Accepted by 10 colleges, Dozier-Libbey senior and salutatorian chooses Princeton

Aliha Mughal

By Allen Payton

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School senior Aliha Mughal, has been accepted to attend Princeton University and nine other colleges, next fall to study biology and pre-med.

Aliha has earned a 4.1984 weighted GPA (3.9008 unweighted) and was named Salutatorian for Dozier-Libbey Medical High School’s class of 2019. She is the daughter of Tabarak Mughal and Synary Be of Antioch.

She applied to a total of 13 schools and was accepted to 10, including San Jose State, CSU Long Beach, San Francisco State, San Diego State, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, and Princeton.

Different schools have different majors, Aliha explained. She has applied for molecular biology, cell biology or micro-biology depending on the school, all on a pre-med track.

At school, she is involved in HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America), Key Club, Leadership, and serves as an AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) tutor. Aliha currently serves as Senior Class Representative for HOSA and Senior Class Co-President for Leadership. She previously served as Junior Class Vice President and Recognition Commissioner for Leadership, as well.

Aliha has also volunteered to help collect and sort recycling for the school during her sophomore and junior years. Outside of school, she was a member of Deer Valley High School’s Colorguard and Winterguard teams during her junior year and was one of USC’s Bovard Scholars.

Her goal is to become a doctor, “specifically an oncologist,” Aliha said.

When asked why medicine, Aliha said, “There are two components to it. I have a genuine interest in science, especially the molecular, smaller scale things. That’s what leads me toward cancer. I’m specifically interested in immunotherapy.”

“I’ve also had family members who’ve had cancer, so there’s a personal aspect to it,” she explained. “So, it’s the combination of the two.”

As of last week, Aliha hadn’t visited all of the schools she was considering

“Right now, I’m leaning toward Princeton,” she said, during an interview, last week. “I was considering U.C. Berkeley and USC.”

Aliha then visited USC, last Saturday, April 27.

The deadline for her decision was May 1st. In an email to the Herald, yesterday afternoon, Aliha wrote, “I just wanted to update you on my final college decision. I have decided to attend Princeton University.”


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