For the 2021-2022 academic year, the process for selecting McDermott Scholars has been discontinued. As a result, there will be no freshman class of scholars next year.

The program made this choice due to COVID-19 guidelines that would significantly change the format of the finalist weekend, which typically entails 150 prospective scholars participating in intensive interpersonal interaction at UTD. The disruption of SAT and ACT testing this past year has also added complications to the selection process, the McDermott website said.

Reena Schellenberg, the director of the McDermott Program, said that a great deal of deliberation went into reaching this decision.

“As you can imagine, the remaining topics under consideration require even greater deliberation, which is ongoing,” Schellenberg said.