Nottingham High School senior Betsy Vasquez is leaning toward the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University.
HAMILTON -- For many college-bound high school seniors, this time of year can be nerve wracking as acceptance letters start showing up in mailboxes.
It was for Betsy Vasquez.
And then the Nottingham High School senior started opening them last week and tears came to her eyes.
Her final tally: acceptance letters from 15 schools, including five Ivy League universities.
"I called my mom and her whole workplace was listening as I opened the letters," Vasquez said. "And I just cried. I was so excited."
She got into Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown and University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League, as well as Johns Hopkins University, Colgate University, University of Richmond and Barnard, a women's college affiliated with Columbia University.
Rounding out the list, Vasquez got yes letters from The College of New Jersey, Ramapo College, Muhlenberg College and all three Rutgers campuses.
She was wait-listed at Harvard University and the exclusive Pomona College.
"I have no words to describe how I felt," Vasquez said Tuesday.
"My top choices were the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University," Vasquez said. "My reach was Columbia University. I could never have guessed I would get into them all. That's why I applied to so many."
Vasquez said she is considering four of the five Ivy League universities and will make a decision May 1.
Vasquez said she will be pursuing a degree in neuroscience and plans to attend medical school after graduation to become a neurosurgeon.
She said she did not want to attempt the Ivy League sweep - acceptance into all Ivy League institutions. "I'm kind of against that," she said.
"You should have a type of school you want to go to," Vasquez said. "Take Cornell (University). It's in upstate New York, kind of in the middle of nowhere. I knew I wanted to go somewhere in the suburbs or a city."
Vasquez said she moved from New York City to Hamilton when she was a seventh grader and commuted back to New York until she attended Nottingham - a move that set her back from her peers.
"It still has an impact on me," Vasquez said. "I had to take summer classes and double up on science classes my junior year to catch up. But I have no resentment or anything," she said.
The New York City public schools' curriculum is behind New Jersey, she said.
Despite being a bit behind at first, Vasquez said she made the most of high school.
She's a member of the Quixote Quest, a teen volunteer program. Through it, she tutors an elementary school student in Trenton on Saturdays and spends time with a senior citizen on Sundays.
And she's a member of the Princeton University Preparatory Program - a program for "high-achieving, low-income" high school students.
Vasquez is also Nottingham's student representative for the Hamilton Board of Education and clocked a 4.434 grade point average, which ranked her seventh in her graduating class.
"I just want to say thank you to my parents and teachers who helped me," Vasquez said. "Even though I got accepted into those schools, they also played a big role in my acceptance so they deserve recognition too."
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.