• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • The State Of R&B
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · News

Miami Teen Received Acceptances From All 8 Ivy League Schools

First-generation Nigerian-American, Ashley Adirika, was accepted to 15 schools, including the Elite Eight.
Miami Teen Received Acceptances From All 8 Ivy League Schools
By Rayna Reid Rayford · Updated June 13, 2022

At 17 years old, Ashley Adirika has already achieved a lifelong goal after dreaming for years about attending an Ivy League school. But things got a bit tricky for Adirika, as she was accepted to all eight Ivies.

On that “fateful spring day when the prestigious schools all announce their first-year admission decisions, Ashley opened eight tabs on her computer – one for each’s applicants portal. One acceptance letter popped up. Then another. And another. Until she had them all,” CNN reports.

According to Business Insider, “[t]he chance of one high school student getting accepted into one U.S. Ivy League school can range anywhere from five percent to 15 percent, depending on the school.” With her eight acceptances, she is joining “an exclusive group.”

“I just decided to shoot my shot at all of them and see if it would land. And I had no idea that I would get accepted into all of them…On Ivy Day, I remember crying a lot and just being extremely surprised,” she said.

Adirika spoke with ABC about reacting to the news, “[t]he tears just started to come out. Like they started to flow out…My siblings and I were just really excited, like screaming, jumping around. It was crazy.”

In addition to her Ivy acceptances, it is unsurprising that Ashley was also accepted to seven other elite universities, including Vanderbilt, Emory, and Stanford.

While Adirika was initially leaning towards Yale, the teen picked Harvard, where she plans to major in government. She said that after doing “further research for what I want to do specifically, which is explorations in policy and social policy and things of that nature, Harvard just had a better program.”

What does she hope to accomplish with her degree? For now, Adirika says, “I am really passionate about policy and using policy to empower communities. And so, in the short term, for me, that looks like becoming a lawyer…But in the long term, I want to use that as a platform to do work in policy.”

Adirika graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School, where she was president of the student council and a speaker at her graduation ceremony. On top of her academic accolades, she has constantly strived to make “an impact beyond her campus” and thus started Our Story Our Worth—an organization that provides mentorship, confidence-building and sisterhood to girls and young women of color.

She credits her time on the debate team, which she was recruited to join in the 8th grade, to helping her build confidence about making her “voice heard.”

She told local ABC news affiliate, “I’m someone who loves to learn new things, and so debate gave me that opportunity. But more than anything, it just gave me the platform to talk about things that I believed in and talk about things that were important to me. And so that is something that I am just forever indebted to Carol City for introducing me to that platform.”

The Nigerian-American, first-generation student also effusively thanks her mother and older sisters for their role in inspiring and encouraging her to pursue her passions in life. “They empowered me and supported me throughout the entire way. So whatever dream I have, big or small, they’ve just been my No. 1 fans.”

TOPICS:  Ivy League
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now