In the past month, two Nigerian-born US high school students were accepted into all eight Ivy League schools.
First, it was Ifeoma White-Thorpe then Jude Okonkwo also followed suit, and now, Nina Uzoigwe, a senior at Stuyvesant High School, has joined the elite group of bright minds.
She has been accepted by seven Ivy League schools – Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, UPenn, Columbia, Princeton and Yale.
Here are some things to know about her.
1. Nina is involved with Bio Regeneron Research and has written a research paper on fat metabolism and longevity in C. elegans. She’s a member of the National Honors Society branch at Stuy and also a cheerleader. She is the president of the Black Students League.
2. Her interest in research and science was piqued after she took the AP Biology course and started reading publications.
“There was one publication, written by Dr. Alicia Melendez, that really caught my attention. It discussed how C. elegans responded to environmental challenges by undergoing a specialised third larval stage that makes them live longer,” she said.
3. Although Nina has not made up her mind on which of the Ivy League schools to settle for, she plans on studying molecular/developmental biology and pre-med.
The major factor that will determine her choice is what school offers the best package, Nina says.
4. The soon-to-be university freshman has Alicia Melendez as a research mentor and Nicole Jarrett, class of ’98, as alumni mentor.
Nina says having Jarrett as a mentor has been “amazing”, especially with the help she has rendered on her research paper. “She read my research paper recently and provided me with several edits and suggestions that made my entry all the more comprehensible.”
5. Nina comes from a large family and believes that her acceptance into seven Ivy League schools will ease their “burden”.
“I have five younger siblings. I don’t want the idea of paying for college to be a huge burden,” she told her school’s website.
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