Richmond Hill High School Student Gets Accepted to Harvard

Abiba Imam Dyuti was recently accepted to Harvard University. She is a Bangladeshi-American adolescent who attends Richmond Hill High School and has gotten accepted into Harvard College Class of 2024. At Harvard, she intends on double majoring in Economics and Political Science and minoring in Theatre. She was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh and moved to New York City for high school. Through her years of high school, Abiba has been active in a multitude of extra-curriculars. She was the captain of her soccer team for all four years, the Junior Class Vice President and is currently the Senior Class Secretary. She is also the editor in chief of her school newsletter and the managing editor of her school yearbook. She received several Honors including the Rensselaer Medal Scholarship of $100,000, becoming a POSSE Semi-Finalist, Excellence in Mathematics award, Most Valuable Player in Soccer and the AP Scholar Award which is received by students attending a 4 or higher in at least three AP courses. Abiba has taken five AP courses in her four years of high school: AP World History, AP English Language, AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature and AP Calculus BC. Even in middle school, Abiba was active in similar activities such as being school Prefect, being the editor in chief of the school yearbook and captain of her soccer team. She currently also works with a community organization known as DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) which works with South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities in America; helping them with immigrant rights, workers’ rights, student rights etc. Abiba also organizes a competition for Bangladeshi children along with 4 other girls of similar age, known as Young People’s Festival.

Abiba joined Kweller Prep two years ago, participating in their SAT prep program and college info nights. In her senior year, she works and a homework and essay grader at Kweller Prep. While in Bangladesh, she used to tutor her peers and juniors; therefore, she is very excited to work at Kweller Prep now. In her spare time, Abiba loves to sing. She plays the guitar, ukulele and the piano, and intends on learning the violin at college. She also consistently performs at cultural events in her local community. She does drama, music, recitation and dance in her Bangladeshi festivals.

Read About Richmond Hill High School on Inside schools here. Abiba is the first documented Harvard Acceptance in the school's history.

Richmond Hill High School is a four-year public high school in Queens. Richmond Hill High School was among over two dozen schools due to be closed from June 2012 due to persistently low academic performance.

"Richmond Hill High School has gone through a tumultuous decade. It was threatened with closure because of poor performance in 2011-12, but was saved by a successful lawsuit. In 2014, the city put Richmond Hill on its list of low-performing Renewal Schools, and in 2015, it landed on a state list of struggling schools that would have to change or face being taken over. The school improved enough to be taken off the state list a year later, and it has met some, though not all, the targets set for it under the Renewal program."