As controversy continues over privileged parents paying to get their kids into elite colleges, the work of one Detroit high schooler who chose to do it the old-fashioned way is apparently paying off.
Michael Love, a senior at Cornerstone Health and Technology High School, applied to more than 50 colleges, according to Detroit station WXYZ, and has been admitted to 41 of them. He has also received more than $300,000 in scholarships, and he says he owes his success to those who doubted him.
READ MORE: North Carolina teen earns $4.5 million in scholarships and gets into 113 colleges
“I got told a lot when I was younger, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do that. So I just wanted to show people I’m better than what they think I am,” Michael said.
Although Love remained busy with extracurricular activities including basketball, the National Honor Society and an after school job, he still managed to apply to a large number of colleges. Even his mom thought he may be taking on too much by applying to so many schools. “I thought he was crazy when he told me he was applying to so many schools,” said Micole Ewing, Michael’s mother.
“Every time I open up a letter, I jumped up and down, we praised God and everything. I’m super proud of him,” Ewing said.
READ MORE: Morehouse professor goes viral after carrying student’s baby during lecture
Love says he aspires to be an aerospace engineer, but he wasn’t always so sure of his academic future.
“I just wanted to improve myself because I didn’t know what I was going to do after high school,” Michael said.
Love’s variety of acceptance letters from colleges and barrel full of scholarship money will have him far away from paying student loans. But he was also recently offered a full ride to a college and his mother couldn’t have been more surprised.
“Once he told me, my mouth just dropped. I just started crying,” recalled his mother.
Love is still undecided about what college he will attend in the fall.
READ MORE: Students of color urge lawmakers to bring more sports to their schools