Getting the opportunity to join an Ivy League school in the US is no mean feat. Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Cornell are considered top institutions worldwide and students fiercely compete to get into them.
Ivy League schools get thousands of applications annually. Earlier this year in January, Harvard received 40,248 applications. After combing through and narrowing down the qualified applicants, only 1,980 got in.
Among them was American-born Kenyan boy Emmanuel Gitu. The senior at Springfield High School in Delaware County is making headlines in the US after being one of the few students to get into 31 colleges, including 4 Ivy League institutions.
Spoilt for choice on his choice of university, Gitu has chosen to attend Harvard University after the summer break to study neuroscience.
Speaking in an interview with CBS News, Emmanuel explained that his choice of course was inspired by his brother Ian Gitu, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
This neurological and developmental condition affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave. He hopes his campus years will give him a revelation as to why people with autism think differently.
“I believe if we can understand the key biological changes in the brain and physiology of people with autism spectrum disorder, I think we can give them better-specialised therapy treatment,” he spoke in his CBS News interview.
The Chief Academic Officer at Springfield High School, Monica Conlin, told CBS News that Emmanuel’s love of learning was clear since he joined for his freshman year.
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“Emmanuel did get into more Ivy League universities than any other student we’ve had in — honestly I couldn’t say how many years it’s been — but he truly has made history here at Springfield High School,” she said.
Emmanuel’s mother, Anne Gitu expressed her pride, acknowledging that her son was in the 4.92% of the 40,248 applicants to Harvard College who won a coveted place in the Class of 2024.
“I am very proud of him,” she said.
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