This Florida Student Was Accepted at All 8 Ivy League ...

Craig McFarland, the valedictorian of his high school in Jacksonville, Fla., received acceptance letters from 17 colleges and universities in ... U.S.|ThisFloridaStudentWasAcceptedatAll8IvyLeagueSchools.(HeChoseYale.)https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/craig-mcfarland-ivy-league-accepted.htmlGivethisarticleAdvertisementContinuereadingthemainstoryUpdate:Likemanyseniors,CraigMcFarlandsawhiscollegeplansupendedbythepandemic.Nowhe’sgoingtoHarvard.Mosthighschoolseniorshopetobeacceptedbytheirtoptwoorthreechoicesforcollege.CraigMcFarland,18,ofJacksonville,Fla.,aimedparticularlyhighandwide,andwasacceptedbyalleightIvyLeagueschools.FirstcamehisacceptancetoYaleUniversityinDecember.“IwasjustyellinginshockwhenIheardtheYaleacceptancevideo,”Mr.McFarlandsaid,recallingthat,earlierthatday,he’dhadadisappointingtrackpractice,gottenintoanargumentwithafriendandhadcartrouble.Afterthat,theotheracceptancestrickledin:PrincetonUniversity,ColumbiaUniversity,theUniversityofPennsylvania,BrownUniversity,DartmouthCollege,CornellUniversityandHarvardUniversity.Heopenedthemallinasinglesitting.“IwasalonewithmysisterinmyroomandopenedalltheIvyLeagueschoolsonebyone,”hesaid,addingthatheyelledalittlelouderwitheachacceptance.“WhenIopenedHarvardasthelastone,mysisterandIrantomydoganddancedaround.”(Aweekafterthisstorywasfirstpublished,Mr.McFarlandrevealedhisdecision:HeplanstoattendYale.)Mr.McFarlandwillgraduateasthevaledictorianofhisclassatStantonCollegePreparatorySchool,apublicschoolwithabout1,500studentsinJacksonville,atarescheduledceremonynowtentativelysetforJuly.Anexceptionalstudentwhoenjoyswriting,hehasaweighted4.98grade-pointaverage.Becauseofhisinterestinlanguages,hiscourseloadhissenioryearincludedclassesinFrench,SpanishandArabic.“I’mverymuchself-motivatedanddriven,”hesaid,notingthathelivedwithhismother,DonabelSantiago,whoisoriginallyfromthePhilippines,andhissister,15,andbrother,21.“Ineverwantedtoaddanyadditionalstresstoherlifeasshe’salreadyhadtosacrificesomuch,soIlearnedtobereallyindependentatayoungage.”TheDuvalCountyPublicSchoolsannouncedMr.McFarland’sIvyacceptancesonTwitterlastweekwithanall-capsmessage:“CONGRATULATIONS!”ThedistrictaddedthatMr.McFarlandwas“thenewestmemberofaveryexclusiveclub:The‘IWasAcceptedintoEveryIvyLeagueUniversityInTheCountryClub.’”ThepostwasaccompaniedbyaphotoofasmilingMr.McFarlandholdingasmallYalepennantanda“WelcometoYale”brochure.HisacceptanceletterswerenotlimitedtotheIvyLeague.Inall,Mr.McFarlandwasacceptedat17collegesanduniversities.TheyincludeDukeUniversity,EmoryUniversityandtheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,accordingtotheDuvalCountyPublicSchools.Healsolandedseveralfullscholarships,includingtoFloridaStateUniversityandtheUniversityofFlorida.“Whenhecalledmeyelling,Ijustbecamesohappy,cried,andwassoveryproud,”Ms.Santiago,acardiacsonographer,recalled.“IneverdoubtedCraigwouldbeacceptedintoalltheseschools,”sheadded.Visitstocollegecampuseshavebeenlimitedbecauseofthecoronaviruspandemic,leavingMr.McFarland,likeotherhighschoolseniors,torelyonvirtualonlinetours.“TheonlymetricsI’vereallyhadtonarrowmycollegelistarethesevirtualcampustoursandgettingintouchwithcurrentstudents,”hesaid.“Thebiggestchallengetome,”headded,“isjustalltheunknownanduncertaintyoftheregionsthatallthesereallygoodschoolsarein.IhaveneverbeenanywhereintheUnitedStatesoutsideofFlorida,soIhavenocluehowtheweather,peopleandenvironmentareinNewEnglandandCalifornia.”BeforecommittingtoYale,Mr.McFarlandnarrowedhislisttofour,includingFloridaStateUniversity,HarvardandStanfordUniversity.Hesaidheplannedtostudybiochemistryandlinguistics,butwasnotsurewhetherhewantedtogointolawormedicine,perhapsworkingwithDoctorsWithoutBorders.“IknowforafactthatwhereverIgo,”hesaid,“Idohopetodothemostgood.”AdvertisementContinuereadingthemainstory