Lamar High Student Accepted To 20 Top Colleges, 4 In Ivy League

HOUSTON, TX — One kid who lives in Houston's Third Ward is referred to as his momma's "rainbow baby." Michael Brown's mom, Berthinia, lost three babies before he entered this world. She pushed him to be the best can be, and Michael pushed himself even farther.

Now a senior at Lamar High School, Michael Brown has more doors ready to open than they ever thought imaginable. Michael has been accepted to 20 colleges around the country. And not just any ole college — 20 prestigious universities, including four Ivy League schools.

“When I was in elementary school, I saw my mom graduate from community college and that just meant a lot to me,” Brown said.

Brown hasn't just gotten accepted into the following universities:

• Harvard
• Yale
• Penn
• Princeton
• Stanford
• Northwestern
• Georgetown
• Vanderbilt
• Johns Hopkins
• Pomona
• Claremont Mckenna
• Williams
• UT-Austin
• USC Berkeley
• Amherst
• UNC-Chappel Hill
• Tulane
• Michigan
• UC-Davis
• UC-Irvine

In addition to a full ride offered at each of those schools, Brown has already been awarded $260,000 in scholarships.

Brown has worked hard to get to this point, and it's shown in his GPA. According to a report on KHOU, the average high school GPA to get into Harvard in 2017 was 4.10, Yale: 4.19, Princeton: 3.90. Michaeal’s is at 4.68.

He's not just a bookworm who studies all the time. Brown is involved in all kinds of extracurricular activities like Lamar’s Varsity Debate Team, Key Club, Young Democrats, HISD’s Emerge program and 100 Black Men of Houston, and many others.

He prefers to study political science, go to law school, open a practice and eventually run for public office.

“Politics is the route for making changes on a bigger scale and working with people in the community.” he said.

He hopes his accomplishments can help pave the way for other aspiring young students growing up in less-than-ideal neighborhoods and environments.

“Be helpful. Dream big. Don’t be afraid,” Brown said. “Be proud of your family, love yourself, love your community and then share your story. Inspire other people to really reach for the stars and achieve their dreams.”

Though he hasn't chosen a school yet, he has until May. 1.

Photos by Scott McDonald/Patch Houston Editor