Congratulations, Class of 2022!

Tarrier seniors finish strong despite unpredictable times

By Katie Ryan,
Director of College Counseling

We are tremendously proud of our 52 graduating seniors and their demonstration of our Tarrier values of excellence, compassion, integrity, respect, and perseverance. This year’s graduating class has had to adapt to countless challenges during their high school careers, and despite an ever-changing landscape, they finished strong to achieve admission at more than 120 competitive colleges and universities.

College campuses returned to some normalcy this year, welcoming students back to residence halls and offering in-person instruction as the primary modality. In contrast, the college admissions process in the U.S. has been in a state of flux, with long-held practices being challenged or altered from both inside and outside the profession. Test-optional and test-free admissions policies continued at most institutions this year, and many announced that these policies would continue for several more years or permanently. Amidst this atmosphere of change, one constant was the continuation of record-high applicant pools and record-low admit rates at the nation’s most selective institutions.

Even in this challenging and unpredictable year, at the end of the process, each Charles Wright Academy senior had several college options from which to choose and will matriculate to a four-year institution that is a good match for their interests and goals. In fact, 52% of the Class of 2022 will matriculate to colleges that are in Barron’s “Most Competitive” category.

Some notable individual achievements:

• Alie M., a dynamic student government leader, will attend Loyola University of Chicago as part of the Gannon Scholars Leadership Program with a substantial merit scholarship. From 900 applicants to this prestigious program, 40 were invited to campus for interviews, and 10 were selected.

• Martin P., a high-achieving student and founder of the “Tarriers of Wall Street” club, was named a Presidential Scholar at University of Southern California. He will attend the Marshall School of Business on a half-tuition scholarship and, as part of this select group of students, will enjoy benefits such as honors housing.

• Mars Y., a talented musician whose original compositions impressed the CWA community at several concerts this year, will attend Carnegie Mellon’s prestigious school of music.

• Golfer Emersyn W., one of our “Most Outstanding Athletes” this year and State Champion for a second time, will compete at the NCAA D1 level at University of North Dakota.

• Andy N., a multi-talented student and one of our three National Merit Finalists, was named a National Merit Scholar and will receive a scholarship to attend University of Pennsylvania.

Congratulations to all of our seniors! We know this is just the beginning for a talented class of thinkers, innovators, collaborators, communicators, explorers, and stewards.