‘Glory and Honor to God’: 16-Year-Old Accepted to 170 Colleges, $9 Million in Scholarships

A Louisiana boy is giving “glory and honor to God” after making headlines for his academic success at 16 years old.

Maliq Barnes, a graduating senior at International High School of New Orleans, was accepted to more than 170 colleges and received more than $9 million in scholarships, breaking the previous record of $8.7 million.

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Maliq announced Friday he will attend Cornell University in the fall.

“I have committed to attend Cornell University and intend to pursue computer science and to later move on to practice software development,” he said as he put on a Cornell University sweatshirt. “Today is an exciting day for me and my family and I look forward to working with Cornell’s college of engineering over the course of my undergraduate education.”

He graduated with a 4.98 GPA, played track and basketball, speaks fluent Spanish, and served as the National Honors Society executive president.

Maliq graduated early by combining his sophomore and junior years into one with dual enrollment at Southern University in New Orleans. Then he applied to over 200 schools.

After a Fox News host compared him to Superman, Maliq was quick to deflect and give praise to God and honor his parents and school counselor, Denise James.

“One thing I’m going to say… I know everybody not going to be like me, not everybody going to have the same goals, dreams, aspirations. I would just want to say- keep God in the midst and whatever those dreams are that you do have, make it a priority, make it your determination, and make it your business to prioritize it and put it first,” he told the outlet.

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“I give glory and honor to God, definitely,” Maliq told Good Morning San Diego. “I thank for everything He’s doing. He kind of keep me through, keep it going even when I don’t want to…some days it’s gonna be harder than others. Everything not always going to be easy. I just thank God for the determination, the diligence to keep going and for waking me up every day.”

Maliq said his parents always taught him to keep God first and prioritize education.

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There’s no doubt Maliq has a bright future ahead of him at Cornell!

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Caleb Parke is the SMG managing editor. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and connect with him at calebparke.com.