High school graduate in Georgia offered more than $17 million in scholarships – UK Times

A high school student appeared to break a national record this year after he received 264 college acceptance letters and more than $17 million in scholarships.

Before he graduated from Woodland High School in McDonough, Georgia, Patrick Pruitt wanted to see what would happen if he applied to 50 schools, even though the College Board — the U.S. nonprofit organization that connects students to universities via standardized testing and other programs — recommends applying to five to eight institutions.

“You want to open yourself up to as many opportunities as possible,” he said, according to a press release from the high school. “I just used what strengths I had to offer.”

Pruitt started the application process by signing up for the College Board’s Direct Admissions program, where schools offer acceptances to students based on their academic profiles. According to the release, he used the Common App to quickly apply to schools that had an environmental science or similar major.

His routine included finding more colleges and filling out the forms after school. Most of his application fees were waived, according to his mother, Alicia Brantley.

Pruitt had many high school career highlights to mention on his application, including an unweighted GPA of 3.8 and an SAT score of 1200, which qualified him for free tuition at any public college or university in Georgia. He was also a varsity cross-country and track runner.

Once the first round of college acceptance letters and the scholarship offers came in, he set a new goal of applying to 100 schools. However, he later read about 2024 high school graduate Madison Crowell, who holds a national record with 231 college acceptances and about $15 million in scholarships, and decided to try to best her.

With the support of his guidance counselor, family members, and the teachers who wrote him letters of recommendation, Pruitt was completing his applications in only five minutes.

“Once you get the hang of what they’re looking for, it’s just straightforward from then on,” he said. “Once I got my first acceptance, I just kept going for the same format, and it worked out in my favor.”

Pruitt ultimately applied to 270 colleges and universities, and was accepted into all except six of them. Among the rejections was his “dream school” and the only Ivy League institution he applied to: Dartmouth College.

After weighing his acceptances, he considered attending Binghamton University, Berry College, the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh. The teenager, who graduated in the top 10 percent of his class, will be going to Knox College, a liberal arts school in Illinois. His financial aid package was worth $260,000 over four years, leaving him to pay only $5,000 per term.

After receiving the 264 acceptances, Pruitt shared his advice to fellow students applying for one or many colleges, saying, “Don’t try to sugarcoat anything. Don’t try to over-impress, because if you do that, there’s no way it’s going to sound like you.

“Be the authentic, original person that you want to be. If you make efforts to do what you want to do, you have a great chance of being where you want to be in the near future.”