A Louisiana high school senior was awarded a staggering amount of scholarships and was accepted to at least 170 colleges he applied to with more acceptance letters rolling in every day.
Dennis Barnes hopes to break the current record for most scholarships ever awarded, which currently sits at $9.4 million. The 16-year-old senior has been offered more than $9 million in scholarships so far. “My goal is to reach $10 million,” Barnes told the local station WWL-TV, per The Daily Mail.
The senior said he intends to pursue a dual degree in computer science and criminal justice. He hasn’t yet decided on which college to attend but will announce his decision before graduating from International High School of New Orleans.
Barnes has a GPA of 4.98 and is a member of the National Honor Society. He’s also fluent in Spanish. He already began his pursuit of higher education by taking college credits at the Southern University at New Orleans.
“I submitted college applications in August, with an eye on raising the bar high for college admissions. Decision letters were an overflow in my mailbox and hundreds of scholarship offers,” he told WWL.
“I will say I haven’t always been a straight-A student. I’ve always been devoted to getting my school work done and get good grades like the average child,” Barnes said of his educational background.
“It’s not normal, I know it’s not of course, but I started at someplace. There’s a starting point for everything. I started and then realized where I was going and as I realized the path I was heading down, I rolled my momentum and I ended up farther than I ever thought I would’ve been,” he said.
Barnes told USA Today that as of Tuesday, he had been accepted to 170 schools, but that number keeps growing. Many institutions offered him a full ride to attend. “I am still getting letters. Decision letters were an overflow in my mailbox,” Barnes told the outlet during a phone interview. “I’m proud of myself. I’m a black man and you don’t find that too often in the black community. It stands out.”
His mother, Reba Barnes, told the news station she’s not surprised by her son’s success.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
“'[He] has been like this since a baby. He’s always been very inquisitive, always on top of everything,” she said. “If he had a field trip, he would put the paper right in front of me, ‘Mama, sign this.’ I never had to ask him for the report card. He’s always been diligent and purposeful in everything he does.”
Barnes told CNN that his faith is also important to him.
“I am a God-fearing young man; I keep God first,” he said. He offered advice to other students looking to succeed.
“If you keep your school, your education a priority and keep God in the mix, then you are definitely going to be successful no matter what you do,” the student said.
The current scholarship money record was set by Normandie Cormier in 2019. She was accepted into 139 colleges after applying with the Common App and the Common Black College App, which allows students to apply to hundreds of schools simultaneously.
Cormier is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Louisiana State University, the publication noted.