For the first time in its 94-year history, the Rhodes Scholarship committee has asked universities nationwide to limit the number of scholarship applicants they nominate.

With that comes stronger competition and a better applicant pool, and that is exactly what has occurred at the University of Arizona, said Richard Cosgrove, campus coordinator for scholarships.

Eight UA students applied for the Rhodes Scholarship this year but after the nominee cuts only five were allowed to continue in the application process. Four remain and will advance to the first round of interviews at the Arizona Inn Dec. 3 and 4.

The four students are Joseph Holmgren, biochemistry senior; Danielle Manuszak, physics senior; Jonathan Pillow, mathematics and philosophy senior; and Jonathan Schmitt, agricultural and resource economics senior.

"These scholarship competitions are so competitive because they provide such wonderful opportunities," Cosgrove said.

The Rhodes Scholarship awards each individual about $20,000 per year over two years. The scholarship covers tuition, fees, room and board at Oxford University in England, and includes an allowance and travel expenses.

"The opportunities afforded at Oxford are incredible. It is a completely different style of education than we have here in the United States," Pillow said. "You have to be very much independently motivated."

The requirements for the Rhodes Scholarship include: a 3.7 or better grade point average, a significant degree of campus and community activity, a 1,000-word personal essay, a one-page list of principal activities and up to eight letters of recommendation. Students must also compete in a state and regional interview.

"The selection criteria is geared towards whole people and I feel that I have a diversity of interests that would fit well into their criteria," Pillow said.

Besides being captain of the men's cross country team and individually qualifying for the NCAA Championships this year, Pillow has also traveled worldwide and studied in Rabat, Morocco and Budapest, Hungary.

Manuszak traveled to England two summers ago on a humanities trip and fell in love with the country. She said she has decided to go back and the scholarship would be a great way to do it. She has also worked as a research assistant for NASA during the summer and has been honored as a National Goldwater Scholar.

Holmgren spent the summer of 1995 working as a volunteer at an orphanage for HIV-positive children in Nairobi, Kenya and the summer before he volunteered with the American Friends Service Committee in rural Mexico.

"Traveling has given us an opportunity to explore who we are and experience some challenges that maybe others don't get to have," Holmgren said.

Schmitt, the student regent on the Arizona Board of Regents this year, has already been honored with one of the inaugural Udall scholarships named after former U.S. congressman Morris Udall. Schmitt has also had the unique opportunity to serve as a Laotian translator for the Arizona Boys' Ranch since 1995.

Each of the four students have been consistently on the dean's list and have been honored with various scholarships and awards. All of them are also active with their respective churches and have volunteered within the Tucson community.

With such strong credentials from the candidates, it is easy to see why the process is so competitive, Manuszak said. However, she said all four of the applicants are friends and that the competition is good-natured.

"The UA is so qualified this year that four applicants are going on and only seven or eight are picked to go on from the state level," Manuszak said.

All four also mentioned that Cosgrove has been a great help. He has prepared and motivated them throughout the application process, Pillow and Holmgren said.

"He really cares about the students he works with and he gains joy from them when they do well," Schmitt said. "His attitude is the best."

An interesting side note to this year's competition is the fact that Holmgren and Pillow have been roommates for the past two years.

"During our freshman year, two roommates from Harvard won, and we've had that on the back of our minds ever since," Holmgren said.

"It is nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to suffer with while you are applying for it (the scholarship)," he said.

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