Incoming Cornell student is one of six to receive CTCL scholarship

An incoming Cornell College first-year student is making a name for herself before she even steps foot on campus.

Maddie Politte-Corn is one of only six students across the country to receive a scholarship from Colleges that Change Lives (CTCL), which is a well-respected, non-profit organization that advocates for access to higher education and promotes the student-centered college search process.

When she learned CTCL had chosen her for this scholarship, she said she was “pumped!”

The soon-to-be Cornellian hails from Texas and wants to study neuroscience in the future. She’s planning on majoring in both biochemistry and molecular biology and psychology.

Politte-Corn will fit right in with many of Cornell’s students because of her love for extracurricular activities.  

She was involved in the varsity softball team, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Redefining Beautiful (a mentoring program dedicated to inspiring self-esteem in younger girls), and many others.

Throughout the college search process, she knew Cornell was the right choice.

“Originally, I had considered Cornell simply because it was a small liberal arts school in a small community,” Politte-Corn said. “I knew I wanted to go to college in that kind of tight-knit, scrupulous environment, and I wasn’t afraid of traveling to another state to find what I wanted. Of course, the block schedule was attractive as well. Cornell was the first college that accepted me, along with a generous scholarship. As I waited to hear back from a few other schools I had applied to, I realized that when I was thinking about myself in college I had been imagining myself at Cornell, and that was how I knew Cornell was the right choice.”

Politte-Corn has learned a lot about the college selection process and has some advice for others trying to make the best college choice.

“Don’t be afraid of going out of your comfort zone and leaving your home state,” Politte-Corn said. “Do your research, and don’t limit yourself to the colleges and universities that you have been exposed to just as a child. Also, work hard in high school so you have options, because options are happiness. Going to a college because you have no other choice is never fun.”

This year CTCL offered the scholarship award to recognize the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Loren Pope’s book “Colleges that Change Lives,” which eventually lead to the organization of the non-profit. The scholarship also recognizes the 10th anniversary of CTCL. The inaugural scholarship recipients have enrolled at CTCL-member colleges or universities.

Cornell College is one of the select group of colleges recognized for academic quality and exceptional opportunities, based on the Loren Pope book originally published in 1996 and now in its fourth edition. The latest edition, published in 2012, is “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges” by Loren Pope with editor Hilary Masell Oswald (Penguin Books; revised edition).