Young college grads
get early start

Los Angeles, CA – Imagine entering medical school or law school at age 18, or earning a university diploma at 16—with honors. The stories are real for students known as EEPsters—participants in the Early Entrance Program at California State University, Los Angeles.

With the advantage of starting college early, 23 students ranging from 16-21 years old will be receiving their baccalaureate degrees at Cal State L.A. Saturday, June 9, 2007. The exceptional students were admitted to Cal State L.A. through EEP, the only program of its kind in the nation. Modeled after a program at the University of Washington, Seattle, Cal State L.A.’s EEP admits extraordinarily gifted youngsters—some as young as 11—directly into college, providing the early entrants with monitored evaluation, regular counseling sessions, and the opportunity to study with like-minded peers.

Here is EEP’s Class of 2007:
• Elizabeth Chamberlain (Monrovia), 16, English major. Chamberlain, the University’s youngest graduating senior, plans to travel abroad for a year before applying to graduate school to pursue her goal of becoming a university professor. An honors student, she was vice president of the Humanitarians on Campus and a tutor for the University Writing Center.

• Joyce Ho (Arcadia), 20, biochemistry major. Ho, a recipient of an Alumni Scholarship and a Golden Eagle Award of Excellence, plans to apply to medical school to pursue a career in science or medicine.

• Christopher Humphrey (Pasadena), 19, computer science major. Humphrey has been offered a job at CZ Appliance Inc. upon graduation. Humphrey—named Cal State L.A.’s 2007 Computer Science Student of the Year—recently took 4th place in the West coast section of Microsoft’s programming competition, The ImagineCup.

• Albert Hung (San Gabriel), 19, biology major. Hung, who volunteers at Huntington Memorial Hospital, plans to apply to medical school and become a physician.

• Andrew Jick (Altadena), 19, business administration, option in business arts-prelegal; minors in economics and English. Jick will be interning with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles—in the Government Benefits Unit in the East L.A. office—throughout the summer to obtain pre-law exposure. Jick, who is graduating summa cum laude, will apply to law school this fall.

• Paisley Kadison (Beverly Hills), 18, English major. Kadison has been admitted to Stanford School of Law, with a goal to become an entertainment or sports lawyers. She spent one year at Oxford University in England, studying English language and literature.

• Clare Kasper (San Marino), 19, biology major; philosophy minor. Kasper, who will graduate magna cum laude, will attend the University of Iowa Carve College of Medicine this fall. She has conducted research through Cal State L.A.’s CURE, a program that provides research and training opportunities.

• Michael Kovshilovsky (Torrance), 20, biology major. Kovshilovsky, who will graduate magna cum laude, plans to attend the UCLA School of Medicine this fall. He was also accepted to University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University and Albany Medical College.

• Tiffany Kwong (La Habra Heights), 20, physics major. Kwong plans to apply to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in physics education. She received the G.E. Honors Scholarship.

• Owynn Lancaster (Shadow Hills), 18, anthropology major. A Deans’ List student, Lancaster plans to apply to graduate school next year. He will be working as a substitute teacher after graduation.

• Jackie Lechtholz-Zey (Los Angeles), 19, business administration major, option in business arts-prelegal; minor in economics and sociology, option in law and society. Lechtholz-Zey, who will graduate magna cum laude, plans to apply to law school after taking the LSAT in September. In addition to her dual goal of obtaining a law degree and a master’s in business administration, she hopes to start her own makeup design line or run an interior design company. She currently works at a real-estate development company.

• Herbert Lee (Pasadena), 21, computer science and biology majors. Lee will begin the doctorate program in computer science at UC Santa Cruz this fall. He will continue his research in bioinformatics after graduation.

• Pamela Lee (Pasadena), 18, biochemistry major. Lee plans to apply to medical school after graduation. She has been a medical volunteer at USC County Hospital.

• Samantha Lee (Monterey Park), 20, biology major. Lee will be working as a grant writer for Northeast Valley Health Corporation to gain work experience before applying to graduate school. She hopes to pursue a master’s degree in public health, with focus on health management and policy in HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

• Chris Lemcke (Burbank), 20, computer science major, minors in math and creative writing. Lemcke will begin working as a web developer after graduation. He was program chair of ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) and technology chair of the EEP Club.

• Ronald Masson (Los Angeles), 17, biology major. Masson, who has conducted research on sendai virus and cardio vascular disease, plans to apply to medical school. He has also volunteered at the Good Samaritan Hospital.

• Michelle Morales (Alhambra), 19, biology major. Morales will be attending the Yale University School of Medicine this fall. She was also accepted to Vanderbilt, Cornell, UCLA, University of Iowa and Temple. She received the David Cameron Fisher Memorial Scholarship, the Alumni Scholarship, the Ron & Nan Okum Scholarship and the NSS Dean’s Scholarship.

• Timothy Ng (Duarte), 22, biology major; minors in math and Chinese. Ng—who received the 2007-08 Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship—will attend the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine this June. He was also accepted to Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He currently works at the City of Hope Beckman Research Institute.

• Laura Petersen (Pasadena), 19, psychology major. Petersen—who plans to pursue a career in clinical psychology, research and clinical practice—has been accepted to the Columbia University psychology graduate program. Named Student Organization Member of the Year in 2006, she represented Cal State L.A. at the 2006 CSU Statewide Research Competition.

• Andrew Post (Altadena), 18, computer science and applied mathematics major. Post, who received the University’s 2007 Phi Kappa Phi Certificate of Merit, will be attending USC Gould School of Law in the fall. Achieving a high LSAT score last September, he was also admitted to Harvard Law and Duke University.

• Stephanie Tan (Monterey Park), 18, biochemistry major. Tan—the third sibling in her family to graduate from Cal State L.A.’s Early Entrance Program—will take a year off from school to gain work experience; she then plans to attend medical school and become a medical doctor. She will graduate magna cum laude.

• Catherine Tung (Rowland Heights), 19, biology major. An honors student, Tung is deciding whether to pursue a teaching credential or to apply to graduate school for a master’s degree in public health.

• Geoffrey Yang (Lancaster), 18, biology major. Yang, who will graduate magna cum laude, will attend Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in July. He was also accepted to Jefferson Medical College, University of Rochester, and Drexel University.

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 190,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu

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