Class of 2008 Brings Talent, Diversity
Members of the Feinberg School’s Class of 2008 offer a diverse portfolio of achievements and experiences—from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to receiving a National Science Foundation fellowship.
This year the Office of Admissions received 5,883 applications for the entering class (down slightly from 5,957 in 2003). The 172-member entering class, which consists of 95 men and 77 women, includes 50 students in the combined baccalaureate/MD degree Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), 11 students in the MD/PhD degree Medical Scientist Training Program, and 26 students from populations underrepresented in medicine. Ranging in age from 19 to 30 years old, the students represent 62 undergraduate schools with several from the University of California at Berkeley and at Los Angeles, Duke University, Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis. Northwestern students make up 34 percent (59 students) of the incoming class.
Incoming students (excluding those entering through HPME) had a mean college grade point average of 3.7 and an average Medical College Admission Test score of 11.1, up from 10.7 last year. Based on these standards, this makes the Class of 2008 the most talented group of medical students ever to matriculate at Northwestern.
The class includes a tennis pro, a kung fu master, and a television pilot creator as well as several professional musicians and marathon runners from San Diego to Chicago. One student served as executive assistant to a United States senator’s chief of staff in Washington. Two can lay claim to impressive feats of endurance, with one student climbing the 19,341-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and another completing the Appalachian Trail walk, traveling through 14 states from Georgia to Maine and climbing 471,151 feet in six months.
Students volunteered with a variety of goodwill organizations including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Peace Corps, and Teach for America. Others completed internships or volunteer work in France, Guatemala, Peru, and Nepal, and two interned at the World Health Organization, one in New Delhi, India, and the other in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, five students had papers published in medical journals. One student has earned a juris doctor degree, and 10 students hold master’s degrees.
Entering students have received many awards and honors including membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Golden Key National Honor Society, and recognition societies pertaining to economics, psychology, and philosophy. Some have distinguished themselves with the Howard Hughes Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation Fellowship, and National Institutes of Health Research Fellowship.