Saheela Ibraheem 15-Year-Old Picks Harvard

15-Year-Old Picks Harvard After Being Accepted to 13 Colleges
By Abena Agyeman-Fisher on May 4th 2011 6:03PM

Do you know any 15-year-olds who are on their way to Harvard?


Meet Saheela Ibraheem (pictured), a senior at Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, N.J.


Crediting her parents, who are Nigerian immigrants, for her academic achievements -- her father is said to have stayed up at night teaching her subjects not found at school -- Saheela's exceptional journey began as a 6th grader at Conackamack 
Middle School in Piscataway, N.J.
While there, Saheela asked to be moved to a higher-level class because she was passionate about math. Instead, the school decided to skip her a grade. 


But this would be just the beginning.
Saheela realized early on that her public school still wasn't doing it for her; consequently, the zealous student moved to Wardlaw-Hartridge, a private school, and skipped freshman year to land in 10th grade. Her new school would end up being the right place for Saheela, giving her the bandwith to feel challenged and excel. Wardlaw-Hartridge Director of Development William Jenkins says:


"She's learned and she's very smart. But she keeps pushing herself."


But this is not just the story of a student who has mastered education. Saheela takes the concept of stimulating the mind and body to a whole other level. 
"She is a three-sport athlete, playing outfield for the school's softball team, defender on the soccer team, and swimming relays and 50-meter races for the swim team. She also sings alto in the school choir, plays trombone in the school band and serves as president of the school's investment club, which teaches students about the stock market by investing in virtual stocks."


Last year, Saheela applied to 14 colleges and universities that spanned the nation with a "grade point average (between a 96 and 97 on a 100-point scale) and her 2,340 SAT score (a perfect 800 on the math section, a 790 in writing and a 750 in reading)." 


California Institute of Technology, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Williams College, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Washington University in St. Louis all accepted her. 


Surprise, surprise, Saheela chose Harvard and wants to major in either neurobiology and neuroscience in order to study how the brain works. 


Of her accomplishments, Saheela only had this to say:
I try my best in everything I do," Saheela said. "Anyone who's motivated can work wonders."


I am dumbfounded by Saheela's success. If she is like this as a teen, what will she accomplish as a full-fledged adult? Kudos to her family for doing such a fine job raising a balanced, ambitious child. As a fellow parent, that is not an easy thing to do.
Just a few months ago, the phenomenon of Amy Chua's Tiger Mom overwhelmed the airwaves as people discussed the strategy of raising a successful child. The Tiger Mom ideology tauted all work and no play, with everything -- consciously or unconsciously -- focusing on being the best academic student. 


Saheela's parents, though, allowed their daughter (and other children who also attend the same school as Saheela) to have a more balanced existence, encouraging her in academics and extracurricular activities.