Temple s record-breaking incoming freshman class and innovative Temple Option program were featured in a front-page story in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday.
The university has received more than 30,000 freshman applications for fall 2015, an all-time high, and Temple is well ahead of last year s pace in freshman deposits, average freshman high-school GPA, minority freshman recruitment and many other measures.
Inquirer higher-education reporter Susan Snyder cited a variety of factors contributing to Temple s red-hot admissions cycle, including aggressive recruiting, merit scholarships, the Fly in 4 program, Temple s value and the Temple Option, the university s new alternate admissions path for talented, motivated students whose academic potential isn t accurately measured by standardized tests.
Snyder s story led with one such student, incoming Honors student Farid Abdelrahman, a Philadelphia resident who graduated from Northeast High School with a 3.88 GPA, a string of leadership and extracurricular experiences and big aspirations: He wants to become a neurosurgeon and open hospitals all over the world.