Colleges & Universities

New Orleans Student With $10M in Offers Chooses Cornell for College

Dennis “Maliq” Barnes had scholarship offers from 149 colleges and universities

A detail view of a Cornell beanie worn by a fan during the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Northeast Regional final between the Cornell Big Red and the Boston University Terriers on March 25, 2023, at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H.
Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A 16-year-old high school senior in New Orleans who received scholarship offers from 149 colleges and universities totaling $10 million said Friday that he has chosen to attend Cornell University.

Dennis “Maliq” Barnes will graduate on May 24 from the International High School of New Orleans, where he earned a 4.98 grade point average. He also has 27 college credits through a dual enrollment program with Southern University of New Orleans.

He plans to study computer science at Cornell, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. He has also said he is considering law school.

“Today is an exciting day for me and my family, and I look forward to working with Cornell’s College of Engineering over the course of my undergraduate education,” Barnes said.

In an interview las week, Barnes said that a major reason he cranked out applications to close to 200 schools was his desire to have numerous educational and financial options. He ultimately was accepted at 186 colleges and universities. The school said it believes the $10 million in scholarship offers from 149 of them to be a record for U.S. college-bound seniors.

Copyright The Associated Press
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