Philadelphia Teen Awarded More Than $1 Million in Scholarships

A Philadelphia high school senior who sent out applications to 20 colleges has gotten offers of more than $1 million in combined scholarship money from a bunch of those schools. 

ABC News reports that Shanya Robinson-Owens got accepted into 18 of those places. At the moment she still goes to George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science.

Robinson-Owens’ aunt, Christine Owens, talked to Good Morning America about the surprise of getting the more official total of $1,074,260’s worth of scholarships.   

“We are overjoyed,” Christine said. “I knew she wouldn’t have a problem getting into colleges, but we didn’t know they would award her this much money in scholarship funds.”

Schools that the 17-year-old got into include: La Salle University, Temple, and Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania, among others. 

“I was pretty excited,” Shanya said. “I wasn’t really expecting it.”

GMA reports she holds a 3.2 GPA, considers chemistry her favorite subject, does yearbook committee, and interns for her Chinese language teacher. 

She advises fellow students to “take your time” with their work, and to try and avoid second guessing themselves. 

Her high school’s principal, Ted Domers, also had a quote for GMA. 

“In addition to being a part of a movement to bring more social action to our school, she’s involved in a number of extracurricular activities that show the breadth of her skills, from robotics to journalism,” he said. “It is a privilege for us to count Shanya as one of our own and we are excited to see her create opportunities for her future.”