Teen accepted to all 8 Ivy League schools

Leticia Juarez Image
Friday, April 7, 2017
OC teen accepted to all 8 Ivy League schools
Orange County School of the Arts senior Cassandra Hsiao accomplished the rare feat of being accepted to all eight prestigious Ivy League schools.

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A Santa Ana teen has a tough decision ahead: Which of the Ivy League schools to attend?

Orange County School of the Arts senior Cassandra Hsiao accomplished the rare feat of being accepted to all eight of the prestigious colleges and universities.

"It's incredible," Hsiao said. "It is absolutely beyond my wildest dreams."

The 17-year-old, who came to the United States when she was 5 years old, wrote her application essays on what it was like to grow up bilingual.

"My essay explored how language is different inside the house and outside the house," she said.

Hsiao, who scored a 1540 on her SATs and carries a 4.67 GPA, needs to decide on a major. She is thinking of the storytelling arts.

And as a Southern Californian, she knows whichever school she chooses will be in a colder, snowier environment than home.

But she shrugs off that concern.

"Humans are adaptable," she said. "I can survive."