Bensalem High School senior accepted into five Ivy League schools

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Wednesday, May 7, 2025 12:16PM
Bensalem High School senior accepted into five Ivy League schools
A Bensalem high School senior is showing millions why you should always dream big.

BENSALEM, Pa. (WPVI) -- Getting into college is a big deal for any high school senior, but getting into what we call our "reach schools" is even bigger.

So, imagine Victoria Mathieu's surprise when she got accepted into not one, but five Ivy League schools - Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Penn and Yale.

The Bensalem High School Senior is showing millions why kids, especially Black and Brown students, should always dream big.

"Once I saw my acceptances and everything, it was just like crazy, insane. I was just thanking God," she said.

The tradition of teens recording acceptance or rejection letters is resonating with her followers, with almost 5 million views.

But Victoria says this is deeper than going viral. Ivy League acceptance rates range from 3% to 9%.

"It's still crazy to me, but knowing how much work I put in and being able to see the results that I wanted. It's just -- it's just a blessing, really," she said.

When it came time to introduce herself as an applicant, Victoria says she focused on her passions of empowering Black women and helping those coming up behind her.

"Be yourself. There's only one of you and at the end of the day these colleges want authenticity. They want real people. They don't want just robots that are all about grades and nothing else," she said.

Victoria says she was waitlisted at Harvard and Dartmouth. She has committed to attending Yale and plans to pursue a law degree.

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