A Georgia high school student may have broken a national record this year after receiving 264 college acceptance letters and more than $17 million in scholarship offers.
Before graduating from Woodland High School in McDonough, Patrick Pruitt decided to test the limits of the college admissions process by applying to 50 schools — far more than the five to eight applications recommended by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that connects students with colleges through standardized testing and other programs.
“You want to open yourself up to as many opportunities as possible,” Pruitt said in a press release issued by the school. “I just used what strengths I had to offer.”
He began the process by enrolling in the College Board’s Direct Admissions program, which allows participating universities to offer admission based on a student’s academic profile. According to the release, Pruitt also used the Common App platform to submit applications to colleges offering environmental science and related degree programs.
After school, he spent his free time researching additional colleges and completing applications. His mother, Alicia Brantley, said most of the application fees were waived.
Pruitt had many high school career highlights to mention on his application, including an unweighted GPA of 3.8 and an SAT score of 1200, which qualified him for free tuition at any public college or university in Georgia. He was also a varsity cross-country and track runner.
Once the first round of college acceptance letters and the scholarship offers came in, he set a new goal of applying to 100 schools. However, he later read about 2024 high school graduate Madison Crowell, who holds a national record with 231 college acceptances and about $15 million in scholarships, and decided to try to best her.
With the support of his guidance counselor, family members, and the teachers who wrote him letters of recommendation, Pruitt was completing his applications in only five minutes.
“Once you get the hang of what they’re looking for, it’s just straightforward from then on,” he said. “Once I got my first acceptance, I just kept going for the same format, and it worked out in my favor.”
Pruitt ultimately applied to 270 colleges and universities, and was accepted into all but six of them. Among the rejections was his “dream school” and the only Ivy League institution he applied to: Dartmouth College.
After weighing his acceptances, he considered attending Binghamton University, Berry College, the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh. The teenager, who graduated in the top 10 percent of his class, eventually selected Knox College, a liberal arts school in Illinois. His financial aid package was worth $260,000 over four years, leaving him to pay only $5,000 per term.
Pruitt shared his advice to fellow students applying for one or many colleges, saying, “Don’t try to sugarcoat anything. Don’t try to over-impress, because if you do that, there’s no way it’s going to sound like you.
“Be the authentic, original person that you want to be. If you make efforts to do what you want to do, you have a great chance of being where you want to be in the near future.”
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