The College Board recommends that students apply to between five and eight colleges. But Patrick Pruitt is “not one to limit himself,” according to his mom — so he decided to take his shot at 270 schools.
Pruitt, who recently graduated from Woodland High School in McDonough, Ga., initially told his mother, Alicia Brantley, that he wanted to see what would happen if he applied to 50 schools, per a news release from Woodland.
“He wanted to explore all his options,” Brantley said.
Pruitt signed up for the College Board’s Direct Admissions program, where colleges and universities offer admissions based on students’ academic profiles. He also used the Common App to quickly apply to many schools. He targeted institutions that offer an environmental science or similar major.
His first application took him about a day to finish. But after 20 of them, he had developed a routine where he would come home from school, find more colleges and fill out forms. His mom said he got most of the application fees waived.
Pruitt had plenty of accomplishments to tout on his applications. He concluded his Henry County Schools career with an unweighted GPA of 3.8, weighted to 4.2 by his advanced courses, according to Woodland. He graduated in the top 10% of his class.
He took dual-enrollment courses through the district’s Academy for Advanced Studies, a rigorous program focused on postsecondary opportunities. His SAT score of 1200 qualified him for free tuition at any public college or university in Georgia. Pruitt also ran varsity cross-country and track and spent last summer interning for the Henry County Water Authority, tapping into his passion for clean water and the environment.
Patrick Pruitt (right) receives his high school diploma.Image@ Henry County Schools Communications Department
Before long, acceptance letters — and scholarship offers — began rolling in for Pruitt. “Literally every day, the mailbox was full,” Brantley said.
His success motivated him to set an even bigger goal: 100 college acceptances. He applied to schools — both big and small, public and private — in every region of the country, including Alaska, using Google Docs to track everything.
As his offers continued to stack up, Pruitt learned about Madison Crowell, a 2024 graduate of Georgia’s Liberty County High School who was believed to hold a national record with 231 college acceptances and about $15 million in scholarships.
Pruitt was determined to break the record. School guidance counselor DeAnna Miller-Wooden was more than happy to provide strategic support along the way.
“I received recommendation requests daily over the past year and was happy to complete them for such a diligent and positive young man as Patrick,” she said, per Woodland’s release. “My strategy was to also check email on my phone regularly after hours and complete the requests as they popped up, so as not to miss any requests. I wanted to be certain I didn’t hinder his chances of meeting his personal goal to break the world record.”
He also received encouragement and letters of recommendation from teachers — and of course, his family, including his mother, grandmother and aunt, cheered him on.
By the end, Pruitt was completing applications in just five minutes. “Once you get the hang of what they’re looking for, it’s just straightforward from then on,” he said. “Once I got my first acceptance, I just kept going for the same format, and it worked out in my favor.”
Ultimately, Pruitt applied to 270 colleges, believed to be a national record, per his high school. He got into all but six of them. Dartmouth, his “dream school” and the only Ivy League university to which he applied, was among his handful of rejections.
Pruitt received scholarship offers totaling more than $17 million.
After weighing his many options, Pruitt chose to attend Knox College, a liberal arts college in Galesburg, Ill. With a financial aid package worth about $260,000 over four years, he will be responsible for about $5,000 per term. He plans to apply for more scholarships to fill the gap.
Brantley said she’s “super proud” of her son, whom she described as “very self-driven, self-motivated, resilient.”
“After all this is said and done, he can see the fruits of his labor, and that’s a beautiful experience to witness,” she added.
Henry County Schools Superintendent Dr. John Pace III called Pruitt’s achievement “a powerful testament to his exceptional work ethic, ingenuity, and resilience.”
“Patrick reminds us that with dedication, focus, and an adventurous spirit, there are no boundaries to what you can accomplish,” Pace said. “Our entire district is incredibly proud of him, and we are excited to see him continue building his bright future at Knox College.”
Added Miller-Wooden, “Patrick Pruitt is proof of what can be achieved if you dig deep and seek opportunities.”
Now, Pruitt hopes to take all that he has learned from the process and start an organization that will help other students apply to colleges.
His biggest piece of advice for applicants?
“Don’t try to sugarcoat anything,” he said. “Don’t try to over-impress, because if you do that, there’s no way it’s going to sound like you. Be the authentic, original person that you want to be. If you make efforts to do what you want to do, you have a great chance of being where you want to be in the near future.”
SOURCE: people.com