George Mason University and Osbourn High School have recently started working together to offer seniors at OHS opportunities to be able to attend George Mason University without the hassle of actually applying.

The direct admission program to GMU started this school year. Seniors who have a 3.25 GPA or higher are eligible for the program and are immediately accepted into the university. The seniors automatically receive an acceptance letter from GMU without paying any fees or filling out any forms. There are 144 seniors here at Osbourn that qualified. These seniors received their acceptance letters in the mail the first week of October 2023.

GMU is working with other high schools as well, to give many other students opportunities to be able to participate in this program. The schools they are working with are Manassas Park, Alexandria City High School, and five Fairfax County high schools. GMU sent out 1,100 direct admission offers to students. As of October 24th, 2023, 12 percent of students claimed their direct admission offer. George Mason visited OHS to celebrate the 144 students who were admitted to George Mason University through this new program.

George Mason is a university that is very close to Osbourn, we even have our graduation ceremony there.  Seniors that are planning to attend are very excited to go to GMU because its close to their hometown. From a senior’s perspective, this program can help to really eliminate some of the stress surrounding the college application process. “I think it takes the anxiety out of applying for colleges. If you do well academically at Osbourn and your grade point average is a 3.25 or higher by the end of your junior year, you know that you’ve been accepted to George Mason University. You don’t have to fill out an application form or pay a fee, there’s no essay, there’s no recommendation, and there’s no test score requirement,” said OHS Principal, Mr. Pflugrath.

Osbourn High School hosted a celebration for the seniors who got accepted to George Mason University, and they got to meet the Dean of Admissions Dr. Byrd.” I know they’re excited to go to GMU because we had a celebration in the cafeteria and they got some information and got to ask questions. They sounded interested in Mason and excited about the opportunity,” added Mr. Pflugrath.

The program started recently and has helped a lot of students get into a strong college close to home.

“The program started about a year ago. We met with George Mason about post secondary options and they shared some ideas that they had. George Mason had seen this type of program happen in other parts of the country. They sited a university in Arizona that did it with schools around there, and they said it was really successful. They said they wanted to work with Osbourn High School, and that they were specifically looking for Osbourn students. They are not doing this with any other Prince William County Schools,” explained Mr. Pflugrath.

So if you needed a reason to keep your grades up during your high school years, add this one to your list!