Millfield swimmer commits to University of Virginia

Millfield Upper Sixth swimmer Sophia has committed to attend the University of Virginia in the US next year.

Eighteen-year-old Sophia joined Millfield in Year 10 and has been training at the school for three years. Alongside her swimming, she is also studying for three A levels in Mathematics, Psychology and Economics.

A backstroke and IM specialist, Sophia represents Great Britain internationally throughout Europe and North America. She recently earned bronze in the 200 back for the 17-18 age group at the 2019 British Summer Championships with a time that ranks her 14th in the UK this year. At the 2017 British Summer Championships, she won two gold medals in the 16-year-old category.

Sophia says, “I’m so happy to have committed to such an amazing university, I could not have got where I am without the huge help Millfield have been with applying to the states, but I also wouldn’t be able to even apply if I didn’t have such excellent swim coaches and teachers who helped me qualify. I’ll be sad to leave but excited to start a brand-new chapter in my life.”

On average, 10% of Millfield pupils go on to study at universities in the US and Canada, including Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Yale, as well as the University of Notre Dame and Columbia.

Millfield provides specialist guidance for applications to American universities and employs a Tutor in Charge, an SAT advisor and a Virginian Fellow, which is a student at the University of Virginia who resides at Millfield to assist with the US university application process. Millfield is also one of few SAT centres in the UK, which means that pupils can take their SAT entry exam onsite.