Sept. 17, 2003

Class of 2007 Hits the Ground Running

By Jonathan Turner

The school year officially began with Freshman Convocation Aug. 29 at the Smith Center as the Class of 2007 was welcomed by a string of speakers including University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, University Marshal Jill Kasle and Student Association President Kristopher Hart.

This year’s class of incoming freshmen is a very talented and highly distinguished group: the average SAT scores for the Class of 2007 are 640 verbal and 640 math; 38 members of the incoming freshmen class were their school valedictorian; 153 served as class president. One out of four were in the top 5 percent of their class, and as Trachtenberg noted in his convocation address, the class represents 49 states.

The upperclassmen who served as the Welcome Week volunteers were equally impressed with the new freshmen.

“It is the best freshman class we’ve ever had academically,” said Jessica Joy Federer, junior, one of the members of this year’s Colonial Cabinet (CC). “They were more selective in accepting applications this year, which should push GW up in the rankings because we can concentrate on the best-performing students and bring our total grades up.”

Kelly Vanderzell, senior, and CC member, also praised the new class, describing it as among the most accomplished in GW’s history.

Many of the freshmen on move-in day gave their reasons for choosing GW.

Dave Simning of Orange County, CA, said GW scholarships were a major reason for selecting the school. “I got a full scholarship here for ROTC. I always planned on going to the Naval Academy, but out of curiosity I checked out GW.”

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