27 colleges. Imagine being this Florida teen facing that choice. Where to go?
Jonathan Walker, a senior from Rutherford High School applied to 27 colleges. And all 27 accepted him including prestigious institutes in the country. Walker also has over $4 million in scholarship offers.
“It’s so crazy to think about, that I applied to all these colleges and I got in because that’s such a rare thing to occur. But the fact that it did happen, I’m so excited about it,” said the 18-year-old.
Jonathan took his time during the application stage weighing all his options carefully.
“It’s really just like writing a set of essays for one college and then tweaking them specifically for the colleges,” he said.
Ivy League universities like Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania accepted his application. Jonathan has under a month to decide, so he’s taking the time to visit all the colleges.
“The whirlwind of like decisions coming back, that’s over now,” Jonathan said. “So I’ve just really been trying to soak it in just how much of a blessing that this is that I got into these colleges. So just like sitting back, smelling the roses.”
Jonathan is in the International Baccalaureate Program. That means in his junior and senior years, he finished college-level classes in school.
Students are given a chance to take all subjects with college credits once they complete multiple assessments.
Jonathan has plans of pursuing a career where he can make medical devices for underprivileged communities. Walker is already working on multiple patents.
He just wants to help people.
Jonathan has invented a braille system. He also thought of an air filter to turn gas emissions into oxygen, and then there’s a pill dispenser to keep track of an individual’s medications.
“Right now, I’m very interested in engineering and entrepreneurship,” Jonathan said. “I’ve always loved creating devices to help people so I definitely want to further that. I’m looking at majoring in electrical engineering and possibly biomedical engineering to hopefully develop medical technology in order to help disadvantaged communities that have health problems.”
He is working to create his own major with other colleges. Jonathan plans to study engineering, business and psychology, and computer science.
Walker has plans of starting his own company.
“Jonathan has not been a typical student. He has continued to persevere despite all the challenges that we faced you know with the hurricane,” said Rutherford High School IB and AP Coordinator Cathy Rutland.
Jonathan loves sports too. He played on the Rams football team all while maintaining a GPA of 4.85. And he did that for four years.
Jonathan told aspiring applicants that the key is to put in the hard work and make sure they are passionate. With his credentials, other students would do well to listen.
“Keep grinding no matter what,” he said.
Jonathan is surely going places. So watch out for an amazing career from this bright young man.
Learn more about Jonathan’s journey below!
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