New Orleans senior goes to Cornell after being showered with $10 MILLION in scholarships
A 16-year-old from New Orleans has decided to attend Cornell University after receiving $10 million in scholarships from 149 colleges and universities.
Dennis “Maliq” Barnes plans to study computer science at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, and said he’s also considering going to law school.
The gifted student has an impressive grade point average of 4.98 and will graduate two years early from high school on May 24.
Barnes began applying to schools in August 2022, securing placements at 186 colleges — and offering scholarships from 149 of them.
His high school, the International High School of New Orleans, said it believes the $10 million he received in scholarship offers is a record for U.S. college-bound seniors.
Barnes announced his choice at his New Orleans high school after receiving 186 offers
Barnes said he initially had no intention of setting records when he began applying to nearly 200 schools, but applied so many to have a range of educational and financial options.
He told CNN: ‘As I applied to more schools, as my numbers increased, with the financial aid and university admissions, I became intrigued.
He added that when he was told he was close to the record, he “just went for it.”
The talented student also has 27 credits through a dual enrollment program at Southern University of New Orleans.
With the record number of offers the high school student received, there was a lot of anticipation to see which school he would choose.
Barnes made an announcement from his high school, saying, “I’ve committed to go to Cornell University and plan to study computer science and later go on to develop software.”
The teen donned a red Cornell University hoodie as he made his announcement.
“Today is an exciting day for me and my family, and I look forward to working with Cornell’s College of Engineering throughout my undergraduate studies,” he continued.
Barnes proudly shows off his choice of school – the Ivy League Cornell University in Ithaca
The exceptional student has a GPA of 4.98 and has already earned 27 credits at age 16
He said he chose the university because it is the “best Ivy League for engineering.” He said he wanted to go to a school that would “set me up for success, that would give me a quality education.”
Barnes added that he is excited to explore new places by attending the school in New York.
“I’d like to get out of New Orleans. I love my city, but I do want to go out and experience new things and see new things I haven’t seen before,” he added.
The student said he hoped his story would help other prospective students realize just how much academic help is out there.
Adierah Berger, the principal of International High, said in a statement: “Dennis is already a bright star and I know his star will shine even brighter when he sets foot on the Cornell campus.”
Cornell also congratulated the student in a statement, saying it looks forward to welcoming Barnes and his colleagues to campus in a few months.
Dennis “Maliq” Barnes, 16, was offered more than $10 million in scholarships
Barnes received acceptance offers from nearly 190 schools across the country
Barnes holds leadership positions in the National Honor Society chapter at his high school and is also fluent in Spanish.
He competed on his school’s basketball and track and field teams, graduating from his sophomore and third years, and then he was able to maintain an unusually high GPA.
However, he has said before that he wasn’t always top of his class.
“I will say that I haven’t always been a straight A student. I’ve always been committed to getting my schoolwork done and getting good grades like the average kid,” he said WWL TV.
“It’s not normal, I know of course it’s not, but I started somewhere. There is a starting point for everything. I started and then realized where I was going and when I realized the path I was turning, I rolled my momentum and ended up farther than I ever thought I would have been,” Barnes told the station.
According to this mother, Reba Barnes, his success was to be expected.
‘[He] been like this since a baby. He’s always been very curious, always aware of everything,’ she said.
He’s not the only new Louisiana freshman to make headlines for receiving an overwhelming number of offers.
In 2019, Normandie Cormier was accepted into 139 colleges and received just over $9.4 million in scholarship money.
She applied to schools through the Common App and the Common Black College App, which allows students to apply to hundreds of schools at once.
She is now pursuing a masters degree from Louisiana State University and runs XollegePass, a company that advises underprivileged students and children from low-income families on how to achieve academic success.
At the time, Cormier sought recognition from Guinness World Records, but the institution said it could not set a world record because higher education is structured differently around the world.