Photo credit: The Gilman School
Gilman School senior Mekhi Johnson just became one of the few students in the country to accomplish the Ivy League Sweep.
The 17-year-old Baltimore student found out he was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools on March 28, when the schools released their admissions decisions. His first acceptance was from Yale, second and third, from Columbia and Cornell, then acceptances from Harvard and the other four (Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania) followed.
“As soon as I saw I got into Harvard, my mom started screaming,” The Baltimore Sun reported Johnson saying. “She started yelling, ‘My son just got into Harvard,’ and everyone in the restaurant started clapping.”
Johnson recalled: “I didn’t have words then, and I don’t have words now. I just felt extraordinary.”
After hearing a story on the radio about a student getting into all eight Ivy League schools, then 6-year-old Johnson told his mother, Tawana Thomas Johnson, “I want to do that.”
“Even at six, he was pretty serious and goal-oriented, she said. “He kept this idea in front of him through all those years. It’s a wonderful thing and is certainly a testament to what you can do when you set your mind to it.”
Johnson, who has a 98.1 average, plans to major in political science, and later attend law school. He hopes to one day use his platform to fight against systemic racism. The Baltimore Sun reported that “Johnson represents the fourth generation in his family to attend college. His great-grandmother attended the prestigious New York University…Johnson said that legacy drives him to make his family proud.”
Mekhi, as the first person student from the Gilman School to achieve the Ivy League sweep, we’re sure your family could not be more proud of you and your accomplishments. Congratulations!