At the age of six, Gilman School senior Mekhi Johnson heard a radio story about a student who was accepted at all of the Ivy League schools and told his mother, “I’m going to do that one day.” On Ivy Decision Day he learned that he has achieved his goal. In addition to the Ivys, University of Chicago and several other highly selective schools have offered him a spot.
A Gilman student since first grade, Johnson is a National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Student, with a 98.1 average. His extracurricular activities include editing the yearbook and literary magazine; playing in the hand bell choir, jazz band, and drum line; volunteering with Bridges, an academic and cultural enrichment program serving elementary school students in several Title I schools; and working as part of the cast and crew for musical theater productions. He sings with the Traveling Men, Gilman’s a capella group, and serves as the president of the Diversity Council.
More than 280,000 applications were sent to Ivy League schools last year. Less than five applicants achieved the distinction of acceptance by all eight schools. Johnson is the first Gilman student to do so.
In April Mekhi has spent his weekends revisiting his top choices. He has not yet made his decision.
