South Bronx Student Going from Highbridge to Harvard

By Emily Swanson; Photos from Emily Swanson and Christina Adja
Originally published in Bronx Times on June 27, 2025

Christina Adja, a South Bronx native who just graduated from Central Park East High School in East Harlem, is heading to Harvard this fall—after also being accepted to Yale, UPenn, Georgetown University, and Smith College. She was the first student in her school to ever be accepted to multiple Ivy League schools.

Her parents are Togolese immigrants and her mom, who got an associate’s degree back home, works as a clerk at Montefiore and her dad, who did not attend college, drives horse-drawn carriages, mainly in Central Park.

Fortunately, Adja said she had a great college counselor at school who kept all students aware of various opportunities that would help them.

Adja leaned on her strong academic record, including four Advanced Placement courses this year, and a broad range of extracurricular experience, including recording a podcast for WNYC’s Radio Rookies program, a two-week trip to Botswana with the organization Black Birthright and leading peer-to-peer college application tutoring at school.

She applied to 21 total schools, including CUNY and SUNY, and when acceptance letters came in from five prestigious but expensive schools, she was immediately nervous about how to pay.

Her parents reassured her they’d figure out the money no matter what, but they might not have fully grasped how much tuition really is, Adja said. At Harvard, full tuition for the 2025-26 academic year is nearly $87,000, and at Yale, over $90,000.

Fortunately, Harvard came through with a generous aid package.

“I’ve accomplished a lot within New York City,” she said. “I’m ready to see what I’ll accomplish outside of New York City, in a completely different environment.”