Helena Abdou
Greenvale local, Jackson Coombs is off to Harvard University in August after securing a spot at the prestigious school.
The 19-year-old finished up at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar in 2020 with an ATAR of 99.85, and completed a year of science at Melbourne University.
The Ivy League school admitted 3.2 per cent of the 61,220 people that applied for their fall 2022 class, Jackson being one of them.
“It was a bit surreal. I couldn’t really believe it. The acceptance rates are so low that when I applied I didn’t really think that I would get in,” he said.
Besides his studies, Jackson is also committed to his dancing which he believes helped him get accepted into Harvard.
“Being able to talk about my experience as a male dancer in my essays, and someone who has also volunteered in the community with dancing made a big difference in whether I got admitted or not.”
Jackson started tap dancing at the age of nine and his mother Kerrie Power-Drabik ran a dancing school for 33 years before closing it late last year.
“He’s always been somebody that constantly achieves, he’s always surprising me with the amount of things that he attempts and does well at,” she said.
He will graduate part of the class of 2026, undergoing a science degree and intends to continue his dancing over in the states.
“I’m really looking forward to it and doing something different, just taking a leap, and giving it a go,” Jackson said.
