The Long Island kid who was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools has revealed that he's accepting Yale University.
Kwasi Enin made the eagerly awaited announcement at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at William Floyd High School, where he was surrounded by family, friends and the teachers who helped him achieve his astounding success. “I'm excited and proud to announce that this fall I will become a member of the Yale class of 2018,” he said to cheers from teachers and students present at the HS gym.
He said a visit to the campus helped him make up his mind. “My Bull Dog Days experience last week was incredible. I met geniuses from all over the world. And everyone was so friendly and inviting. And I believe that their deep appreciation and love for music, like I have, was very critical,” he said.
He said financial aid was a very important factor for him — and that all schools offered the same package.
Enin became a national sensation when his rarely accomplished feat was revealed, and said he decided to announce his decision at a press conference so he could move past the hooplah and focus on his studies for the rest of the year.
The first generation American has a straight-A average, scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT, and aced 11 advanced placement classes.
He's also a shot putter, viola player and a cappella singer who volunteers in Stony Brook University Hospital's radiology department, and is revered by his teachers and classmates as being a great kid.
"He's going to be a leader in whatever he chooses," the Mastic, L.I., school's guidance counselor, Nancy Winkler, gushed earlier this month.
The humble high-schooler has said he was just hedging his bets when he applied en masse to the Ivies — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth College, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale.
"By applying to all eight, I figured it would better the chances of getting into one," he said.
His first acceptance letter came from Princeton in December — and then they just kept coming.
The last letter arrived in late March, from Harvard.
"I thought Harvard would be the one to reject me," he said. "They're Harvard." Enin's feat is especially impressive given that Ivy League schools accepted less than 9% of all applicants for the class of 2018, ranging from 5.9% at Harvard to 14% at Cornell.
The son of immigrant nurses from Ghana, Enin, 17, has said he planned on becoming a doctor.
"I'm thinking of being a cardiologist or neurologist," said Enin, who lives in Shirley. "A doctor is a community leader, a protector, someone who people turn to ... when they need help."
He'd said he'd been leaning towards Yale because of its strong reputation in music and medicine, particularly its biomedical engineering program. "I want the passion of music and medicine to be part of my life wherever I go," he said.
His school's principal, Barbara Butler, has called her student an inspiration. "I heard other kids remarking about him — 'I want to do that,'" she said. "It couldn't have happened to a better kid. He's such a well-rounded, humble and modest young man."
