By Fiona McAllister | 2/21/25 3:37pm
As Scholarship Weekend, also known as Fellows Weekend, approaches Elon University has scheduled two separate weekends for potential fellows to come. The first Fellows Weekend will be Feb. 21 to 22 and the following is March 7 to 8.
Changes made to the fellows and honors application process this year resulted in double the number of applications to the programs, according to a statement to Elon News Network from Vice President for Enrollment Greg Zaiser. The changes made to the process resulted in having a separate application available in the Acorn Account after a student applied, making it available in the freshman application. New this year, the Fellows applications were embedded in the Common Application where students submit their general college applications. Zaiser wrote that with the help of faculty directors, they standardized the essay prompt across programs. This year, 6,217 people applied — compared to the 3,070 applicants from last year, according to Zaiser.
“We know that a very high percentage of students who attend what has historically been called Fellows Weekend choose Elon,” Zaiser wrote. “So, with the support of the Provost’s office, we wanted to offer two weekends to 1) allow more people the opportunity to learn in-depth information about the academic opportunities and 2) ease the stress on facilities capacity, etc. In short, two weekends will allow more people to experience all Elon offers in an engaging, enjoyable way.”
Leadership Fellows and Honors Fellows are the only two programs holding interviews for both weekends, Tierza Watts, director of the Center for Leadership and Leadership Fellows program, said.
Zaiser wrote that Elon Admissions is expecting to see over 400 students and 1,000 people visiting in just the first weekend. The deadline to register for the second Scholarship Weekend has not yet closed, but at this time there are still over 400 students and around 1,200 people registered. This does not account for those who plan to interview virtually. Preparations for the 2025 Scholarship Weekend began a year ago.
“We anticipated growth in apps and, for some time, had been wondering if two weekends would serve students and families better,” Zaiser wrote.
Watts said that the fellows application process being changed this year, through the Common Application, made it easier for students to find — leading to more applications.
After going through hundreds of applications, Watts said the committee invited back around 300 students, 106 of which accepted the invitation for Scholarship Weekend under the Leadership Fellows program. As of Feb. 18, there are 36 candidates coming for the first weekend and 67 registered for the next weekend. Watts said that the deadline for the second weekend has not closed and the number of candidates for the second weekend could still grow.
One aspect of Scholarship Weekend is interviews for applicants. Watts said she does not conduct the interviews herself, but she helps to assist juniors, seniors and faculty members who interview applicants. The weekend also includes a simulation activity, where she trains students to watch applicants doing a case study group activity.
As for other activities this weekend, Watts said there is also a reception event allowing for social interaction. Followed by the reception is the parent overview, ending the three step Scholarship Weekend process, specifically for the Leadership Fellows Program.
“The stressful thing is figuring it out, because we use all of our students to work some part of the program, and I think the other programs don’t function that way,” Watts said.
Watts said when going through applications, she looks for students who are involved in their high school in many aspects.
“The leadership program is specifically looking for students who demonstrate potential for involvement and engaging in their communities,” Watts said.
Olivia Berger contributed to the reporting of this story.
All Elon University campus account access is disabled following an outage Feb. 21. Due to the disabled account access students cannot access their Ontrack, Moodle, email and other services that require them to log in with their Elon account. According to an E-Alert sent out at 10:07 p.m., Elon University Information Technology Services is aware of and working to resolve campus account access issues. Elon IT is closed and did not respond to Elon News Network’s immediate request for comment.
Elon Baseball experienced a challenging game against Binghamton, displaying moments of brilliance but ultimately falling short. A ninth inning rally by Binghamton resulted in an 8-4 defeat for the Phoenix. Looking forward, head coach Mike Kennedy expressed confidence in the team for the rest of the series against Binghamton. “Nothing different, we try to be ourselves, take care of ourselves and be ready to go each time we go out there, there won’t be an overhaul of the game plan by any means,” Kennedy said. The Phoenix continue its battle with Binghamton at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at Latham Park.
