A Baltimore teen was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools, fulfilling a dream he has harbored since he was 6 years old, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The Ivy League schools received over 280,000 applications last year with fewer than five students getting into all eight universities, but 17-year-old Mekhi Johnson of the Gilman School is one of them, the newspaper noted.
Johnson said that when he was about 6 he heard a radio report about someone who got into all eight schools and told his mom, "I'm going to do that one day," ABC affiliate WMAR-TV reported.
Armed with a dream and heaps of determination, Johnson set about obtaining this goal.
He recalled coming home from school and spending hours doing his homework, often staying up late to complete research, NBC affiliate WBAL-TV said.
He also enlisted in various extra-curricular activities and spends his free time volunteering, and his efforts have paid off.
The teen was accepted into Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.
Upon finding out about his admissions acceptance, Johnson said he could not believe it.
"When I opened the very last one, I just said oh my God, no! No, this isn't real," he said, according to WMAR-TV. "I checked back to make sure I didn't read anything wrong, there were no typos anywhere."
Johnson has not yet decided which university he will attend but hopes to study political science and ultimately attend law school so that he could help combat systematic racism.
"Going to law school seems like an effective way to do that," he said.
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