The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia
University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University
of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. The term Ivy League
has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social
elitism.
Ivy League schools are generally viewed as some of the most
prestigious, and are ranked among the best universities worldwide.
These 3 young Nigerian were all accepted in all the 8
Institutions, they were left to choose which of the Institutions to attend.
1.Victor Agbafe
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| Victor Agbafe |
Victor Agbafe was accepted to all eight Ivy League schools,
as well as Stanford University. In the end, Agbafe decided to attend
Harvard University, setting him on the path to his dream of becoming a
neurosurgeon.
Agbafe, a student at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, North
Carolina, is the son of Nigerian immigrants. The high school valedictorian says
his mother and father raised him with a strong support system and always
encouraged him to push himself to do his best.
Agbafe says that his parents never put limits on the amount
of success he could achieve.
“My parents know that here in America, the educational
opportunities and opportunities for social advancement are just unparalleled,”
he says. “From the very beginning, they’ve always said, ‘You’re the only person
who can limit yourself.’
From the sacrifices they made to come here and create
a good life for me, to the sacrifices many social advocates here in the
US made 50 years ago — [my parents] have always told me that there’s no
excuse not to do well.”
2. Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna
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| Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna |
A student at suburban
New York's Elmont Memorial High School, Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna has been accepted at all eight Ivy League
universities. She has until May 1 to decide whether she'll attend one of the
prestigious universities.
The daughter of Nigerian immigrants also can choose from
Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York
University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
'My recent accomplishments reflect the hardworking ideals of
the town of Elmont, my supportive parents and my dedicated teachers. I am
elated but most importantly I am thankful,' said the 17-year-old valedictorian
with a 101.64 weighted grade-point average.
'My family is so excited,' Augusta told
News 12 Long Island. 'Sometimes I feel like they get so
much more excited than me. They literally scream. When I called my mom and told
her, she was screaming on the phone.'
'Though I was born here in America, I visited Nigeria many
times,' she told
WABC. 'And I've seen that my cousins don't have the same
opportunities that I have. So definitely, whatever I do, I want to make sure
that it has an impact on Nigeria.'
Augusta credits her success to her teachers, perseverance and her parents who
taught her the importance of education.
'I've struggled with numerous classes in the past,' she
said. 'But I guess what allowed me to be successful, ultimately, in those
classes, at the end, is my persistence and my tenacity.'
I’m still quite unsure what school I’m going to attend, but
I know attending any of them will be such a great honor. But for now, it’s just
so amazing. I really can’t believe it, still.
The subject that most interests Augusta is science, and she
was a finalist in an Intel competition for her research project on a cement
that could prevent underwater oil rigs from rupturing.
3. Harold Ekeh
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| Harold Ekeh |
The New York high school senior who was accepted to all
eight Ivy League colleges has made his decision. He’s heading to Yale.
Harold Ekeh actually got into all 13 schools he applied to,
including MIT and Johns Hopkins.
Ekeh was born in Nigeria and came to the United States when
he was eight. He wrote his main college essay about the struggle to adjust,
including being clueless in U.S. history classes at school.
His parents had told him they moved to America for things
like the educational opportunities, Ekeh told CNNMoney last month after he
found out he was accepted to all the Ivies.
Even then, Ekeh was leaning towards Yale, where he competed
for Model UN. Some of the students there became his friends and mentors and
offered him advice on the admissions process.
He graduated last
spring from Elmont Memorial High School on Long Island as salutatorian. He
wants to major in neurobiology or chemistry in college and later become a
doctor — a neurosurgeon, specifically.
“Thank God and everyone who has helped me along the way to
receive this amazing opportunity,” Ekeh said on Facebook.
“It has been both an incredibly exciting and humbling
experience and I look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead!”
