Teenager Gets Accepted Into Every Single Ivy League College

All eight Ivy League schools have accepted one teenager from Florida.

In late autumn last year, Ashley Adirika applied to all eight of the most prestigious universities in the US.

On 31 March, 2022, the 17-year-old received her results.

She was completely blown away by what came up on her computer screen.

The eight Ivy League schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale.

Ashley told CNN: "I just decided to shoot my shot at all of them and see if it would land. And I had no idea that I would get accepted into all of them.

"On Ivy Day, I remember crying a lot and just being extremely surprised."

Less than 12 percent of applicants are accepted by each Ivy League school.

This year Harvard accepted its lowest number of applicants in the university's history, of 3.2 percent.

A total of 3.7 percent were taken in by Columbia and 4.5 percent by Yale.

Ashley is subsequently part of a very small pool of high school graduates to have made the cut.

Ashley also got into seven other schools which rank highly, such as Emory, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

Yale was her 'top choice' before the application process.

However, she has since decided on Harvard.

She explained: "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."

While studying at Miami Beach Senior High School, Ashley was also a student council president and on the debate team.

Carol City Middle School debate coach Bess Rodriguez - who recruited Ashley for the team - noted how 'very smart and articulate' the student is.

She reflected: "Some of the debate topics were so sophisticated, like should the US sell arms to Saudi Arabia. She dug into the material, she was always so well prepared.

"The other students would say, 'Oh no, we have to debate Ashley.' College debaters and local attorneys would come up to me and say, 'Wow, we can't believe she's in eighth grade. She should be an attorney'."

At her high school, Ashley also started an organisation for girls and young women of colour, supporting them with mentorship and confidence-building.

The organisation is called 'Our Story Our Worth' and Ashley states via its website: "When I was in elementary school, I had the privilege of being a part of a mentorship program for girls.

"I was mentored by women in college and they taught me important skills, instilled confidence into me and gave me the outlet I needed to express myself. I will never forget the sense of solace that their support gave me.

"Unfortunately, as I [...] continued into middle and high school, that sense of solace began to fade. There was a lack of programs available for girls, much less those of colour."

Thirty years ago, Ashley's mother emigrated to the US from Nigeria.

Ashley attributes her strong work ethic to her mother, as well as 'all of the strong women in [her] life' such as her older sisters.

Ashley is planning on continuing debating at Harvard and hopes to go to law school after.

She's given the merchandise she's received from the other Ivy League universities she won't now be attending to younger members of her family to give them the confidence and encouragement that they can achieve their dreams too.

Ashley resolved: "For me, it's about making the most of the opportunities that I have at my fingertips and really just making sure that the sacrifices that have been made for me weren't done in vain."

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