At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, crowds of students bustle together, trekking up and down the campus’s hills, along pristine pathways and lengths of crisp green shrubbery. With the end of the year quickly approaching, many students considering UTK also stroll the campus in groups or on self-guided tours.

Amidst the chaos, Tennessee High senior Chloe Whitt, a dedicated dancer, yearbooker, and aspiring biochem major, walks around campus but also keeps her options open – and options, she has.

“I’m looking at UTK, Wake Forest, and then I’ve also recently had an interview with Duke, [as well as Harvard],” Whitt said.

For Whitt, an interest in the medical field had been present since her freshman year. Originating as a regard for anesthesiology, certain classes and experiences broadened that pathway, constantly providing her with new knowledge of various jobs in medicine.

“I’d say that both my AP biology class and my AP chemistry class really helped define which major I wanted to go into specifically,” Whitt said. “[Miss Anderson] was my health science teacher and my medical therapeutics teacher, and she’s been a big help to me. I’ve talked to her a lot about the different jobs [in the medical field], and she’s definitely been there for me throughout the years.”

Of course, it’s not only her career plans that have changed throughout the years, but the colleges that she favors most as well.

“When I went to go and tour schools at the end of [my] sophomore year and the beginning of junior year, I loved Wake Forest. It was my number one immediately,” Whitt said. “UTK wasn’t really on my radar. I didn’t think that I wanted a city school until I went and toured it, and I loved it.”

Similarly, Whitt found that both Duke’s campus and top-tier medical research made them another great option. When it comes to Harvard, however, nothing was ever truly set in stone.

“I kind of applied to [Harvard] more as, like, a ‘ha ha, let’s see if I can get in,’” Whitt said. “I didn’t really expect to hear anything back from them.”

Though it initially came as a surprise to Whitt, it goes without saying that being plucked for an interview wasn’t just luck of the draw. Passion and drive bracket her years at Tennessee High, whether that be through 15 years of competitive dance, balancing yearbook deadlines, or scoring a 36 ACT superscore.

“I took [the ACT] five times. The first time I took it, I got a 33. And I really knew that I wanted to get that 36,” Whitt said.

Whitt views the ACT not just as a number, but as an accomplished goal that years of hard work have led her to achieve. In turn, schools associate that score with a good academic foundation and a student who isn’t afraid to work for more. 

“I think [the ACT has] motivated me a lot, and that is probably a big thing that’s [gotten] me into a lot of different schools,” Whitt said.

After careful deliberation, she has decided to attend UTK after graduating, where she’ll further her studies in their honors program.