Tikvah High School Scholars Program @Frisch

Next year, for the third year since its inception, The Frisch School will be one of a handful of Jewish high schools participating in the Tikvah High School Scholars Program.

Selected Seniors--see below--spend the year in a special seminar which deals with sophisticated issues in Jewish Thought led by two teacher-mentors. This seminar is taken in lieu of the Nach elective taken by all other seniors. Besides the regular three-times-each-week seminar, these students and the Tikvah Scholars from the other schools attend three weekend conferences on a college campus--typically very early September, mid-year, and June--at which they study with prominent academics. Students are also required to present a major research paper on which they work through the year with their mentors.

Why undertake this additional work? Yes, it does look good on college resumes but, to be frank, it's unlikely that this plays a major role in colleges' admissions decisions. The one and only good reason to participate is to experience the intellectual and religious excitement and ferment of the seminars and conferences.

How are participants selected? Tikvah limits each school's contingent to a rather small number, typically to about six students per school. Students are required to complete and submit a substantial application--as the kids know, they are now available in the academic office--by May 20. The Tikvah Foundation's admissions committee chooses the applicants it wants to interview, interviews them in school, and makes its selections. The choices at Frisch--other schools use other methods--are made exclusively by the Tikvah Foundation: We do not pick and choose from amongst the many wonderful Frisch students who apply each year.

Next year, for the first time, Frisch has decided to admit several other qualified students, that is, qualified students who had applied but not been admitted by Tikvah, to the in-school seminars. These students will gain a great deal from this sophisticated seminar but only the small group chosen by Tikvah are invited by Tikvah to the weekend conferences. (These additional students will not be required to submit the major research presentation).

We encourage our brightest, most intellectually motivated and curious students to consider this opportunity.