Photo Courtesy of Instagram (@ashadirikaa)
A Florida high school senior was accepted to eight Ivy League schools.
The Nigerian-American Miami Beach Senior High School graduate was accepted to all of the Ivy’s: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale.
Ashley Adirika, 17, says she applied to the prominent universities to “shoot her shot.”
“I just decided to shoot my shot at all of them and see if it would land. And I had no idea I would get accepted into all of them. On Ivy Day, I remember crying a lot and just being extremely surprised.”
Adirika also got accepted to other schools including Emory, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.
The Ivy League schools have accepted less than 12% of their applicants since 2018, so the senior has accomplished a goal many other high school seniors won’t.
Adirika thanked her supporters in an Instagram post, “Never stop dreaming. I’m beyond blessed and grateful to have been accepted to some of the most prestigious universities in the world with over $4 million worth of scholarship offers. I’m also extremely appreciative of every individual who has poured into me throughout my journey: family, educators, friends, mentors, coaches —- you all have had a profound impact on me. To every underrepresented person fighting to thrive in spaces that weren’t designed for us—- keep applying pressure, keep shaking the room, keep making your own table.”
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The Miami Beach Senior High School student accepted Harvard University’s offer and planned to study law.
“Before the college application process, Yale was actually my top choice. But when I did further research for what I want to do specifically, which is explorations in policy and social policy and things of that nature, Harvard just had a better program,” Adirika said.
“I am really passionate about policy and using policy to empower communities. And so in the short term, for me, that looks like becoming a lawyer. But in the long term, I want to use that as a platform to do work in policy.”
Congratulations, Ashley!