Plano East Senior High School, Dallas
Vedika Agrawal from Plano East Senior High School was selected.
The entering cohort was chosen from nearly 1,200 applicants from high schools in 30 states and five countries. Fifty-eight applicants were invited to the annual selection weekend, from which the final 21 students were chosen.
The incoming class of 2013 will include eight students from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Ten others are from out of state, and one is from Romania. Collectively, this group has an average two-part SAT score of 1520. Eighteen of the 21 are National Merit Scholars, five were high school valedictorians, and two were Presidential Scholar nominees.
“UT Dallas and the McDermott Scholars Program have again proved their ability to attract some of the nation’s best and brightest students,” said Molly Seeligson, director of the McDermott Program. “I am so pleased that our institution and program will have the opportunity to benefit from the contributions of these remarkable young people while we help them to realize their potential.”
As McDermott Scholars, the students will have educational expenses covered for the next four years and will participate in a wide variety of cultural and educational enrichment experiences in the Dallas area and beyond.
Vedika Agrawal is a National Merit Scholar, an AP Scholar with distinction, and was ranked fifth in her class. Agrawal is a dancer in the Indian classical style of Kathak, and has organized and emceed dance productions for her school. She was president of the Junior World Affairs Council, vice president of Math Club, and a member of Spanish Club, Health Occupation Students of America and the National Art Honor Society.
Agrawal is also a painter. She has worked on her school’s mural and with school children through afterschool art classes. She speaks Hindi and is learning Spanish.
Vedika will major in molecular biology at UT Dallas
