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Second-generation Appalachian students |
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Tuesday, 23 January 2007 |
Alumni influence kin to follow in their footsteps
by LILLIAN HOGAN
News Editor
College students who choose the same colleges as their parent, also known as “legacy students,” are often recruited and rewarded for their lineage at universities.
For example, North Carolina State University offers children with two
N.C. State-graduated parents a full scholarship if they maintain a
certain grade point average in high school.
 Active Image | Special to The Appalachian
Laura Harris (l), a legacy student, and her friends Becky Fain (c) and Sara Council (r) enjoy the Homecoming football game this past fall season.
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How does Appalachian State University support its students who have alumni parents?
Assistant Director for Admissions Morgann C. Greene said while there is
a scholarship specifically for legacy students, being the child of an
Appalachian alumnus “holds no weight in the admissions process.”
For the incoming fall 2007 freshman class, 695 legacy students have applied and 440 have been accepted, Greene said.
The number of legacy students applying to Appalachian is likely higher because it is a self-reporting system, she said.
The Alumni Memorial Scholarship, a $2,000 yearly renewable endowed award, is given each year to children of alumni.
For the 2006-07 school year, there were five recipients of the scholarship.
Courtney M. Stiles, a freshman from Thomasville, was one of the student
recipients thanks to her mother Sonya Stiles, who completed her
master’s degree at Appalachian.
Stiles said her mother encouraged her to attend Appalachian, “but at
the beginning of my college search, I didn’t think I would end up
here,” she said.
After applying to four private schools and visiting University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, University of North Carolina at Asheville and
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Stiles said “Appalachian
was the only school that I liked.”
On Appalachian’s orientation weekend, Stiles said her mother got
sentimental and “almost started crying – she had a feeling [that
Appalachian was a good fit].
“Appalachian was at the bottom of my list. Then after a really strange
turn of events, I realized I didn’t fit in at other schools, my list
got flipped upside down and, in the end, Appalachian was the only
school I could stand,” she said.
Another recipient of the alumni scholarship, freshman Laura E. Harris,
said her parents, Mark Harris (class of 1987) and Elizabeth B. Harris
(class of 1985), met at Appalachian in a university-organized signing
group called Dedications.
“My mom is a teacher and elementary education is my major so she
encouraged me to attend Appalachian because of their good program,”
Harris said.
Tammy M. McCullars, an Alumni Center staff member and supervisor of the
Alumni Memorial Scholarship, said alumni are encouraged to send their
children to Appalachian when they learn about the scholarship.
In order for a student to qualify for the scholarship, they must have
at least one parent, or stepparent, who graduated from Appalachian,
McCullars said.
However, the scholarship is highly competitive and based on academic achievement, community activities and leadership potential.
Since 1988, more than 40 Alumni Memorial Scholarships have been
awarded, according to the Appalachian Alumni Association’s Web site.
Unlike other universities, Appalachian does not actively recruit legacy students.
Their recruitment “happens naturally,” Greene said, because alumni
generally have had a good experience in college and want their children
to go to Appalachian.
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