Five members of the Hathaway Brown Class of 2016 are among the candidates under consideration for the 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholars program. Kavya Ravichandran, Kelsey Rich, Aarathi Sahadevan, and Nitya Thakore have been selected as nominees for their outstanding academic achievement, and Isabella Nilsson has been nominated based on her accomplishments in creative writing. Participation in this program is by invitation only. Students do not apply individually to the program, nor do their schools nominate them. Kavya, Kelsey, Aarathi, and Nitya were identified for the program based on their high ACT and SAT scores, and Isabella was nominated by the National YoungArts Foundation after excelling in the organization's creative writing curriculum during National YoungArts Week, which took place in Miami in January.
These students now have the opportunity to be among a small number of American high school seniors who are named Presidential Scholars. Of the pool of roughly 4,000 candidates, approximately 800 students will be named semifinalists, at which point the U.S. Presidential Scholars Commission will further review the students' qualifications and up to 161 will be named U.S. Presidential Scholars. All Scholars are honored for their accomplishments through the National Recognition Program, held in June in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Presidential Scholars are guests of the U.S. Department of Education, and they enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation's capital to meet with government officials and educators. To commemorate the achievement, the Scholars will be greeted by the President of the United States, and they will receive special Presidential Scholars Medallions at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
The United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished students graduating from high school. The Scholars represent "excellence in education and the promise of greatness in young people."
Hathaway Brown is proud to be the alma mater of five U.S. Presidential Scholars: Alyssa Bryan '13, Laney Kuenzel '08, Amy Hollinger ’05, Caroline Campbell '98, and Genevieve Mathieson Kilmer ’96.