High school senior chose SMU after receiving more than $1 million in scholarship offers

By STEVIE BORRELLO

Hard work definitely does pay off, or at least it does for one high school student, from Lynn Haven, Florida. Mimi Mallory, a senior at Mosley High School, was offered more than $1 million in merit-based college scholarships. 

“It was crazy,” Mallory, 18, told ABC News. “I just didn’t know what to think.” 

As one college acceptance after another came in, they were also paired with a lot of cash. Mallory was awarded a combined total of $1,052,400 from the 11 schools where she was accepted. 

The highest scholarship Mallory was offered came from Mercer University, totaling $212,000. She also received a full tuition scholarship from the University of Alabama. 

Mallory decided to accept the offer from her dream school, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. “It’s crazy to think I can go to SMU," she said. "I wasn’t expecting to because of how expensive it was."

SMU awarded Mallory $166,000 in scholarship money, so she will only have to pay a few thousand dollars each year out of pocket.

Though Mallory was shocked to receive such substantial scholarship awards, she has worked hard in preparation for the college admissions process, maintaining a high GPA and participating in several extracurricular activities. 

She is Vice President of the senior class, Secretary of her honors society, President of the productions team that runs the high school announcements, and still maintains a 4.625 GPA on a 4.0 scale. . .

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Mallory has been an equestrian rider much of her life.