Georgia Student Accepted to Nearly 50 Colleges, Gets $600K in Scholarship Offers

A Georgia high school student with a 4.0-grade point average (GPA) has been accepted to nearly 50 colleges while receiving $600,000 in scholarship offers.

Seventeen-year-old Kenyari Sawyer is a senior at Monroe High School in Albany, Georgia, and started the college application process last Summer, she told WFXL.

Early in the process, she received a rejection letter which she admits shook her confidence. 

“I thought I wasn’t smart enough. It’s a hard process and I have been denied by one of my schools, and it was Mercer University,” she told WALB. “And so after I got denied, I just thought I might not get accepted into anymore. It was a setback.”

But 48 acceptance letters and $600,000 in scholarship offers later, according to WFXL, Sawyer’s future is looking as bright as can be. 

She has been accepted to Howard University, Spelman College, and the University of Georgia, which are just a few of the top schools she is considering attending, WALB reports. She has received the University of Georgia Certificate of Merit, according to WSBTV.

Sawyer says she gets much of her work ethic and motivation from her mother and who made sacrifices for her while growing up.

“I wanted to go to school because she wasn’t able to at the time. She was only able to receive her associate’s degree but it was at a later time because she had to take care of me,” said Sawyer. 

Frederick Polite, principal of Monroe High School, told WALB that Sawyer is a role model and an inspiration to her classmates.

That’s what we expect from all of our students at Monroe High School. We’re pushing every student to be college and career-ready. She’s on that college side and she’s getting the other classmates involved. She’s that person that’s standing in front of them to make sure her peers are pulled up with her.

She also attends Albany State University in a dual-enrollment program.

“I’m taking AP English and Composition, AP Biology, and AP Statistics. At Albany Tech, I recently just took Juvenile Delinquency, but I am done with that class now. Now, I am taking a survey of American History,” Sawyer told WFXL.

She has her eyes set on majoring in criminal justice, becoming a defense attorney, and starting her own law firm, WALB reports.

Last month, the 17-year-old held an informational session at her high school, where she shared tips with other students on how to succeed.

“Do not be scared and go for what you want,” she said, per WFXL. “If you want it, go for it, and do not let people talk down on you. You said I can’t do this, but I can and I’m going to show you.”