After a senior from William Floyd High School, Kwasi Enin,received acceptance letters from all eight Ivy League schools, students are curious as to how he accomplished this feat.
According to USA today, Enin realized that all eight schools had accepted him during the last week of March when he received his final letter of acceptance from Harvard. Enin is from Shirley, New York and is a senior at William Floyd High School, a large public school on Long Island. He had also been accepted to Duke as well as other New York state schools.
It is an outstanding accomplishment to be accepted to one Ivy League let alone all eight. Students at Susquehannock are curious about the activities and qualities that lead to Enin’s success. Junior at Susquehannock Stephanie Bortner is beginning her college search.
“The schools saw the passion he has for a successful future and decided he would make a perfect candidate for their freshmen class,” said Bortner. “I guess he had the right qualifications and potential to do great things.”
There are several factors contributing to Enin’s application’s success. Ivy Leagues are very selective with their acceptance rates ranging from 6 percent at Harvard to 16 percent at Cornell. Guidance counselor at Susquehannock Ruth Lawrence assists students in the admissions process every year.
“In many cases what I understand Ivy Leagues do is the departments give the admissions office a wish list, so it could be that this young man is of a specific ethnic group that they were looking for, plays a specific musical instrument or has a specific position on some sports team and he would fill that niche that perhaps every college needed this year to fill out their roster,” said Lawrence. “I would imagine it’s a remarkable thing, but there has got to be something that makes this student stand out more than others.”
Other than having a class rank of 11 out of 647 putting him in the top 2% of his class, the senior is an aspiring physician and plays the violin. Earning a 2,250 on the SATs, Enin was put in the 99th percentile for African Americans. Both of his parents immigrated to New York from Ghana in the 1980s, making Enin also a first generation African.
Enin earned his accomplishments by challenging himself in school. During his four years at William Flyod, Enin has taken 11 Advanced Placement classes while still staying active within his school. Along with playing the violin, he sings in the school’s a cappella group. According to Susquehannock’s newest guidance counselor, Thad Gross, Ivy Leagues are looking at what a student does outside of school.
“With Ivy League schools it’s not always just about your GPA. They look for people who fit a profile,” said Gross. “Schools look for different backgrounds, socio-economic criteria, and different volunteering. When they put out their report of students that attend their school, they want to cover every base out there so it looks better for their school.”
Enin seems to hit every mark for these eight schools. On top of his many other activities, he volunteers at the radiology department of the Stony Brook University Hospital. Both of his parents have found careers in nursing. Enin, following in their footsteps, plans to pursue a career in medicine as well as music. One thing that Susquehannock guidance counselor Evelyn Kabke emphasizes is that students need to look at their school’s strength in their desired department of interest.
“First off, what is he interested of getting into and what school has the strongest program in that major,” said Kabke. “Because you’re going to college to get an education, you definitely want to make sure that you’re going into the program that is the strongest. You should also look at the type of financial aid package that he is receiving.”
So far, Princeton has offered Enin the most generous financial aid package; however, he has yet to receive offers from Columbia, Harvard and Cornell. Enin seems to be in a good position for negotiations. While schools are looking for stand-out students like Enin, students are also looking for a unique school to catch his eye.
“When you go and visit multiple schools, one or two of them tend to stand out,” said Kabke. “It might be the architecture or the atmosphere. You feel like this is where you’re meant to be.”
Like many other high school seniors, Enin will have to select his school by May 1. Enin’s stand-out school at this point is Yale; however, after negotiations and a few more visits, this could change.
“I think my preference is Yale,” said Enin in an interview with Newsday. “They seem to embody all the kind of things I want in a college: the wonderful education, the amazing diverse students and financial aid as well. I think Yale has all that for me right now. I still have to compare all of these wonderful schools.”
These eight Ivy League schools will compete during the next few weeks for this remarkable student to attend their school this fall.
