AFRICA | 17-year-old Nigerian boy earns acceptance to 8 top US universities, set to bag bachelors degree at Yale University.
A 17-year-old Nigerian boy named Harold Ekeh has achieved an incredible feat by earning acceptance to all eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
The Ivy League is an athletic and academic conference of eight prestigious private universities in the northeastern United States.
Harold, a graduate of Elmont Memorial High School in New York, initially applied to 13 colleges, hoping to get into Stony Brook University, close to home. To his surprise, he was accepted by all the schools he applied to, including all eight Ivy Leagues.
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“It’s very, like, stunning — it’s like getting hit with a brick, honestly. When you see congratulations, you’re like, wow your hard work has paid off, definitely,” he said.
Harold attributes his success to the strong work ethic modeled by his parents, who emigrated from Nigeria in 2011. Upon arrival, his family faced financial struggles, and Harold had to overcome challenges, such as adapting to life with a Nigerian accent that his classmates often mocked.
In high school, Harold excelled academically, taking advanced placement classes and actively participating in extracurriculars.
He was involved in science research, and school plays, and served as the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. Harold maintained straight A’s in his mostly AP courses, including U.S. History—a subject he initially struggled with when he first arrived in America.
He scored an impressive 2270 out of 2400 on his Scholarly Aptitude Test, submitting college applications that highlighted his journey to the United States. and the obstacles his family overcame.
“I applied to so many schools just to increase my chances. I never expected to get into all of them, especially all eight of the Ivy Leagues. But I definitely hoped for the best,” he said.
In addition to the Ivy League acceptances, Harold also received offers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and Vanderbilt University, among others.
Harold plans to major in biochemistry or molecular biology at Yale University, which he chose because it would stimulate his intellectual curiosity the most and make him think outside the box. He hopes to attend medical school and later become a neurosurgeon.
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