MANILA — Filipino high school student Carl Audric Guia, who had been accepted to 5 US universities -- of which 4 offered total financial aid -- revealed his school of choice on Sunday, April 30.

The 17-year-old graduating student of the University of the Philippines Rural High School in Los Baños, Laguna said in a message to ABS-CBN News that he committed admission on April 23 to the world’s prestigious Harvard University, where he's interested in taking up a course related to physics or astrophysics.

"We're Harvard-bound!" Guia said in a Facebook post on Sunday, tagging Filipino student Aryenne Ysabelle, who too had qualified to several US universities and picked the Ivy League school.

"[A] combination of reason and gut directed us to commit to Harvard."

With 11 Nobel laureates in Physics, Harvard touts its Center for Astrophysics, established in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, as "one of the world's great centers for research in astrophysics."

The center has a "large staff of scientists," the university said on its website, "and is among the largest institutions devoted to astronomy and astrophysics in the world."

Guia said that picking one university was a hard decision.

Aside from Harvard, Guia had qualified to Princeton, Yale, Stanford, and the University of Notre Dame.

"Coming from public high schools in the Philippines, we didn't expect how difficult it would be to close some doors after trying so hard to find them in the first place," he said.

Days before his announcement, Guia said that he had informed other universities about his decision to pursue college at Harvard, which was one of the 4 institutions that offered him a full scholarship.

According to Guia, Harvard students are not required to declare a program until their sophomore year. His classes will start on September 5.

Guia expressed his gratitude to people who helped them navigate US college admissions.

"Thank you to all who guided us in this journey," Guia said.

"As the first students from a Filipino public school to attend Harvard College, we raise our flag proudly. Go Crimsons!"

• Filipino student receives offers from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame

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