Maggie Love, of Chicago, Ill. was rehearsing for the musical “Kiss Me, Kate” when her mother came rushing in, flushed with excitement.  She had Love’s already opened acceptance letter from the National High School Institute in hand.

“It was an unreal feeling,” Love said.  “I was in a state of shock.”
Although Love struggled with the choosing between journalism and theater cherub programs, when she got the acceptance letter she knew she had made the right choice with journalism. Before coming to NHSI Journalism Division, cherubs debated on going to a different program for the summer.  But they decided on NHSI’s journalism program because of its reputation.

Cherubs were grateful for their acceptance letters, especially after they realized how selective the program is. The 88 cherubs received their acceptance letters in mid April. The median rank this year of the 60 cherubs who were ranked at their high schools was the 93 percentile, said program director Roger Boye. 

Shirley Gao of Davis, Calif.  said she was unsure of what her summer plans entailed.  Gao said she had applied not only to the National High School Institute, but also to the HERO program she found on the “Cosmogirl!” Web site.

The HERO program is a two-month trip to Africa funded by the United Nations and “Cosmogirl!” in which 24 students from across the U.S. and Canada build houses and teach children to read English, said Gao. 

“If I had a choice between that one and this one, I would have chosen this one,” Gao said.

Gao was not accepted into the HERO program but said she was excited when she saw the acceptance letter to NHSI.  She had applied on a whim and was doubtful that she would get in. 

“I was the first person from my school to apply for the program and I didn’t know much about Medill,” she said.

Gao immediately saw the “congratulations” in bold print and read on to see the personal comment on her outstanding academic performance from Boye. But once arriving at Northwestern Gao said that everyone had the same side note from Boye with his congratulations on their outstanding academic and journalism background.

Zanny Lannin, of Edina, Minn. was another cherub who said she had second thoughts on participating at NHSI this summer.  Lannin had been apart of the Landmark Volunteers last summer and said she enjoyed the experience so much that she was tempted to pass up the opportunity at Northwestern.  The volunteers spend two weeks at Olympic Peninsula in Washington building trails.

“I had a blast and I really wanted to go again,” Lannin said.

But Lannin and her parents saw more opportunities at the NHSI program.  Lannin said she had a feeling that the Northwestern program would be a “fun, satisfying experience.”

“I chose to come to NHSI because I really wanted to explore my interest in journalism,” she said.