Filipino American student Craig McFarland got to pick out of every college he applied for
As the valedictorian of his high school Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, Florida, Esquire Philippines, reported that he graduated at the top of his class with a 4.98 GPA.
His first acceptance started back in December from Yale University.
“I was just yelling in shock when I heard the Yale acceptance video,” he told the New York Times.
Gradually, the 7 other Ivy League acceptances came in: “Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University and Harvard University.”
McFarland was with his sister when he opened the letters, saying that he “yelled a little louder with each acceptance.”
“When I opened Harvard as the last one, my sister and I ran to my dog and danced around.”
The teen credited his accomplishments to his self-motivation and driven nature, adding his mother, Donabel Santiago, who is a Philippine native, as another motivator.
“I never wanted to add any additional stress to her life as she’s already had to sacrifice so much, so I learned to be really independent at a young age,” he said.
According to the Duval County Public Schools, some of the other colleges he was accepted into include “Duke University, Emory University, Georgia Tech, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Stanford University.”
He’s also received full-ride scholarships to “Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of North Florida, and the University of South Florida.”
McFarland hasn’t decided which college to attend, but he’s narrowed his top picks down to Florida State University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Yale University. He wants to pursue a degree in biochemistry, minoring in philosophy or linguistics. The teen is “considering a career in medicine or law.”
