Who they are and why they chose Drew.
Jack Andrus
Ocean Township High School
Oakhurst, N.J.
About Jack
In high school, Jack excelled in history and English. He also immersed himself in the arts, as a member of the marching band, concert band, chamber choir and drama club. In marching band, he earned the Outstanding Band Member Award and Semper Fidelis Award. Also, in theatre, he was nominated five times for the Count Basie Award, winning it as a sophomore for his performance as King Charlemagne in Pippin. At Drew, he’ll naturally gravitate toward the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts, where he’ll study theatre and music.
Why Drew?
“From the beginning of my search, I knew that the arts would factor considerably into my decision. Being that Drew consistently places among the top drama schools in the nation, the choice was relatively clear from the moment I stepped on campus. The distinguished program was bolstered by the incredibly homey environment that Madison and Drew itself has to offer and my experiences so far there have been overwhelmingly welcoming.”
Katrina Aronovsky
San Domenico Upper School
San Rafael, Calif.
About Katrina
Katrina’s passions include theatre, sports and nature. At San Domenico, she played varsity soccer for four years and worked on the tech crew behind student plays. Also, last summer she traveled to Yellowstone National Park, where she helped collect data on bison and pronghorns for the National Park Service. At Drew, she’ll study theatre arts—with a focus on stage management—and political science and play club soccer.
Why Drew?
“Because of its proximity to New York City and the size of the school. It was important to me that I attended a school where the professors and administration would see me as a person instead of a number.”
Adriana Cordova
Vandegrift High School
Austin, Texas
About Adriana
At Vandegrift, Adriana excelled at Spanish, earning induction into the National Spanish Honor Society and becoming a National Hispanic Scholar. She also was a National Commended Scholar. Outside of class, she played tennis and served on the student council and in the student ambassador program, where she became lead tour guide. As a Baldwin Honors Scholar at Drew, she’ll major in art history and minor in Spanish, with hopes of participating in the New York City Semester on Contemporary Art and studying abroad. Oh, and as a Yankees fan, she’ll also see some home games in the city.
Why Drew?
“A lot of good comes with the small size. Not only do you get to know your peers at a more personal level, the interactions you can have with the faculty and staff are that much greater than what you can experience at a large public institution. I feel that the faculty is there to help you achieve your goals and point you in the right direction. Also, there are endless opportunities offered due to the proximity of Drew’s campus to N.Y.C.!”
Hannah Goldbach
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, Tenn.
About Hannah
In high school, Hannah enjoyed English literature and Spanish in particular and stayed busy outside the classroom, running track, cheerleading and serving as a chapter officer for Amnesty International. She also loves writing, reading, listening to podcasts and hiking. At Drew, she plans to major in political science, minor in Russian and continue her work with Amnesty.
Why Drew?
“Proximity to New York City was a huge factor in my decision. Drew’s political science program also made Drew an easy choice.”
Neelesh Kantheti
Morristown High School
Morristown, N.J.
About Neelesh
Neelesh is as accomplished in math as he is in music. In math, he earned an award for high achievement in calculus, participated in a STEM Academy honors program and received the Rochkind-Wagner Foundation Award. And as a musician who plays three instruments (violin, viola and cello), he performed in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, North Jersey Regions Orchestra and the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he was inducted into the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. At Drew, he hopes to major in math, minor in music and perhaps study abroad.
Why Drew?
“Strong math program, combined engineering program with Columbia University, excellent music program and the DoYo performing arts center. Also, as a high school student, I had good experiences (supportive faculty) during summer courses at Drew and as a member of the Drew Orchestra.”
David Nesterov-Rappoport
Millbrook School
Moscow, Russia
About David
David channeled his ability to write analytically and creatively in Millbrook’s history and English classes and in particular enjoyed anthropology and psychology. Outside of class, he ran cross country, played lacrosse and pursued his passion for the visual arts, becoming part of a studio program during his senior year. He also started a gaming club that became one of the biggest on campus and served as a peer counselor. At Drew, he looks forward to studying philosophy, joining clubs and making new friends.
Why Drew?
“I’ve heard great things about it from my faculty advisors and thought it was a great option due to its proximity to New York, tree-heavy campus (my previous school was in the middle of a forest, so proximity to nature was a must for me) and strong philosophy program.”
Quinn Orloff
Hawken School
Chesterland, Ohio
About Quinn
Quinn’s passions include baseball and reading, which he shares with the elementary school children that he tutors at Chagrin Falls Park Community Center. He also helps them hone their math skills. In baseball, he made second team all state and first team all conference. At Drew, he’ll study business, as he’s particularly interested in the stock market and entrepreneurship. He’ll also continue to play baseball.
Why Drew?
“The location. I love being right outside New York City—it’s amazing. I also love the campus, which is beautiful.”
Sidney Resnik
Baruch College Campus High School
New York, N.Y.
About Sidney
In high school, Sidney earned six academic awards, recognizing his proficiency in Spanish, his knowledge and enthusiasm around history and having the highest GPA in English. He also starred in a production of The Breakfast Club, played piano for the Rock Club and attended the Model United Nations conference in New York City. In addition, this son of a teacher has more than 200 hours of teaching experience—from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. At Drew, he’ll focus on history, particularly the classics.
Why Drew?
“Because of the history department and its professors, who I got to know while still making my decision. Also, I was able to play a piano in the music department.”
Maria Jose Ruiz Birriel
St. Mary’s School
San Juan, P.R.
