Senior has pick of top schools, Harvard and MIT, after high school

By Danielle Portteus
Monroe News

MONROE, Mich. (AP) - Jonathon Brown has his pick of colleges.

He can go to Harvard. Or Yale. Or Princeton. Or Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Or even the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Case Western Reserve University or the University of Toledo, which are less likely now given his other options.

With a 33 ACT score and a 4.0 grade point average, the 17-year-old senior at Monroe High School got into Harvard and MIT. The decision got a little harder when he learned recently he was accepted to Yale and Princeton.

"I didn't expect to get in to all three (Ivy League)," he told the Monroe News. "Getting into all three doesn't really help me choose. I was expecting the other two to say no."

The son of Heather Blevins and the late John Brown, Jonathon said the shock of getting into four of the most prestigious colleges in the nation has not settled in. All four universities have an acceptance rate of about 6 percent annually.

Humble and unassuming, Brown said he is undecided on which school to attend but is leaning toward MIT or Harvard.

A member of the Upward Bound program, Jonathon and his classmates toured Harvard last summer as part of the program.

"I liked the campus and the prestige of it," he said.

He visited MIT as part of the Weekend Immersion in Science and Engineering, or WISE, program where he stayed in the dorms and sat in on classes.

"I really liked the focus of math and science and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related fields," he explained. "When I applied to Harvard and MIT, I was already accepted into U of M (University of Michigan) so I figured worst-case scenario, I would go there."

Before his father died in 2013, Brown said he joked that his son would be a "Harvard man." He said he believes his father would be calling everyone he knows if he were alive.

"I think he'd be really proud," Brown said. "He'd say, 'My son has his pick from all the schools he wanted.'" The oldest of three children, Jonathon, who has two sisters, Dedra and Kaylyn, said his parents gave him the freedom to pursue what he wanted. It was his drive that made him want to try for the top schools.

"I had the push to keep going," he said. "I watched movies with people going to Harvard and MIT and I thought, 'Why can't that be me?' so I kept pushing to do it."

Matthew Steele, math teacher and National Honor Society adviser at Monroe High, called Brown a "remarkable" student.

"He is in the top three or four students I've taught," said Steele, who is in his 13th year at Monroe. "He is the strongest, most intuitive thinker. He understands things on an instinctual level."

It did not surprise the teacher, who Brown called one of his role models, that math and physics were in his future. The pair have discussed Brown's future as well.

"I really applaud him for (getting into those schools)," Steele said. "The choice he has is unprecedented, at least in my experience. It really is remarkable what he's done, but it's all on him."

What sets Brown apart from other students, Steele said, is he goes after his goals because he knows he can instead of pushing forward because of outside pressures or competition.

Brown is returning to MIT's campus this month for a scholarship contest. He said that might help him make a decision, which he expects to make by May 1.

A member of the National Honor Society, Jonathon is the organization's president and was treasurer in his junior year. He is captain of the wrestling team and qualified for the regional contest. Last year, he started the school's anime club. He also is active in 4- H and has shown animals and crafts at the Monroe County Fair through the Raisinville Wranglers club.

He plans to study math and astrophysics in college with the goal of becoming a college professor.

"I want to have a direct impact on students," Brown said.

Published: Tue, Apr 14, 2015