Samantha started IMACS in 1st grade and completed all five levels of the IMACS Math Enrichment Program during elementary school. In middle school she studied IMACS University Computer Science and was part of the second cohort of public school students to complete the Elements of Mathematics: Foundations (EMF) math program for highly gifted and talented students.
In addition to being valedictorian of her high school class, Samantha is also a National Merit Scholar scoring 1550 on the SAT, an AP Scholar with distinction, and a Sunshine State Scholar, an honor awarded to the top 103 STEM students in the state of Florida. As an EMF graduate, Samantha was accepted into the University of Florida’s Dual Enrollment Program in 9th grade and went on to complete Calculus I, II, and III, Differential Equations, and Programming Fundamentals I and II while still in high school. Her success in these university-level courses led to an academic research position in chemical engineering at UF. She is also a musician and athlete, winning piano competitions at the state level and playing on the varsity volleyball team at her high school.
Samantha was accepted at Georgia Tech on the highly prestigious Stamps Scholarship, as well as Duke, Vanderbilt on the Cornelius Scholarship, the honors program at UF on the Presidential and Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Brown, and FSU on the Benaquisto Scholarship. She chose Georgia Tech, where she plans to study computer science and computer engineering with a focus in algorithm development, theory, and data science.
IMACS gave me a foundational understanding of why logic exists and how logic works. With that, I’ve gained the confidence to solve any problem that faces me, and the creativity to invent new ones!
Congratulations, Samantha!