Ivy League schools REJECT genius US teen with 4.0 GPA who launched $30 million app

A high school senior who was coding by the age of 7 and built an AI app generating $30 million a year has revealed that he was rejected by 15 of the 18 colleges that he applied to, with many of the rejections coming from the Ivy League schools.

In a post to X, Zach Yadegari wrote that he scored a 34 on his ACT, has a 4.0 GPA, and created an AI app that tracks your calories by taking a picture of your food. The app rakes in about $30 million in revenue a year, as reported by the College Fix. 

In the post, he noted that he was rejected by Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Washington University, Columbia, UPenn, Princeton, Duke, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, New York University, Vanderbilt, Brown University, and Cornell. Only Georgia Tech, the University of Texas, and the University of Miami admitted him as a student.

Along with the post, he shared his personal statement that was sent with his various college applications.

Yadegari wrote in his personal statement that he was initially hesitant to go to college because of the success he was having but ultimately saw it as a way in which he could create a better impact through his work.

"I began my journey fiercely independent, determined to forge my own path. Now, I see that individuality and connection are not opposites, but complements. We are all individuals, but we are also part of something larger. Through college, I will contribute to and grow within that larger whole, empowering me to leave an even greater lasting, positive impact on the world," he wrote.

His post on X has racked up over 27.5 million views, and many users have posted in the replies in disbelief that he was not able to get into many of the top-level colleges in the nation.

After his post detailing the rejections he received, he wrote a post in the same fashion of a press release from President Donald Trump's team, which read, "Make admissions fair again" as an "open letter to admissions offices."

"The college admissions system isn't broken-it's working exactly as designed. Admissions offices prioritize diversity over merit, adversity over excellence, and circumstances over capability. The student that runs fake clubs and stacks extracurriculars is admitted over the student that runs a real business. We can no longer afford to sacrifice achievement on the altar of social engineering. We must favor the 'best and brightest.' We must recognize and reward excellence. The current system is unfair and un-American," the statement read.