For many people choosing a college can be a nerve-wracking experience. Getting rejection letters, worrying over tuition costs, and the sheer amount of paperwork involved is enough to stress out many would-be college students. But, for those who have excellent grades and are likely to be offered scholarships, the process can be a bit more thrilling. When a Florida student applied to dozens of universities, the final tally of colleges that accepted him was 27- and these institutions include the most prestigious in the country.
Jonathan Walker of Panama City has now been accepted to Duke, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and many other universities as well. Walker told ABC News that he didn’t apply anywhere he couldn’t see himself being happy, and so didn’t limit his number of applications. However, he didn’t consider any of the schools as easy-ins, instead all of them he thought of as “reach schools” – prestigious institutions that might not have accepted him.
Walker has long been focused on science and engineering, having worked on devices to help people manage their prescription medications and a wrist device to one day help people who are blind and deaf communicate better with seeing and hearing people.
This thirst for knowledge and a desire to help create real-world solutions with his skills is just one of the reasons why so many elite schools wanted him to attend their campuses. He’s also a member of the varsity football team and was crowned homecoming king, too.
In addition to being accepted, Walker was offered a combined total of $4 million in potential scholarships. To put that number into perspective that’s more than the amount of Division I and II athletic scholarships that are usually awarded across the US each year.
Have a look at his incredible story in the video below.