17-year-old Michael Brown, a senior at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas, has just achieved the astounding and elusive “sweep”: Brown was accepted into every one of the top 20 universities he applied to, which includes all eight of the country’s Ivy League institutions.
Brown was offered a full ride to all of the colleges, through a combination of financial- and merit-based scholarships.
Micheal Brown, now choosing among elite universities like Harvard, Yale and Stanford, said he hoped to one day become a lawyer, perhaps a public defender. https://t.co/Be16Uk5cem
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) April 2, 2018
What did it take for Brown to achieve this impressive feat? According to the New York Times, “Mr. Brown had a 4.68 grade point average when he applied to college, an SAT score of 1540 out of 1600 and an ACT score of 34 out of 36. He was on the school debate team, had done internships and was part of school activities like Key Club.”
However, Brown was certainly not expecting such a warm welcome from these prospective universities — as evidenced by the video of his reaction to his Stanford acceptance, which has since gone viral.
In the video, Brown takes a look at the online portal for a Stanford early admission decision, and promptly shrieks in disbelief before being engulfed in a group hug by his friends.
Here’s how Micheal Brown celebrated his acceptance to Stanford. The 17-year-old from Houston, Texas, applied to 20 of the best universities in the US and was admitted to every single one with a full ride — and $260,000 in additional scholarship offers https://t.co/HrXpq9vX2Y pic.twitter.com/oWMro4DAYS
— CNN (@CNN) April 2, 2018
People were choked up by the video and found Brown’s achievement to be utterly inspiring.
Way to go dude. Will look forward to voting for President Michael Brown in 20 years or so. Well done! https://t.co/Ha5fdj9QOM
— The Muslim Marine? (@MuslimMarine) March 31, 2018
Heartwarming story. Especially when you think of what happened to another Michael Brown. https://t.co/NGVFCBA69X
— Narayan Lakshman (@narlak) March 31, 2018
It took my every last effort to fill out 3 college applications. This student filled out 20!!
Wait. He got accepted into ALL of them? No way.
Harvard, Stanford, Yale?
Full rides?!
Plus $200k?!!
*faints*https://t.co/ctl7WVDYvd
— Hugh Howey (@hughhowey) March 31, 2018
Wow just think about how excited Brown would have been if the letter was from @UCBerkeley! ? #GoBears
(But seriously SUPER CONGRATULATIONS to Michael Brown and this well earned accomplishment. Your success is a win for everyone. Great work! Lead the way!) https://t.co/VawZn8GzdC
— Mike Mongo (@MikeMongo) March 31, 2018
Nice to hear some good news. This Michael Brown, whose Mom works 2 jobs as a chemical dependency counselor, is going to college.
He applied to 20 of the best colleges — and got a full ride to all of them, with $260,000 in additional scholarships. ??https://t.co/BDMpNZk1c2
— Chase Masterson (@ChaseMasterson) March 31, 2018
Brown’s mother, a drug counselor, says that she’s pulling for her son to attend Stanford, which has been his dream school for years, or Harvard. However, Michael has not yet made a decision.
“Wherever he goes,” the New York Times reports, “Mr. Brown said he plans to major in political science and hopes to one day become a lawyer, perhaps a public defender.”