Saheela Ibraheem, 16, New Jersey, USA
At just 15 years old, Saheela Ibraheem was accepted into Harvard University, which makes her among the youngest students ever to attend that school.
But that’s not the most impressive part, Saheela was accepted at 12 other colleges, including MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Brown, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Chicago.
In the end, Saheela chose Harvard, based on her seven-year-old brother’s advice. (Hint: He wants to attend Harvard, someday.)
Saheela’s Nigerian parents, totally supportive of the young scholar, sometimes taught her subjects the schools didn’t offer. Saheela believes the key to success is knowing what you love to learn as early as possible, a knowledge she says she came to at age five.
“If you are passionate about what you do, and I am passionate about many things, especially math and science, it will work out well.” The teen is also interested in languages, and knows Yoruba, Arabic, Spanish, and Latin, in addition to English.
On the lighter side, Saheela plays softball, soccer, and the trombone. She also sings in the school choir and serves as president of the school’s investment club.
She has a SAT score of 2,340 SAT (a perfect 800 on the math section, a 790 in writing and a 750 in reading). Saheela plans to major in either neurobiology or neuroscience, and hopes to become a scientist in order to study how the brain works.
As for her own brain, Saheela claims she is nothing special. “I try my best in everything I do,” Saheela said. “Anyone who’s motivated can work wonders.”
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