Google hires 18-year-old who was turned down by 16 colleges

Stanley Zhong, an 18-year-old graduate from Palo Alto, California, has secured a position as a full-time software engineer at Google after having faced rejection from as many as 16 colleges. These colleges included prestigious Ivy League and state institutions.

Hailing from Silicon Valley's Gunn High School, Stanley had an impressive academic record, boasting a 3.97 unweighted and 4.42 weighted GPA. Additionally, he scored an outstanding 1590 out of 1600 on the SATs and even founded his own e-signing startup, RabbitSign, during his sophomore year.

Stanley sees his startup playing a vital role as traditional document signing evolves.


These accomplishments notwithstanding, Stanley faced rejection from 16 out of the 18 colleges he applied to. He had applied for a computer science major course. The instutitions that rejected him application included renowned names like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon. The only institions that accepted him were the University of Texas and the University of Maryland.

Stanley initially considered joining the University of Texas. He, however, ultimately chose Google over a traditional college experience.

This story has caught people's imagination in the US. It has even prompted a discussion in Congress. During a hearing on affirmative action at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Stanley's case was cited as a notable example.