Zimbabwean student and his family can't contain their joy after he gets selected for Harvard

Ivy League admissions have officially closed for this season, and students from across the country and globally awaited their results to know if they got into one of the top schools. Many filmed their reactions to the nerve-wracking moment of whether they had been accepted to their dream college or not for TikTok. The viral hashtag #IvyDay2023 garnered more than 40 million views on TikTok, featuring students from all over America and beyond. For any student, getting into their dream college is a task. Back-to-back classes, extra circulars, perfect grades, and support from their friends and family are the driving forces for many students. 

Although many users uploaded intense admission moments to TikTok, one video has acquired its own audience. Tinaye Ngorima, whose sister Tawana shared the video call with her brother as he looked up all his admissions letters, has been viewed 21 million times. After a few rejections from UC Berkeley and Dartmouth, Ngorima was placed on the wait list for Yale and Princeton. But the disappointment was short-lived because the biggest news came when Ngorima checked his status for Harvard. Before saying anything, he shouted, "Oh my God," and his parents and little sister jumped in and yelled in celebration. "I got into Harvard!" Ngorima told his sister through the screen while his mom hugged him and his dad took photos.

Following his Harvard acceptance letter, Ngorima also got into Brown and UPenn, so he had a big decision to make. He told his sister in a follow-up video call that he still hadn't made up his mind and that he got about a month to make a better and more informed decision for himself. People in the comments appreciated Ngorima's thorough filming of acceptances and rejections and congratulated him for getting into three top schools.

"I’m sure he’s worked so Harvard this, Congratulations!!!" said @pennsylvaniajunkie. "You could see the family supported him throughout, the celebration was great but the “that’s okay” before was also amazing. Congrats," added @muyijacobs. "Congrats!! The odds that he opened all of the rejections, then waitlists, then acceptances all in a row was crazy!" wrote @ethanshohet. 

According to Business Insider, Zac Kirchhoff's Ivy Day started slow, like Ngorima's, with rejection from Yale. He took it hard but then continued to check UPenn and Columbia with his mom by his side. Kirchhoff ended up getting accepted by both UPenn and Columbia, with 19 million other strangers celebrating the moment with him. "Oh my God, Zachary, what the hell? You got into both!" said Kirchhoff's mom. "Screw Yale!" 

Fellow TikTok users congratulated him and applauded his mom for the sheer support she had shown in the video. "She is the cutest and has no clue what’s going on, but so supportive," said @markellwashington1. "Congrats!!! I’m so proud of you! And I’m obsessed with your mom," exclaimed @domowilsonmusic. Meanwhile, @kristastevens said, "Your mom is the cutest, and this is incredible! Congratulations, your hard work has paid off."

However, not all videos were in celebration. TikTok user Anish, who applied to several Ivy Leagues, was rejected by Yale, UC Berkeley, and Columbia and was waitlisted by Cornell in his video. But in previous videos, he had already been accepted into UC Irvine, Georgia Tech, and Purdue, so he had plenty of other options. People in the comments appreciated Anish for showing both sides of admission acceptance.

"These rejections do not define you or your work!!! The waitlisted at Cornell is an accomplishment," assured @nevermemaw. "I enjoyed the most your college reactions. Great stats, is super honest and is vulnerable. You’ll change the world!" said @khannaorlando1. "You are still AMAZING! The fact that you applied for these schools speaks louder than any rejection. God's time, not ours! ❤️," added @sharleehamilton.