions” measure
of applicants is based on
academic rigor, grades and
standardized test scores. However, many believe
that admissions overlooked the quality of an,
NCSSM education.
“I think that anyone who can come here for
two years and make it through without any really
horrible academic problems deserves to get into
UNC,” PCC Angela Sarnie said. “I understood
that colleges everywhere were more competitive
this year, but 1 came from a Wake County school
where there are a lot of AP courses available
and usually pretty good teachers, and I still feel
that this school is at a much higher caliber. 1
don’t know how heavily UNC weighed that this
year.”
Senior Casey Putnam, who was waitlisted, is
confused by her admission decision.
“I’m not really sure why I didn’t get in. I
took all topics classes and made all As and Bs,”
Putnam said. “I think I’m just fhistrated with
Science and Math. I think when we applied here
we were under the impression if we took topics
and made all As and Bs we were guaranteed a spot
at UNC and that was not the case this year. If I
knew this was going to happen I would have gone
home.”
As feelings of fhistration, shock and anger fill
students and spread across campus, counselors’
doors are open and their team is working to
prepare for the future. Counseling is encouraging
students who were waitlisted to write letters to
UNC admissions, gain more recommendation
letters, re-take the SAT and create an additional
honors and activities list. Hudson also said that
students who were denied “have every opportunity
to appeal.”
“The main thing we are
focusing on is providing
hope and to give students a
plan,” Hudson said. “In the
future we want to do a better
job of having students tour
NC State, ECU, UNC-G
and NC A&T.”
Junior EJ Simpson feels
that the rejections and
waitlistings have sent a
message to the junior class and future applicants
to NCSSM.
“Juniors have seen what has happened and they
have considered this and are working harder and
more efficiently to get into UNC,” he said. “I think
this shows that this school is overrated and it’s not
weighing as much as it used to competitively.”
While approximately 201 students from
NCSSM have currently been aecepted to UNC-
CH, the number of students who were not accepted
has caused an ill-feeling towards NCSSM.
“If I would give any sophomore a piece of
advice I would tell them not to come,” Sarnie
said. “You miss out on too much, you stress out
too much. This school takes years off of your life
and now you might not even get into UNC.”
* Specific admission statistics will be released in
May and reported in the next issue of The Stentorian.
44
If I knew this was going
to happen, I would have
gone home.
- senior Casey Putnam ^
april 2007
stentorian@ncssm.edu
Fabrication lab
to be added
By Whitney Baker
Alumni have raised $350,000 for the constniction
of a fabrication lab on campus. Speculation about the
location of the fabrication lab has recently focused on
the Assembly Hall and Hunt Classroom.
The alumni who presented the fund specifically stated
its purpose as being for the constmction of a fabrication
lab.
“They would like to see students have more
experience with hands-on learning,” Chancellor Gerald
Boatman said.
This year marked the beginning of the engineering
program at NCSSM. Many students have already taken
advantage of the new course offering. Principles of
Engineering, in addition to such older classes as robotics.
The engineering class in particular emphasizes first-hand
application of math and science to solve problems.
Even with the resources provided by the Ground
Reynolds Lab, engineering classes are limited by a lack
of space and equipment.
“We don’t have the machinery we need,” said senior
Jennifer Peeler, who is involved with the robotics team.
The question of where the fabrication lab will be built
is still on the table. Many lean away from the Assembly
Hall because of student use and other limitations, but
the possibility has been highlighted. Another possibility
would place the fabrication lab within the yet-to-be-
built Discovery Center.
The fabrication lab would essentially provide four
different services, according to engineering instructor
Paul Menchini: a wood shop, a metal shop, a plastic
forming lab and a 3-D printer that would enable stuHenfc
to make certain visions a reality. For classes like
engineering, in which students are given problems and
must build solutions, the fabrication lab would provide
a resource.
“Without such a facility, you can’t do certain types of
learning,” Menchini said.
Many students are enthusiastic abouttheopportunities
such a facility would present.
' “A fabrication lab is a great idea, and should be
incorporated into the plans of the Discovery Center,”
junior Austin Page said. “It would offer 'a place for
students to go to build just about anything.”
Others, however, have had mixed reacticHis to the
news.
“I know if there had been a metalworking course this
year, I would have definitely signed up for it,” senior
Kathleen Hebert said. “However, if it was at the cost of
the Chiba [or Assembly Hall], I would have been far less
enthusiastic.”
Both the fabrication lab and Discovery Center are
in pre-plaruiing stages. The decision about where to
put the fabrication lab will not be made until funding
is finalized.
Photo by Lu)« Zapata
Students gather in the Assembly Hall for
Koffeehaus on Friday, March 16. Koffeehaus is one
of the many uses of the Assembly Hall
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2007 Releases
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