Scholarship gives Sofia Villacreses ’19 a shot at Cornell

Sofia Villacreses '19 Photo Credit: AAD staff

For Sofia Villacreses, who lived in Ecuador until she emigrated with her mother to New York City at age 11, the plan for college had been modest; attend LaGuardia Community College then transfer to the City College of New York. But as two years of community college drew to a close, her friends pointed out her potential.

“Because I had a good GPA, my friends told me, ‘You should try one of the higher schools. Just give it a shot.’ So I did.”

When Villacreses got into Cornell’s College of Engineering, she was “pleasantly surprised,” but doubted she and her mother could afford tuition, and her dream of an Ivy League education dissipated.

“When I saw that I had been given scholarship funds to aid my attendance,” she said, “I was ecstatic. All my hard work had paid off.”

The John E. and Elaine Meed Alexander Scholarship and other grants make it possible for Villacreses to reach higher in her education than she’d thought possible...

CONTINUE READING ON THE CORNELL GIVING WEBSITE

More Spotlights