Louisiana high school senior offered $3.7 million in scholarships
A Louisiana high school student has been offered millions of dollars in scholarships after she was accepted into more than 100 colleges.
Antoinette Love, a senior at the International High School of New Orleans, was unanimously accepted into each of the 115 schools she applied to and has been presented with a total of $3.7 million in scholarships, the school announced on Facebook.
Love plans to begin college in the fall and major in elementary education, her mother, Yolanda Love, told NOLA.com. Next week, she will begin touring several colleges in an effort to narrow down her choices, and she is planning to make a decision by May 1.
Love advised other college hopefuls on the brink of filling out applications to seek out as many fee waivers as possible and to only apply to schools that they "really want" to attend, she told NOLA.com.
The savvy student used several resources to help her since she began her quest for a higher education in September, her mother said. In addition to seeking advice from school counselors, Love used the Common Application, a tool that allows students to apply to more than 800 colleges and universities around the country, as well as the Common Black College Application, which she used to apply to 50 historically black universities, her mother said.
After Love received a $72,000 scholarship from the first school she was accepted to, a "trickle effect" occurred, and the acceptance letters and scholarship offers began pouring in, her mother said. But, none of the scholarships so far would give Love a full ride to college.
International High School of New Orleans Head of School Sean Wilson described Love to NOLA.com as a "hard-working scholar" and gifted painter, adding that she is also eager to help her classmates. In addition, her resume is filled with extracurriculars, and she has been inducted into the National Senior Beta Club, the National Honor Society, the National English Honor Society and Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, according to NOLA.com. She also spent two semesters in dual enrollment at Delgado Community College.
When Love isn't excelling at school, she is helping to care for her four younger siblings, who are between the ages of 9 and 15. She was born premature at 4.4 pounds to two teenage parents and was attacked by a dog that bit her in the face at 2 years old, but her mother said overcoming adversity has been her eldest child's mantra in setting an example for her younger siblings.
