A high school prodigy behind an AI-driven app raking in $30 million per year has been turned down by 15 leading colleges—including esteemed Ivy League institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton. Countless voices on social media argue that his personal essay tripped him up.

Eighteen-year-old Zach Yadegari, co-founder of the photo-based calorie tracking platform Cal AI, recently shared his admission experience on X. Despite holding an impeccable 4.0 GPA and an ACT score of 34—placing him in the top five percent of test takers—he found his applications overwhelmingly unsuccessful.

Yadegari’s innovative Cal AI, featured in his college applications, enables users to snap photos of their meals to automatically record calorie counts and nutritional details. The app, which launched in May, has impressively secured over five million downloads and generates upward of $2 million in monthly revenue, as he explained to TechCrunch. Its stellar 4.8-star ratings across major app stores, backed by tens of thousands of reviews, further underscore its success.

Nevertheless, acceptances only came from Georgia Tech, the University of Texas, and the University of Miami. Screenshots of his personal statement—detailing a journey from early coding adventures at age seven to managing his first employee—suggested a narrative shift from dismissing college to embracing its social and networking opportunities. Some online critics contended that his essay hinted he might not fully commit to academic life, likely influencing admissions officers.

Amid surging college applications nationwide, his case intensifies questions about the evolving criteria and priorities of elite admissions.

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