A Bilborough College student who achieved top A-level grades is set to live the American dream after securing a scholarship at one of the world’s leading research universities.
Olivier Niyibizi has already flown out to start a new life at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and received his grades via email today.
He achieved an A in Maths, an A in Business Studies, a B in Computer Science and an A* in Extended Project.
Speaking before flying to the US, the 18-year-old, of St Ann’s, Nottingham, said he was excited to start university in America.
He said: “I just thought this would be such an amazing opportunity to experience a different education system and I think it will help me immensely when I return to the UK and apply for jobs.
“I haven’t decided what I’m going to major in yet but I’m looking at a degree in Computer Science or Quantitative Science. I’ll be out there for four years and I’m so excited to go out there and meet people and experience it all and everything the university has to offer.”
Olivier decided he wanted to study in the USA after experiencing life at seven American universities in 2016 when he was awarded a place on the Sutton Trust US Programme.
He stayed at Yale University in New Haven for a week and also visited Harvard, Columbia, Trinity, Amity, Amherst College and Barnard College.
During the week he attended university fairs, sat in on lectures, met current and former students as well as doing some sightseeing. The costs were covered by the Sutton Trust programme.
He said: “I would say that it was the placement with the Sutton Trust that made me want to study in America. If I hadn’t done that I think I would have thought that studying in the USA wasn’t an option for me. I had to do a lot of interviews on Skype once I’d applied to universities in America and I was also interviewed by Alumni who are based in the UK. I spent five days at Emory earlier in the year and I just knew that it was the place for me. I’ve also been lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship which means that everything is funded from my course to my accommodation.”