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A Georgia teen has been accepted into 53 colleges and earned $1.8 million in scholarships, PEOPLE reports.
Jada-Symone Batichon, 18, recently graduated from Wheeler High, where she maintained a 4.0 grade-point average while participating in several extracurricular activities, including student government, cheerleading, and the National Honor Society.
Batichon decided to apply to dozens of schools in pursuit of scholarship offers.
“I didn’t want to go into debt. My mom told me interest rates are high. A lot of people are stuck paying loans, and she is still paying hers. … I wanted the upper hand in that — my choice.”
She ultimately earned 53 acceptances out of the 58 colleges she applied for this year and racked up $1.8 million in scholarships.
“All of it paid off,” Batichon said.
“It’s everything I have worked hard for,” she added. “My mom and dad always talked about how they were the first to go to college, so that always motivated me.”
Batichon said her mom, Claudia, a teacher at her high school and head of THINK Protégé, an independent educational consulting initiative for college and career readiness, played a big role in her success.
“Even though I’m a daughter, I’m a client,” the 18-year-old said.
Batichon began taking high school courses in middle school, her mom said.
“She was basically done with a semester-and-a-half of high school while she was in middle school,” Claudia said. “By the time she got to junior year [at Wheeler], her guidance counselor was like, ‘There’s nothing else left here for her to take.’"
Though she could’ve graduated earlier, Claudia wanted to make sure her daughter had the full high school experience. Batichon took courses at KSU and Chattahoochee Technical College, where she earned her certification as a nursing assistant, all while in high school.
Out of all of her acceptances, Batichon decided to attend the University of Alabama, one of the first schools she ever visited.
"Roll tide,” she said.
The 18-year-old plans to study business management and hopes to earn her undergraduate and master’s degrees within four years.
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