Alejandro Negrón Calderón, Class of 2025 at Washburn School in Ponce, has committed to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida to study Astrophysics and Astronomy. He received a $192,000 scholarship from the university and was also awarded the prestigious MG James Ursano Children’s Scholarship, bringing his total financial aid to a remarkable sum.
Thanks to exceptional scores on advanced placement exams in English writing and mathematics, Alejandro will skip the first year of general education courses and begin directly in his major.
Additional Acceptances:
University of Michigan
Purdue University (with a music scholarship for cello 
)
)Villanova University
Ohio University
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Outstanding Achievements:
Perfect score in English on the College Board (PAA)
SAT score in the 99th percentile nationally
Named Washburn’s Student of the Year 2023
Two-time champion of Poetry Out Loud and Puerto Rico finalist (2024)
Honored by Ponce Mayor Marlese Sifre as one of the city’s top students.
Note: At Washburn, students take College Writing in English from 6th–12th grade, a key factor in Alejandro’s success. His college readiness, strong essays, and advanced writing skills helped him secure both private and institutional scholarships—proving the long-term impact of a rigorous writing curriculum.
Notably, the English exam he passed to skip freshman-level classes at Embry-Riddle consisted of a single complex essay, which he completed successfully.
