STONECREST, Ga. — A 14-year-old Georgia girl will be the youngest student to attend Spelman College after excelling academically from a young age.
Sydney Wilson was solving algebraic equations in the first grade and began taking high-school level classes at The Wilson Academy when she was ten.
The Wilson Academy is a year-round private school located in Stonecrest, Georgia. The school was founded by Sydney’s father, Akron, Ohio native and Ohio State University graduate Byron F. Wilson, in 2002. The school is one of Dekalb County’s best private schools and offers a unique curriculum and innovative approach to education.
Sydney, who was a straight-A student, worked hard to get into Spelman College, which had reportedly been her top and only choice school since she was 8 years old.
While taking on college-prep and advanced placement coursework, Sydney also served as the lead programmer for her school’s robotics team, was president of the rotary club, ran track and played soccer for a nationally ranked club team.
Sydney finished top of her class as co-valedictorian and graduated with honors May 18.
Her father told WJW Sydney was actually accepted into Spelman when she was just 13 years old. She turned 14 May 15.
In fact, the Wilson family had attended a college exposition last year where Sydney had been offered scholarships and acceptances to other colleges based on her transcripts, but she reportedly wasn’t ready to head off to college at age 13.
“[Sydney] is thrilled to be attending such a storied HBCU (Historically Black College and University), and that it is one of the top colleges in the country,” her father said.
Sydney, a member of the incoming class of 2023, plans to major in biology. She also hopes to gain “real world experience” by living in a dorm and partaking in a hands-on biology program made possible by partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine.
