Florida teen accepted into 27 universities, receives $4M in scholarships

Jonathan Walker, a high school senior from Florida, has been accepted into 27 colleges and universities including Harvard, Stanford and MIT. The teen has also received $4 million in scholarships.

In an interview with ABC News, Walker shared his excitement about the scholarship offers, saying, “It was just a surprise just to see that they were interested in me and they wanted me to attend their institution.”

The teen explained that he had a likeness for all the schools and he didn’t apply to any place he didn’t feel he’ll be happy. “Every school on my list, I could see myself there, and so I didn’t apply to anywhere that I don’t think I could be happy, so I just made a list and started to apply,” he shared.

And though he’s spoiled for choice at the moment, Walker said he’s managed to trim down the offers. “I’ve been able to narrow it down slightly… hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be able to make a pretty confident decision,” he said, adding that he has a few thoughts on the course he’ll major.

“I’m mostly interested in engineering as well entrepreneurship, hopefully going down like a nonprofit route, creating devices to help people. But I’m also exploring the possibility of creating my own major since I have a ton of different interests,” Walker said.

Walker explained that his interest in engineering initially stemmed from a chemistry gift set his parents got for him. “My parents brought me a chemistry set a couple of years ago… I found a way to channel that curiosity into science and that soon blossomed into engineering. And then from there I really learned that I could use engineering to help people,” he said.

“And so I just became super interested in creating devices that could help disadvantaged communities and people going through difficult problems.”

The brilliant teen is also working on an invention that could allow blind and deaf people to effectively communicate with other people. “I’ve been blessed with God, with a lot of ability, and so I mean I just want to take the time and use it to the fullest extent and just affect others positively, affect them and try and inspire other people,” he said. “And so I’m just thankful for the position I’ve been put in.”