<p>32</a> Americans named Rhodes Scholars for 2014 - U.S. News</p>
<p>And, since I already counted:</p>
<p>6 Harvard
3 each Yale and Stanford
2 each Princeton, Virginia, and West Point. One of the Princetons also went to Deep Springs.
14 an interesting smattering of singletons, ranging from MIT, Chicago, Williams, Smith to Villanova, Tennesse, Mississippi State, and NYU-Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>^^^A Georgia Tech girl from our area (engineering).</p>
<p>One guy from UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>OK, so 16 of the 20 colleges have been mentioned so far. The other four are, in alphabetical order, Carnegie Mellon (not engineering or CS), Wake Forest, WashU(StL), and Wisconsin.</p>
<p>The guy in the picture graduated from our local high school!</p>
<p>“One of the Princetons also went to Deep Springs.”</p>
<p>Wait, really? An exception to their longstanding no-transfers policy?</p>
<p>[Timothy</a> M. McGinnis - The Rhodes Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/rhodes-scholars-elect-class-of-2014/timothy-m-mcginnis]Timothy”>http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/rhodes-scholars-elect-class-of-2014/timothy-m-mcginnis)
Not actually a transfer, just someone who took an extended leave of absence.</p>
<p>Ahhh. Now I get it.</p>
<p>So the moral of the story is you can accomplish great things with a degree from Mississippi State or Villanova? I am not surprised by this but I am sure others are.</p>
<p>The way the Rhodes works, it’s a huge advantage to attend Mississippi State. (The Rhodes is based on geographic divisions. As with “National” Merit Scholars, it’s easier to win some states than others. Once you get to the regional level, that matters less. You can compete in either your state of residence or the state in which you attend school.)</p>
<p>The Mississippi State Rhodes Scholar would have been in District 12, which includes the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Carolina. The other Rhodes Scholar selected from that district is someone from Oregon who went to Washington University in St. Louis. These two were no doubt competing with kids from their district going to many other schools, including Ivy League schools, Stanford, etc. So, yes, I agree with sally305-a kid from Mississippi State can accomplish great things.</p>
<p>There were two kids this year from institutions that had never had a graduate win a Rhodes before. One of them was from Mississippi State, and the other from . . . Smith! Women have only been eligible for Rhodeses for 35 years or so, thus women’s colleges tend to have fewer representatives among the Rhodes alumni than one might expect. This year’s Villanova winner was Villanova’s second.</p>
<p>As a Mississippi State alum, and parent of a former Rhodes finalist in District 12, I thought I would weigh in with what I know about the process. District 12 does, in fact, attract finalists from many universities, including the Ivies. In fact, my daughter was one of several Ivy finalists in this district a few years back. Also, the districts are divided proportionately based upon the number of applicants. New York, for example, has its own district, whereas District 12 includes many states. Thus I am not sure I would say it is a huge advantage to compete in any particular district.
As for the Mississippi State winner, we are very proud of him, although he is actually the second scholar from MSU. Granted, the last one was over a hundred years ago! Part of this is the fact that MSU is known for its engineering schools of study and not so much for the humanities. Even more so is that MSU has not had the process in place to “groom” students for the rigorous application/interview process that makes up the Rhodes competition. Believe me, it is no accident that some schools end up with the majority of winners. This “grooming” process takes place over a number of years in many cases.
Upon realizing that MSU had a finalist in this years competition, my daughter reached out to him to offer advice/encouragement, so we were most gratified when he won. He is a fine young man who will take full advantage of the opportunity offered him.</p>
<p>Very proud to have a student fromthe University of Tennessee!</p>
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<p>I’ve never heard anyone say it’s impossible to win a Rhodes scholarship coming from Mississippi St. or Villanova, only that it’s less likely. In fact anyone who is paying attention knows that there are several awarded every year to graduates of first time schools. But given that in the 111 year history of the Rhodes this is only the first for Miss. St. and the second for Villanova, it is fair to say that it is significantly less likely that a graduate of those schools will win compared to some of the more-famous high-end schools.</p>
<p>D is a freshman at WUSTL and knows the Scholar personally! Very inspiring.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. Take Tufts, for example–the university has only had 4, ever. That’s less than College of Idaho (7), Millsaps (5), Centre (8) Utah State (7) and even Yankton (9), which closed almost 30 years ago. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/Rhodes%20Scholarships_Winning%20Institutions_Count_11_25_13.pdf[/url]”>http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/Rhodes%20Scholarships_Winning%20Institutions_Count_11_25_13.pdf</a></p>
<p>So, yes, the HYPSMs stand out, but it is not safe to assume that there is a proportional relationship as you go down the ranks between prestige/fame and production of Rhodes scholars.</p>
<p>coureur, As msjhop noted, this is the 2nd for Mississippi State, not first. The first was in 1911.</p>
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<p>Anyone else remember the first?</p>
<p>OOPS!!! This is Villanova’s THIRD winner. I do remember the first, Nnena Lynch. She was a high school track star in NYC who also ran at Villanova. That means that at least 2 of the 3 winners from Villanova are African-Americans and all 3 are varsity athletes. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.villanova.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/112513aaa.html[/url]”>http://www.villanova.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/112513aaa.html</a></p>