King's Academy, May 26, 2010—Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Williams, Georgetown, University of Virginia, Wellesley, Johns Hopkins...King's Academy proudly presents just a few of the world's top universities to which its first graduating class of seniors has gained admission.
With 99 percent of the Class of 2010 admitted into colleges and universities, King's seniors have received acceptances at 165 institutions, of which over 50 are Ivy League or top tier universities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
In what is considered to be one of the most competitive years in US college application history, during which top American universities received tens of thousands of applications, the results of the King's Class of 2010 gain even more significance.
"Needless to say, I am delighted with the results our seniors have achieved," said Headmaster Dr. Eric Widmer. "Their hard work has been rewarded. The excellent preparation that they have received from King's Academy and the support and guidance that has been given to them over the past two years from the University Counseling Office has clearly been recognized in the world of higher education."
Of the 83 graduates, so far 14 have elected to go to universities in the Middle East (including the American University in Cairo, the American University in Beirut, NYU Abu Dhabi, Lebanese American University and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service—Qatar), 10 to the United Kingdom (including Imperial College, SOAS, UCL, Warwick and Edinburgh), nine to Canada (including the University of Toronto, McGill, Waterloo, Carleton, York, Queen's and Concordia) and the rest to the United States.
Not only were the King's seniors accepted into the finest colleges and universities, they were also granted over 1.8 million dollars in financial awards for the first year alone, a whopping figure by any standard, but particularly when recipients are international students.
Of those awards, 20 are full financial aid packages—"a full ride for four years, in some cases including travel expenses," as University Counseling Director Hala Salah explained.
"If this isn't an endorsement of our students, their success and what King's has to offer in terms of a first class education and support system I don't know what is," said Chairman of the Board of Trustees Professor Safwan M. Masri.
In addition to all the financial awards received by the members of the Class of 2010, various students have also been recognized by universities and foundations through academic and other types of awards.
Three students received Middle East Partnership (MEPI) Awards, which are student scholarships granted to "future community and business leaders." These US State Department scholarships cover four years of tuition, room and board, travel expenses and monthly allowances to be used by students admitted into the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanese American University (LAU) or American University in Cairo (AUC).
Other awards and recognitions granted to King's Academy seniors include:
- Bentley's Tomorrow25 Leader Award (two consecutive years)
- Jefferson Scholar Finalist
- Book awards from Brandeis, Harvard, Vanderbilt & DePauw universities
- Clarkson International Leader Award
- Clarkson International Achievement Award
- Rensselaer Medalist
In related news, King's junior Sterling Beecroft received a score of over 201 points on the Index Selection score indicator on the PSAT. As Beecroft is a US citizen, his score has qualified him to enter the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program. He is among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants out of some 1.5 million program entrants.
Of the more than 50,000 National Merit Scholars, the top 16,000 highest scorers will be named National Merit Program Semifinalists and the remaining 34,000 will be commended for their outstanding achievement.
"This is a real honor—I've only seen one or two commended National Merit Scholars in the past," said Salah.
Click to see a more comprehensive list of colleges and universities to which members of the Class of 2010 have been accepted.