How to Get In
Good grades and top test scores certainly help with the admissions process. But it doesn’t hurt to have a good story to tell, either. They record albums and sing in all-girl punk-rock bands. They write brilliant and moving essays about accepting one’s flaws. They study in Turkey and China and live in national parks in the name of research. They strategize about surviving a zombie apocalypse. They graduate near the top of their class while working on an organic farm. They’re passionate, funny, smart and giving, and they’re just a few of the 781 students who make up the St. Edward’s University class of 2015. And more of these students will have a longer trek to get to campus than in any previous class in university history: More than 14 percent of the class hails from states other than Texas, and around 5 percent comes from outside the United States. Here are just a handful of students who make up this year’s freshman class — showing that grades and test scores do matter, but who you are outside the classroom counts, too. • Charles Jerome Averill ’15, from Laredo, is already a published photographer. He spent the summer before college interning as a photographer and project coordinator for Cream City Magazine, a lifestyle magazine in Laredo.
At hle t ics U p date Women’s Golf: After only eight years of fielding a team, the St. Edward’s University women’s golf team made its first appearance in the NCAA Division II women’s championships and came away with a fifth-place finish, capping off a superb season with its sixthstraight Heartland Conference title. Wallis Spears ’13 was named the conference’s Player of the Year and earned second-team all-America honors. “I am absolutely ecstatic at what we achieved this season,” says coach Jennifer McNeil, who was named the National Golf Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year. “What we achieved was what I knew we were capable of doing, but it’s still a dream come true.”
• Jana ’15 and Cullen ’15 Soares completed quite the coup with their freshman applications: The twins, from Suffern, N.Y., each received the university’s prestigious Holy Cross Scholarship. In addition to graduating near the top of their class, they’ve served as Youth Corps volunteers for the local ambulance corps and spent a month in Japan as part of a foreign-exchange program. • Taylor Francis ’15 isn’t one to sit back and watch kids get picked on. Francis, who grew up in New Braunfels and moved to San Antonio for high school, served as a copy editor for a book called Love > Hate about bullying for an independent study mentorship.
Men’s Tennis: The Hilltopper men’s tennis team won the Heartland Conference championship and qualified for the NCAA National Tournament for the fifth time in the past six years. They also advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second-straight year and third time in school history.
• Lydia Payne ’15 is an American citizen — with Texas roots — but she hasn’t spent much time on U.S. soil. The freshman grew up in Spain, where her parents are both teachers for Department of Defense schools. Payne has also studied abroad in Turkey.
Men’s Golf: The Hilltopper men’s golf team qualified for the NCAA Regional Tournament for the eighth-straight season.
The class of 2015 finds its place on the Hilltop during summer orientation.
Rebecca Marino ’10
Battle of the Saints: Hilltopper Athletics won the first-ever “Battle of the Saints” competition that pits St. Edward’s against longtime rival St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in 11 sports throughout the year. The Hilltoppers downed the Rattlers 6–5. 5
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