Conor bound for top Ivy League university

Conor bound for top Ivy League university

20 April 2016

A DOWNPATRICK schoolboy has gained entry to one of the world’s leading universities.

Conor Wilson, a Year 14 student at St Patrick’s Grammar School, has been offered a place at America’s Princeton University to read biochemistry.

With an alumni that includes Michelle Obama, F. Scott Fitzgerald and John F. Kennedy, Princeton in New Jersey is particularly renowned for preparing students for leadership roles and discovery.

Conor, who is from Dundrum and is hoping to continue to medical school, applied to the prestigious college while in the US with the Sutton Trust Programme in July last year when he visited five universities including Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

“Princeton stood out for me. Located in central New Jersey, the campus is close enough to New York City for a visit, but far enough away to offer some peace and quiet,” he said.

“It helps that its academic programme for undergraduates is unparalleled, placing it first in the country.”

Despite achieving 12 A* grades at GCSE and top scores in standardised college tests, Conor said he wasn’t confident of securing a place at Princeton.

”I didn’t expect much after applying,” he said.

“The admissions process is infamously competitive for Ivy League colleges, and is often more to do with luck than talent given the number of applications these colleges receive – so my acceptance in December came as a huge and welcome shock.”

But the school’s assistant principal, Michelle Clancy, was much much more confident.

“Princeton is one of the top universities in the world because the admissions committee only accepts the best students,” she said.

“While typically, only seven per cent of applicants are accepted each year, Conor is an exceptional young man and that would have shone through in all areas of his application.”