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Connecticut College welcomes Jack Kent Cooke Scholar as member of Class of 2011

Katelyn Goll

July 23, 2007

Most sixth graders are thinking about entering middle school, spending summers with friends and extending their bedtimes. Katelyn Goll, a member of Connecticut College´s class of 2011, was taking the SATs.

Goll, an avid skier and musician who hails from Lac du Flambeau, Wisc., scored so highly on state aptitude tests in elementary school that her teachers recommended she take the same test high school juniors and seniors take for college applications.

Goll´s scores on the SATs proved that she was academically gifted. She was enrolled in Northwestern University´s Center for Talent Development, and the center´s advisors suggested she apply for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation´s Young Scholar Program. The program, which was called "the Nobel Prize for 7th Graders" by one newspaper, provides educational support and guidance to high-potential high school students whose families have limited financial resources.

"The application was a lot like a college application - except I was in seventh grade," Goll said.

Despite her test scores, Goll said she was surprised when she learned she had been accepted to the program. "There were so many people applying, and these are some of the smartest people in the country," she said.

With the help of the foundation, Goll was able to spend two years studying at the Conserve School, an interdisciplinary college-preparatory boarding school. The foundation also provided her with flute and piano lessons, helped her enroll in online courses and sent her to summer camps. She even spent a summer working with award-winning author Janette Turner Hospital, with whom she wrote a novella. "That was definitely an experience," Goll said.

The foundation will continue to support Goll during her college experience. In May, the foundation announced that Goll was among 46 high-achieving high school students to receive its 2007 College Scholarship. Goll is in good company, as other recipients will be attending Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Georgetown and Julliard, among other prestigious schools.

And Goll says that while she is grateful for all that the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has done for her, the best part of the experience has been the camaraderie she has with the other scholars. "Twice they´ve flown us all to Washington D.C. to meet each other," Goll said. "I´ve gotten to know some really amazing students."

Goll said she decided to come to Connecticut College after visiting the school. What really finalized her decision, she said, was the college´s 84-year-old honor code. "I want to be trusted, and I want to be able to trust others," she said.

Goll says she is looking forward to becoming a Camel in the fall, and adds that she hopes to major in music and possibly pursue a double major in English.

For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu