Valley high school senior gets accepted to 4 Ivy League Schools

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "I was in shock, so I wasn't screaming or anything."

Olivia Lin is describing the moment she found out she had been accepted to Harvard University.

"My dad was freaking out, he was more excited than I was," she said. "I was just like, 'I can't believe this is happening, this is really surreal.'"

Olivia is a Senior at University High School in Fresno and is at the top of her class. She recently won nearly every senior academic award on campus.

She also plays the cello and has been a part of the school's Decathlon team for three years, and captain for the last two.

"She is the highest scoring decathlete in Fresno County history and has been one of the top scorers in the nation, both the state and the nation at all levels of competition," says Sean Canfield, a teacher at University High School and Olivia's decathlon advisor.

Mr. Canfield calls Olivia sweet, dedicated, hard-working and humble.

"It is those types of people like Olivia that make teaching so rewarding for all of us. She also has a wonderful effect on those around her," says Mr. Canfield.

Lin applied to four different Ivy League schools: Yale, Brown, Princeton and Harvard. She got into every single one of those.

Olivia will study either Engineering or Applied Math at Harvard this fall.

She says this could not have been made possible without the support of her parents, who immigrated from China when they were young.

Olivia mentions, "I just feel like it is a really great way to honor all of my parents' sacrifices. They gave up a lot when they immigrated to the United States in order to provide a better future for my brother and me."

Olivia graduates from University High School this upcoming week. This fall, she will kick off her freshman year at Harvard.