A young college student was “shocked and angry” after learning she had missed out on a large scholarship offer from one of her top three colleges, but a happy ending had TikTok cheering.
TikToker @luvlyymadiii had over 2.8 million views, 394,000 likes, and 500 comments after uploading the unexpected moment to her account, which she most likely did not want to catch on video.
While we’ve seen college students’ disclosures go viral in the past, such as the Harvard student who startled TikTok by revealing what her dining hall offers on a typical night, @luvlyymadiii’s heart-stopping discovery should serve as a wake-up call to all high school graduates: Always read through your acceptance letters.
@luvlyymadiii, who has been using her TikTok account as a type of video journal, likely had no idea she’d be filming a viral moment when she sat down to record for her April 29 entry.
According to @luvlyymadiii, she was cleaning out her closet of unread college acceptance letters when she found a heartbreaking discovery: a $104,000 scholarship offer to Maryville College, one of her top three school options.
However, in order to avoid incurring debt from a big organization, @luvlyymadiii had already decided to attend a community college and had attended their acceptance ceremony, even though the deadline to accept Maryville’s offer was just one day away.
“You opened it a day before decision for a reason. Go and get that uni education w/ the scholarship!! It’ll be worth it!” one TikTok user, @astoldbycolette, urged her in the comments.
In her post, @luvlyymadiii informed anxious TikTok users that Maryville College had watched her now-viral video and had tracked her down.
“Basically, they said they were gonna make my dreams come true, and they’re gonna send me an official award offer letter to my Gmail,” she recalled, smiling into the camera. “So now I’m going to college, and I’m so excited!”
@luvlyymadiii then went on to explain one of the most often asked questions: How could she not have opened the acceptance letters she got from organizations to which she had applied?
“I had over, like, 300 letters come in, so it was impossible for me to open every single one because I was still doing a ton of school work and I had a job,” she explained. In the comments, she also informed viewers that she had been applying to colleges since the end of her junior year, and that she used exemptions to pay for many of the application expenses.
TikTok users were overjoyed for @luvlyymadiii and grateful to the institution for not letting her lose out on such an excellent opportunity.