Harold Ekeh - A Nigerian - Accepted By 8 Ivy League Schools Including 5 Others

High school senior Harold Ekeh didn't just get into one Ivy League university. He was accepted into all eight.
Now comes the really hard part: Deciding where to go. He actually got into all 13 schools he applied to, including MIT and Johns Hopkins.

Ekeh was born in Nigeria and came to the United States when he was eight. He wrote his main college essay about the struggle to adjust, including being clueless in U.S. history classes at school. He said he would ask his parents repeatedly why they moved.

"We had a fairly comfortable life in Nigeria, but they told me we moved to America for the opportunities like the educational opportunities," he recalled.

He wants to major in neurobiology or chemistry in college and later become doctor and, ultimately, a neurosurgeon. He was named a 2015 Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist earlier this year for his research on how the acid DHA can slow Alzheimer's.

For Ekeh, the cause is personal. His grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he was 11. One of his proudest moments was running home to tell his mother and aunts about the breakthroughs he was finding with DHA.

Outside of the lab, Ekeh directs a youth choir at his church, plays the drums, is part of Key Club and Model UN and was elected to the Homecoming court. He speaks Igbo and Spanish and has a 100.5% GPA.