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Winner
of ABC TV’s “The Scholar” To Attend Pomona College in
the Fall
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Melissa Hanna, who will attend Pomona College this fall, won
the top prize on ABC Television’s primetime reality show
“The Scholar,” in its final episode on Monday night. The
teen from the Los Angeles suburb of Tarzana took home a full
scholarship -- worth up to $240,000.
The program featured ten exceptional high school students in
six episodes of competition that tested academic knowledge,
problem-solving and leadership skills before a panel of
three admissions officers. ABC promoted the program as the
first primetime show to celebrate higher education as the
ultimate American prize.
On Monday night, 140 friends and family members gathered at
the Hanna family home to watch the finale. After a drum
roll, the show's host revealed that Hanna was the winner.
"Everyone who has invested in me their time and their faith,
I hope I've made everyone proud," she said after the
announcement.
The program concluded with information on which colleges the
contestants would be attending -- including Harvard,
Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth -- culminating with
Hanna's selection of Pomona College.
In real life, Hanna and her family had been keeping the
secret about her win for months. The show was filmed over a
two-week period at USC in the winter. "You have no idea how
hard it was not to tell you guys," she said.
At one point, Hanna had to make an awkward phone call to
Pomona College's Business Office to explain that she
wouldn't be needing the aid package the college had offered.
"I said, 'I can't tell you why, but I'm not going to be
needing the money you offered me,'" Hanna recalled.
Pomona is one of only a handful of institutions in the
nation committed to need-blind admissions and meeting the
full financial need of every student accepted to the
college. This ensures that the best students can attend,
regardless of financial family income.
According to the show's Website, Hanna used a scholarship to
attend a private school in the San Fernando Valley, where
she earned a 4.2 grade point average and pursued
extra-curricular activities such as community service and
producing concerts. Getting onto the TV show may have been
more difficult than the college admissions process. After
filling out a lengthy application and submitting a video,
she went through a two-month audition process, with five
interviews and test screenings.
She enjoyed her two weeks living with the talented group of
teens in a house near the USC campus. "I think you're
finally in your element, Melissa," her mother told her as
she dropped Hanna off for the two weeks.
Hanna expects to have that same feeling as a student at
Pomona, one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. On a
trip to check out the college, as part of Pomona’s Minority
Student Action Program, "it felt so right," she said. "I
knew this was going to be a place where I fit in." Since
Hanna attended a private high school, she liked the idea of
attending a small college with caring faculty and
administrators.
She hasn't decided on a major yet, but Hanna does plan to
use her musical talents in the orchestra and jazz ensemble.
Hanna said she has been getting some flack on the show's
Internet message board for choosing a college relatively
close to home, with people suggesting she should go see the
world. "As far as I'm concerned, the world is right here in
Southern California," she said. "It doesn't get any better
here ... having all these resources."
Pomona College, founded in 1887, is located in Claremont,
CA. The high quality education it provides is marked by
small classes, close relationships between students and
faculty, a range of opportunities for student research, and
more than a hundred of events and speakers each year. For
the last two years, Princeton Review has determined Pomona’s
students to be the nation’s happiest. More information on
Pomona College can be found on the web at www.pomona.edu.
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