No Two Paths the Same: SSIS University Acceptances 2026

Every spring, something shifts on campus. Seniors move through final rehearsals, last games, exhibitions, and exams with a growing awareness of time, of what they have built here, and of where they are headed next.

Younger students watch closely. Parents quietly wonder about their child’s pathway and what the years ahead might look like. And seniors begin to reflect on their own journeys and futures. It's all part of the process.

This year’s Senior Profiles, told through the experiences of eight of our 134 graduating seniors, offer a glimpse into those journeys. Each of these students now knows where they are headed next, but their stories reflect something important about an education at SSIS: no two timelines or outcomes ever look the same.

Preparation Begins Long Before Applications

Earlier this year, High School Principal Mr. Dan Smith brought families together for a parent partnership session about what truly prepares students for success at university.

The conversation acknowledged that while university acceptances are one milestone, preparation is what allows students to make the most of what comes next. That preparation—academic, personal, and social—is built gradually over the years. And for each student, it reflects a unique mosaic of their talents, passions, and contributions.

From Grade 9 on, high school counselors work 1:1 with students as they explore their interests, challenge themselves academically, and begin to develop a clearer sense of who they are and what matters to them. If parents have questions about this process, their child’s counselor is the first point of contact.

The work is not simply about building a portfolio and completing their university applications. It is about helping students build a sense of self.

No Single Version of Success

By the time students reach the middle of Grade 10, they begin deciding whether they want to pursue the full IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11 and 12, choose the AP pathway, or combine some IB and some AP courses with our own rigorous SSIS classes. They have already spent years discovering which subjects, learning environments, clubs, and experiences genuinely engage them.

For Jack, that meant balancing robotics, engineering, jazz music, and community service. During his senior year, he was a project manager for SSIS’s inaugural FIRST Robotics team while continuing to build the jazz band he founded in Grade 10. Reflecting on what shaped him most, he shared, “If you're passionate and want to help your community, create the platform. Someone needs to do it.”

For Aru, whose path leads toward finance at the University of Pennsylvania, growth occurred equally through internships, DECA leadership, varsity soccer, and student government. The confidence she speaks about came not from idealizing a future career, but from testing it in the real world first.

Phuong’s journey took shape through the interdisciplinary nature of the IB Diploma Programme. His interests in chemistry, environmental science, the Spanish language, food, and culture gradually converged in his 4,000-word Extended Essay, written entirely in Spanish, examining how Asian immigrant communities have shaped the cuisine of Lima, Peru.

Intentionality Behind University Acceptances

What connects the students featured in our Senior Profiles this year is not sameness but intentionality. Each student followed the subjects, questions, and experiences that genuinely mattered to them.

That is reflected in the universities to which SSIS graduates are accepted each year. The acceptances of Class of 2026 span the US, UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and include Stanford University (USA), KAIST (South Korea), Seoul National University (South Korea), Bocconi University (Italy), University of Sydney (Australia), Johns Hopkins University (USA), McGill University (Canada), Georgetown University (USA), Duke University (USA), Northwestern University (USA), Imperial College London (UK), University of California, Berkeley (USA), and Pomona College (USA), among hundreds of top institutions worldwide.

Forming Their Own Story

What stays with you while reading these senior profiles is not simply where the students are headed, but how differently their journeys unfolded along the way.

Most of them don't begin high school with a fully formed plan. Their interests evolve through research projects, competitions, performances, athletics, mentorship, internships, friendships, setbacks, and moments of unexpected discovery. Some students follow long-standing passions more deeply over time. Others arrive somewhere entirely different from where they first imagined.

What many universities, particularly those in the US, are ultimately looking for is not how well a student conforms to a template, but how clearly their story emerges—the particular combination of interests, experiences, questions, and commitments that belongs to no one else.

This is what these students have been building year by year, often without fully realizing where it might eventually lead. Following what genuinely mattered to them turned out to be the work all along.

Meaningful Pathways, Different Journeys

Last year’s graduate video captured four very different student journeys and served as a reminder that meaningful pathways rarely look the same from one student to the next.

This collection of Senior Profiles continues to demonstrate how each student’s unique pathway leads them to a bright future. Together, they reflect an educational philosophy grounded in supporting students as individuals rather than in shaping them to follow a single model of achievement.

The goal at SSIS is not to produce one type of graduate. It is to help each student leave SSIS with a clearer sense of who they are, what matters to them, and where they are most likely to flourish next.