Tokay High senior William Chour gets a full scholarship to Princeton

Tokay High student William Chour is one of 11 William Buck Scholarship winners. He will receive a full ride to Princeton through 2015 with the help of a few other scholarships. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Tokay High senior William Chour gets a full scholarship to Princeton

By Jennifer Bonnett
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:22 AM PDT

Comments (9 comment(s))

Thanks to a number of scholarships, graduating Tokay High senior William Chour will receive a full ride to Princeton University through 2015. At Wednesday's annual Honors' Night, he accepted the coveted Frank H. Buck Scholarship from a former recipient from Tokay High.

Chour, one of 11 recipients from 900 applicants, also received the prestigious $4,000 Horatio Alger Scholarship awarded to those who have overcome adversity in their young lives. There were only 37 recipients throughout California.

In between STAR examinations and finishing up his Senior Project, Chour recently answered a few questions via e-mail about leaving Lodi and heading off to college.

Q: Tell me more about the scholarships that afforded you full tuition to one of the most highly regarded universities in America.

A: The scholarship that I applied for is called the QuestBridge Scholarship. It is basically an "early" early decision program for colleges in which applicants select up to eight participating colleges to apply for during the months of September and October.

This year, 260 of about 5,000 applicants were matched with colleges that offered them full tuition for four years.

I also received the Buck Scholarship. The deadlines and process were similar, requiring that I turn in an application filled with essays and extracurricular info during the months of October/November.

Frank H. Buck scholarship

Every year, the Frank H. Buck Foundation awards all-expense paid scholarships to students in the six north-central California counties that comprised the former congressman's district.

The scholarships were established in 1989 by Frank's wife, Eva Benson Buck, and are administered today by the Frank H. and Eva B. Buck Foundation. This year, there were 900 applicants and only 11 recipients.

The first scholarships were made in 1990, and to date, the Frank H. Buck Scholarship has been awarded to 270 students. The scholarship is available to students from the 12th grade forward, who must live or attend school within the boundaries of the Congressional District that Frank Buck served including Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties.

They benefit exceptional, ambitious young people who possess leadership potential as well as a commitment to their school, community and family.

Financial need and high academic standing are important, but are not necessarily prerequisites. Race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age and national origin have no influence in the selection of scholars.

Source: www.buckfoundation.org

Q: Why did you apply? Did you expect to receive it?

A: I applied mainly because of the generous scholarship package that would be awarded, but didn't necessarily expect to receive it. I started out realizing what the acceptance rates for each school were (all around 10 percent), so I applied to three schools in the hopes of bettering my chances. Of the three schools I applied to through this program, I was accepted to Princeton and Stanford, and rejected from Yale.

Q: How did you find out you won?

A: I believe I found out about the status of my application on Dec. 1. I was sort of shocked about it, since I applied to Stanford as my first choice, and had Princeton and Yale as somewhat of a second thought due to my belief that I wouldn't even be admitted.

It turned out that I was rejected from Stanford (for early decision, but accepted later in March) and actually accepted into my second choice (of Princeton).

Q: How do you parents feel about you going all the way to Princeton in New Jersey?

A: My parents were initially surprised that I got into Princeton. Considering its distance from Lodi as compared to Stanford, they were at first reluctant to have me go live for four years on the East Coast.

With a little persuasion and some more consideration, they finally agreed, although I think they'd still prefer that I go to Stanford.

Q: What do you plan to study?

A: I'd like to study something related to the mathematics or the sciences. I'm not exactly sure what my course of action will be for the next four years, but I am most likely headed to medical school, so my college plans will definitely in some manner involve the sciences.

Q: What are your post-college plans?

A: I plan to go to medical school after college, but I am still open to other plans.

Having only been exposed to mainly just the prominent pathways of college, I feel as if though there are other fields to explore and learn. To put it succinctly, I'd like to know all of my options first while in college, before settling upon post-college plans.

Q: What is the fondest memory will you take away from high school?

A: February. It was an exciting and tremendously rewarding experience that represented the culmination of four years' worth of intensive practice and dedication to learning as much as I could about science.

The trip to Washington, D.C., that came as a result of this accomplishment was also a great memory; it was an "eye-opening" experience that really exposed the highly academic side of high school.

My involvement with water polo and swimming were also events that presented great memories.

Q: What words of wisdom would you give to incoming freshman on study habits?

A: I wouldn't exactly say that I'm the best person to ask for advice about high school. The one habit I developed, though, was to use an organizer/calendar. If you make it a habit to also refer to it and actually fulfill whatever you list down, it becomes a tremendous aid.

As for study habits, I try to keep a division between studying and homework as much as I can, allocating all of my homework time to school hours, while studying at home if I can.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Cogito wrote on May 25, 2009 8:12 PM:

" Yes William, and almost every person you will go to Princeton with will have come out of private school. Way to overcome the biggest obstacle, a public school education. "

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Observer wrote on May 25, 2009 5:23 PM:

" Congratulations William. Another product of public schools. "

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Lou wrote on May 25, 2009 4:36 PM:

" Great job! Proving once again, the nexus of talent and hard work is a very good outcome.

Congrats! "

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eggnog wrote on May 25, 2009 9:26 AM:

" Will you date my daughter?? "

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Lodian wrote on May 23, 2009 7:46 PM:

" This is quite an achievement! Congratulations young Chour! "