Bensalem High School senior goes viral after receiving 5 Ivy League acceptance letters
The Brief
A video is going viral on TikTok, with millions of views about a Pennsylvania high school senior who got accepted into five Ivy League universities.
She's hoping to inspire other young girls.
FOX 29's JoAnn Pileggi got a chance to meet her.
BENSALEM, Pa. - Reaching the Ivy League is for the best and brightest and well-rounded students, and for the tens of thousands who apply, only a fraction get in. Here, though, one student has five Ivy offers!
What we know
"I applied to, yes, seven. I was expecting zero in all reality. I was not expected to get into any," said Victoria Mathieu, who received five Ivy acceptances.
Victoria Mathieu, an 18-year-old Bensalem High School senior, aimed high by applying to seven of the eight Ivy League universities, where acceptance rates are in the single digits.
The straight-A student had an impressive activities list and was captain of the step team.
"Brilliant, self-sufficient, she's someone who speaks for herself. She's confident, someone I think if I had a daughter, I'd want them to look up to," said Dana Harrison, her high school guidance counselor.
Victoria was awestruck when she opened her college portals on Ivy Day last month, and her TikTok went viral.
She opened Columbia first because she'd received a likely letter.
Second was Dartmouth, where she was waitlisted. And then the next four!
"It was Cornell, Brown, Yale, and UPenn, four in a row. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack," Victoria said.
"I was always encouraging her to push yourself and see where it leads," said Pierre Mathieu, Victoria's father.
Victoria's role models are her parents, both super proud of their daughter. Both immigrants who lived the American dream, went to college, and instilled a serious work ethic and empathy for the world around her, volunteering and getting involved in social impact clubs.
"It's not like I could've worked harder. I laid everything out on the table. I was proud of the work I submitted," Victoria added.
Victoria had no rejections!
She is waitlisted at Harvard and Dartmouth.
What's next
Decision day is Thursday, and she's leaning towards Yale.
She eventually wants to go to law school and plans to mentor middle school students this summer to help them achieve their academic goals.
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