Teen Accepted To Yale After Writing An Essay About How Much She Loves Papa John’s Pizza, Turns Yale Down

High school senior Carolina Williams from Brentwood, Tennessee, was recently accepted to Yale University after writing an essay about how much she loves Papa John’s pizza. She was asked to pen a 200-word essay about something she loves, and it turns out the high school senior really loves ordering pizza.

“I thought about it for a while, and I thought that it was probably creative and stuff, and it was easy to write about because I really do love to order pizza, but I didn’t expect that it would have such an effect on getting me in,” the teen recently told AL.com

The teen not only received an acceptance to the Ivy League school, but she also earned a handwritten note from an admissions officer telling her how much they enjoyed her application.

“As a fellow lover of pizza, I laughed out loud (then ordered pizza) after reading your application. Yale would be lucky to have you,” they wrote in her letter along with congratulations.

The reviewer continued praising Williams’ application.

“As someone who kept trying to read books for fun on top of thousands of applications this winter, I really loved your essay on reading 100 books in a year and I laughed so hard on your pizza essay. I kept thinking that you were the kind of person that I would love to be best friends with. I want you to know that every part of your application stood out in our process and we are thrilled to be able to offer you a spot at Yale,” they continued.

However, it likely wasn’t just the essay that landed Williams a bid to Yale. She was among the top 10 in her class in her high school, took a load of difficult courses, and had a stellar GPA. But, of course, the creative essay didn’t make things worse for her.

So, how did the essay read? A sample of it was made available online.

“Accepting those warm cardboard boxes at my front door is second nature to me, but I will always love ordering pizza because of the way eight slices of something so ordinary are able to evoke feelings of independence, consolation and joy,” she penned.

However, the accomplished teen isn’t actually going to Yale. She turned down one of the world’s best schools and all of the accolades the admissions office gave her to go to Auburn University in Alabama.

Although she likes Yale, she maintains that Auburn has always been her first choice, and she couldn’t say no when she got the acceptance letter, even if it meant turning down a place at an Ivy League school.

It is unclear whether or not Yale offered Williams a scholarship (they often award full rides to new students), but she was graced with several from Auburn, meaning college will be almost entirely free for the newest incoming freshman.

She received the Edward and Catherine K. Lowder Endowed Scholarship from Auburn’s Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and Auburn University’s Presidential Scholarship, which will give Williams $72,000 over the next four years.

Williams plans to major in business and minor in economics.

But that isn’t all she’s getting.

Papa John’s founder and CEO, John Schnatter, has offered to gift Williams with free pizza for a whole year. She’s also getting a massive pizza party at her dorm once she arrives at the school and is also getting an internship at the Papa John’s headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

While Williams will be eating Papa John’s to her heart’s content this year, she’s also excited about another aspect of Auburn life as they have a Chick-fil-A on campus.

The CEO also sent her a message, posted on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikuf_b7wMOo

[Featured Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]