Kelli Higgins was offered admission to many esteemed universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. As the class valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA, she faced a difficult decision.
The 17-year-old senior at Jackson High School told Mlive, “It was quite the process of trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to look for in my college education.”
Before she learned on March 28, on National Ivy Day, that she had made the shortlist for three Ivy League schools, she had already been accepted to Harvard University in December.
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The teen told the publication that she made her decision after considering the dorm living arrangements and the culture of each school’s surrounding location. She also took into account her previous experiences with several of the schools, such as summer learning programs at Harvard and Yale, as well as online courses at Columbia.
Finally, she decided on Harvard, noting her second campus visit in April as the motivation she needed to make the choice.
Higgins was among 692 prospective students to be accepted into Harvard’s class of 2028, out of about 8,000 early applicants, an experience she deems most inspiring.
She expressed, “It feels absolutely great. To have success like (Michelle Obama) and to now know that I’m sort of in the position where I can obtain that level of success career-wise and that I can also kind of have her role one day to inspire other young Black women and scholars, just means a lot to me.”
Higgins has spent the last three years actively participating in her school’s activities, community connections, and advocacy and youth development organizations. She attributes her achievement to all the work she put into her education and extracurricular activities during high school.
In addition to participating in the student government and newspaper staff at her high school, she completed over ten advanced placement courses.
Additionally, the pacesetter was a member of the Jackson, Missouri, Youth Council. She intends to study government when she attends Harvard in the fall.
