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Ellis says attending an Ivy League school has been a long-term goal. (Photo by Quamori Miller)
Pixelated confetti burst across the computer screen as Pamlico County High School senior Coralene Ellis opened a life-changing email.
While most students floated through the school hallways on a typical Monday morning, chatting about weekend activities and sharing mutual displeasure at returning to the academic grind, Ellis was not having a typical day.
She had just gotten word that she received a full scholarship to Princeton University in New Jersey. The news came on Match Day for the QuestBridge College Prep Scholar program, which connects high-performing U.S. students with top universities.
“When I found out I matched, it truly felt like a dream — one of the most insane moments I’ve experienced thus far,” Ellis said.
Although attending an Ivy League school has been a “long-term goal,” Ellis said she “went into the whole application process with little to no expectations.”
Ellis is a competitive dancer, a cross-country runner, and editor of her school newspaper.
(Photo by Quamori Miller)
Her doubts were backed by the program’s statistics: in 2024, only 7,300 of the over 25,500 applicants were selected as QuestBridge finalists, and of those, just 36% were actually granted a full scholarship.
Not only was the match big news for Ellis, who can now attend her dream school without the burden of its $65,000 annual tuition, it marked a rare occurrence for her high school, which sent its first graduate to an Ivy in 2013, when Emma Wheeler started at Harvard University.
Like Wheeler — who had participated in many extracurriculars — Ellis did not achieve this accomplishment with just good grades. She is a competitive dancer, a runner for Pamlico’s cross-country team, president of the PCHS Youth and Government delegation, and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Black and Gold, the student newspaper.
Her dedication to these pursuits are what likely made her stand out as an applicant, Ellis said. “What they look for is just people that are involved and passionate,” she said.
Although Ellis now thrives in school, she has had some ups and downs. From attending Arapahoe Charter to Tucker Creek Middle School, and now Pamlico High, Ellis has faced adversity.
“Moving around schools a lot, there were some...where I performed super well academically,” she said. “Then there were some other(s) where I did not do so well.”
Ellis gives a presentation in front of her peers. (Photo by Quamori Miller)
Ellis said her struggles shaped her into the committed student that she is today. “Having both of those experiences really taught me that the most important thing is just to work hard and persevere, even when it's not natural or it doesn’t come easy,” she said.
That’s the advice Ellis has for students who hope to attend an Ivy someday. “You can do it,” she said. “From the minute you walk through these doors, start doing what you need to do: Keep good grades, get involved in every way, and I think you’ll be set.”
Ellis is in her second semester of senior year, so her journey at Princeton won’t begin for several months. Still, Ellis — who hopes to study broadcast journalism — is excited for new opportunities and a change of scenery.
“Where we live, we don’t see a lot of different perspectives and diversity, so I think that will be nice,” she said. “But also, of course, to have access to the academic material that they have to offer (is) something that I’m really going to enjoy.”
Ellis plans to study broadcast journalism. (Photo by Quamori Miller)
After she graduates from Princeton, Ellis is not sure what her career in journalism may look like. But she knows that no matter what she ends up doing, she wants to “work with people.”
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