CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 12 -- The University of Virginia issued the following news release:
Last year, participating first-year Echols Scholars were assigned a mentor. This year, they get a family.
Representing roughly the top 5% of each incoming class in the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences, Echols Scholars are described as being among the University's most intellectually curious and self-motivated students.
Still, everyone can use a mentor. In previous years, the Echols Scholars peer mentor program utilized a one-to-one matching system, with one older student paired with each first-year student. This year, students were grouped by prospective major and academic interests, with up to two "heads" and five to eight s...