CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Nancy Herrejon, 18, is a senior at Lyons Township High School. On Tuesday afternoon, she learned she was accepted into her number one choice, Loyola University.
"It was my number one school," she squealed. "I can go to college now. It's amazing. It's at a campus I really enjoy."
Chicago Scholars CEO Dominique Jordan Turner said they are first-generation, young people who are becoming the first in the nation to be accepted to college.
"This is the day that is pure magic and we look forward to it every year," Jordan Turner said. "They are all interviewing with their top five schools and they will all walk out of here with at least one acceptance."
Chicago Scholars are chosen each year through applications and interviews. Students must be juniors in high school, live in Chicago, and attend a high school in Chicago, are either a first-generation college student and/or comes from an under resourced community.
"Chicago Scholars is almost 25-years old. This is our 13th year for on-site admissions. It started out with 30 colleges at DePaul. Now we're here at Navy Pier with hundreds and hundreds of students," Jordan Turner said.
On Tuesday, she was accepted on the spot from Butler University.
"I'm really happy for her because it was one of the schools she chose. This is a relief for us financially. Chicago Scholars are helping us through this. It's a beautiful thing," said Lanise Washington.
Yale, Duke, Georgetown, Spellman, Butler and Howard are Armani's top schools.
Last year, there were 2,000 offers of admission and more than $60 million in merit aid was awarded.
"They are only a month in a half into their senior year and they are being accepted to college. These students are done. It's a huge sigh of relief for them, but we know college isn't the finish line. We want them to come back to Chicago and have jobs that will change the trajectory of their families and break that cycle of poverty," Jordan Turner said.