Sarah Opp,

daughter of Gil and Jane Opp, is one of five recipients of this year's

James Edward Oglethorpe Scholarship as a result of her performance in

a January academic competition at Oglethorpe. This scholarship provides

tuition, room and board for four years of undergraduate study.

To qualify,

students must have a combined SAT score of at 1360 (or 31 on the ACT),

a 3.75 or higher cumulative grade point average, and a superior record

of leadership in extracurricular activities either in school or in the

community.

The JEO Scholarship

Competition, conducted Jan. 26, hosted 81 competitors from 14 states and

one foreign country. For more than a decade, the competition has brought

together an extraordinary group of talented young scholars to interact

with an exceptional core group of Oglethorpe's teaching faculty. While

the outcome of this academic competition centers around the awarding of

scholarships, participants also get an insider view of what takes place

routinely in an Oglethorpe classroom.

Twice during

the day, competitors work in small groups (usually no more than 10 students)

with two faculty members in a seminar-style exploration of a given topic.

They interact with at least four faculty members during the competition

and have a writing component evaluated by two additional faculty readers.

Competitors leave with excellent firsthand knowledge of academic instruction

at Oglethorpe, along with exceptional opportunities for funding their

college education. At the end of the day, five winners are chosen from

the top five scores (one set of scores from the morning discussion, one

from the afternoon session and the last set of scores from the writing).

The five winners

are named James Edward Oglethorpe Scholars. They each receive full tuition,

room and board scholarships worth at this time more than $100,000. The

other competitors who do well are named Presidential Scholars and receive

$11,000 per year plus consideration for additional need-based grants for

four years. The winners are notified by telephone the next day by the

director of admission and admission staff members.