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Sean Chen ’23 Earns Drake Physics Scholarship

Prep 2023 Graduate Earns Prestigious $200,000 Drake Physics Scholarship

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Saint John’s Prep is proud to congratulate Sean Chen ’23 for earning the Drake Physics Scholarship. This is a four-year, full tuition scholarship for physics or astronomy majors who attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Sean earned the scholarship after placing third in the nation on the Drake Physics Test, which allowed him to compete for the tuition award. This scholarship is valued at over $200,000.

The decision was based upon the overall academic record, recommendations, and an interview. Sean worked his interview during his busy weekend of playing guitar in the pit orchestra for the Prep spring musical, Footloose.

Each year Drake runs the Drake Physics Exam contest for high school physics students in form of a rigorous, two-hour test written by the faculty of the Drake Physics and Astronomy Department.  

Sean is the third student from Prep to earn a Drake Prize Scholarship, and the first to accept it. He follows in the footsteps of Sam Mortenson ’20 and †Michael Meyers ’08, who both attended Drake to study Physics and Astronomy. †Michael went on to later to pursue his PhD in Laser Physics at UCLA. Sam is currently a junior at Drake and was recently awarded the Holmes-Cowper Award for Astronomy.

Sean is the son of Changguo Chen of Shanghai. He’s been an active member of the Prep community as a musician, esports participant and scholar. One of his most memorable moments was winning the homecoming talent show with an acoustic guitar performance in October of 2021.

Before his graduation from Prep on May 26, he lived in the Saint Michael Hall residence. Sean will spend the summer with friends in Cold Spring and Sartell before moving to Des Moines in August.

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