WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — The odds of getting into an Ivy League University? About 5 percent. Now, a DC senior has just been accepted in a clean sweep to all eight of them.
Samantha O’Sullivan said she applied to a bunch of universities with the hope of narrowing down the decision making process.
"I thought that I’d just apply to all of them and see where I got in, and hopefully that would make my decision for me," said O’Sullivan.
Instead, she was accepted to all the Ivy League Universities---and four others.
Her mother, Melody Webb, said when she studies she is a force to be reckoned with: she calls it grinding.
“She’ll put her earphones in and listen to music and she spends hours writing notecards, and there are times when we have to tell her Sam, stop! It’s time to go to bed.”
It has payed off. She earned a 4.34 GPA. Her near-perfect SAT score puts her in the 99th percentile.
She completed 10 AP courses. She got the rules changed at her DC public high school, School Without Walls, so she could complete AP math in grade 10. She then went on to take 5 math classes at George Washington University.
Her school counselor, Hafsatu Iro, said though O’Sullivan’s passion is math and science, she is truly a well-rounded student. “She excels at all subjects.”
But that’s just the academics. O’Sullivan is also involved in her school and community. She’s been class president 3 years running. She’s a teen educator at the Air and Space museum. She also created a club to get African-American girls interested in STEM subjects.
O’Sullivan said, for now, she thinks she’d like to become an astronaut. But she also wants to keep sharing her passion for learning with other young girls.
“They don’t feel like they’re good at math or science, and I really feel like that’s because nobody told them they are. And I think it’s all about just believing in yourself. There’s no who’s really born being good at math or physics. It’s something that I really hope to do.”
As for her tough decision, the deadline for choosing a school is May 1.