About Maria
English literature is a big passion for Maria, who placed first in a literature contest twice in four years at St. Mary’s. She also was co-captain of the school dance team and twice was first runner-up in an annual fashion show. At Drew, she’ll major in theatre arts, minor in French and continue to dance.
Why Drew?
“Because the school offers a faculty that truly cares about their students. And when I visited the school it felt right, safe and homey. In addition, the location is perfect. Madison is a great quiet town with an amazing proximity to the greatest city this world has to offer: New York City.”
Lauren Rusk
Robert E. Fitch Senior High School
Groton, Conn.
About Lauren
Lauren is a creative student with passions for the arts, sciences and psychology. She’s also an All-State fencer, avid writer, musician and artist, and loves participating in theatre and volunteering in her community. In The Forest, she’ll work toward the medical field through either biology or neuroscience, with a minor in public health. In addition, she’ll fence and participate in the Baldwin Honors and Civic Scholars programs.
Why Drew?
“The campus is gorgeous and the people are so incredibly warm and welcoming. The combination of competitive research programs, an outstanding fencing team and other amazing academic and extracurricular opportunities—especially being so close to New York—made it clear I would thrive here.”
Arman Sawhney
Dougherty Valley High School
San Ramon, Calif.
About Arman
Arman thrives at debate, as this year he not only qualified for the Tournament of Champions but also reached the semifinals of the Stanford National Debate Invitational. He also served as captain and lieutenant of his high school’s parliamentary debate team. In addition, he’s passionate about science and music, playing everything from piano and violin to guitar and bass. At Drew, he’s entering the BA/MD program and hopes to minor in music, economics or both. “I really want to get a broad education,” he said.
Why Drew?
“It’s because of the smaller class size, which will allow for a more individualized education and a better chance for me to get to know my peers, and because I was admitted into the seven-year BA/MD program.”
Shauna Singh
Nightingale-Bamford School
South Ozone Park, N.Y.
About Shauna
At Nightingale-Bamford, Shauna thrived in science, Spanish and math. Her extracurricular passions included volleyball, acting and singing, and outside of school, she tutored children and worked as a surgery intern at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. At Drew, she looks forward to “getting a hands-on pre-med learning experience” and playing volleyball.
Why Drew?
“Drew is about an hour and a half from my home in New York City, so I’ll always have my family close by. Also, it’s a pretty small campus, meaning that my professors will have more time to understand me as an individual rather than a student in a class of hundreds. Drew also provides an excellent pre-med track, and on such a lovely campus, I know that will be able to focus on my studies and achieve my goal of being a doctor. Finally, there’s the student life. The students at Drew seem to love every second of their college careers, and that is something very important to me.”
Joseph Storey
Weber High School
Eden, Utah
About Joseph
At Weber, Joseph’s top subjects were history, English and psychology, as he achieved Highest Honor Roll and Student of the Month. He also served as vice president of the Student Body and fenced, becoming a top 24 fencer at the Junior Olympics. Finally, he’s passionate about helping others, whether it’s raising money for families to buy food and presents during the holidays, organizing 5Ks for local and school charities or helping his sister collect and donate 15,000 pairs of shoes to children in Africa. At Drew, he’ll study history, psychology and philosophy and continue to fence.
Why Drew?
“I loved the rural feel of the campus but still being so close to the city.”
Olivia Thompson
The Loomis Chaffee School
Windsor, Conn.
About Olivia
In high school, Olivia pursued her passion for performance in theater and music. Her interests are broad, however, ranging from the plays of William Shakespeare to world issues and gender studies. At Drew, she’ll concentrate on theatre, English and gender studies. In particular, she’s excited about meeting new people, getting to know her professors and joining clubs.
Why Drew?
“My love for theater is what brought me to Drew. I also chose Drew because of the diverse and intricate student body. As someone who enjoys discussing current topics and problems in the world, I wanted to go to a school where I could talk with people that have multiple different perspectives that are different to mine.”
Ved Vengsarkar
Briar Woods High School
Ashburn, Va.
About Ved
At Briar Woods, Ved took advanced placement courses in biology, chemistry, economics and calculus, played tennis and was senior officer of the Math Honor Society. He volunteered in his community as well—at a hospital, hospice and physical therapy center. As an undergraduate, he’ll likely major in biology perhaps join the tennis team.
Why Drew?
“There is an amazing focus on the liberal arts, which is designed to provide students with an expanded intellectual horizon. I was also drawn to the BA/MD program, where I could major in biology and really be a part of the strong academic focus. Also, the community seemed especially friendly and I knew that I could really thrive here.”
Margaret Wilson
Sewickley Academy
Baden, Penn.
About Margaret
In high school, Margaret thrived in Spanish and English, earning the Marian Campbell Writing Award in her first year and becoming editor of the school’s literary magazine, Ephemera. Her hobbies include writing, photography and making short films with her best friends. An an undergrad, she’ll study English and possibly international relations.
Why Drew?
“I chose Drew because I felt like I could truly belong there—like the people I came in contact with when I visited immediately welcomed me and cared about me as more than just someone who was going to pay tuition.”
Henry Wood
Jewish Community High School of the Bay
Martinez, Calif.
About Henry
Henry enjoyed filmmaking in high school, as he loves movies and music both. He also became chapter president of youth group BBYO and played right wing back on the school soccer team. At Drew, he’ll study media and communications, marketing and psychology, as he works toward becoming a talent agent. He’d also like to play basketball.
Why Drew?
“Because of how I felt when I visited the campus. I instantly felt like I could succeed there, and that I will go far in life if Drew is where I stay.”
