Three CUNY Students Finalists for Marshall Honor
Three students from the City University of New York have been selected as finalists for one of the country's most prestigious undergraduate awards, the Marshall Scholarship.
Among 23 college seniors selected from an applicant pool of more than 1,000 top students in the region, the city's public university has more candidates in the running for the scholarship, which funds two years of study in Britain, than many Ivy League schools.
CUNY in recent years has emerged as a major contender against top-tier schools for the most competitive awards, such as the Goldwater, the Truman, and the Rhodes scholarships. The school is attracting more high academic achievers because of the Macaulay Honors College, which offers a rigorous academic program, and higher academic standards at the senior colleges, university officials said.
A senior at Hunter College and a finalist for this year's Marshall Scholarship, Gregory Zucker, said he once planned to transfer to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton from CUNY.
"I didn't work as hard as I should have in high school," Mr. Zucker said. "My plan was to start at Hunter and then transfer to an Ivy League school, but I've been challenged here, and I've learned from students struggling to pursue their education against the odds, and gained a perspective I wouldn't have had at an Ivy League school."
Mr. Zucker, a philosophy and history major who will interview with the regional Marshall committee next week for one of 40 slots, said he plans to pursue a career in academia and earn a doctorate in political science.
A senior at Hunter College, Christine Curella, who last year was awarded a Truman Scholarship, is another finalist. A senior at Brooklyn College, Mary Pennisi, who studies globalization and trade agreements, is also in the running for the scholarship.
The New School and Columbia University each have one finalist interviewing next week for the Marshall Scholarship.
