Long Island High Schooler Accepted by All 8 Ivy League Colleges

— -- A high school senior on Long Island has a big decision to make: He has been accepted to all 13 colleges he applied to, including all eight Ivy League schools.

On March 31, when the official college decisions were posted online, Harold Ekeh logged onto his computer in Elmont, New York. The 17-year-old was shocked to discover he was accepted to all eight Ivies, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, New York University and SUNY Stony Brook.

His mother was with him when the great news came in.

"Everyone was so excited and surprised," he said. "The hard work paid off."

Ekeh's impressive high school resume spans from conducting scientific research, to starting a college prep mentoring program, to serving as editor-in-chief of the newspaper and vice president of Model United Nations.

But Ekeh's true passion is medicine. He says he plans to attend medical school and specialize in neurosurgery.

"I knew I wanted to go to a really good school that would allow me to get into a great medical school," he said.

Ekeh said he didn't have a certain college in mind until he visited Yale with his high school's Model United Nations team.

"I got to see how passionate people are at Yale," he said. "That skewed me to start leaning towards Yale in my junior year."

Wherever he ends up, Ekeh says he's looking forward to college courses that "spark my intellectual curiosity."

"And I want to learn things outside the classroom," he said. "I'm looking forward to hands-on internships and travel abroad opportunities."

"And definitely the student life," he added. "The new friends that I'll meet. I'm sure I'll meet long-lasting friends there."

So how will the high schooler make his big decision?

"I still have to make visits to other schools like Harvard, Princeton and MIT," he said today. "That's what I'll do in the upcoming weeks."

He has until May 1 to decide.