Harold Ekeh, who plans to study medicine, has until May 1 to decide where he’ll go. (AP/Beboto Matthews)
It is very hard to get accepted into a single Ivy League school, but New York high school senior Harold Ekeh can choose between all eight.
Ekeh, an Elmont Memorial High School senior, applied to 13 colleges with hopes of getting accepted into Stony Brook University, which is close to his home. Instead, Ekeh received an acceptance letter from all 13 schools, including all eight Ivy League schools in the U.S.
“It’s very, like, stunning — it’s like getting hit with a brick, honestly,” Ekeh told NBC News. “When you see congratulations, you’re like, wow your hard work has paid off, definitely.”
The 17-year-old made straight A’s in high school and scored a 2,270 out of 2,400 on the SAT, making the decision for the universities to accept him easy. Ekeh has not decided which school he will attend, although he wants to be close to home.
“I’m leaning towards Columbia right now because I’d like to stay in New York City for I guess the rest of my career and work at Mt. Sinai,” he told NBC.
Ekeh, who emigrated from Nigeria 10 years ago, wants to study biochemistry and become a neurosurgeon—a career path he decided on since his grandmother has Alzheimer’s and he wants to find a cure.