Once Homeless, Jersey City Teen Accepted Into 17 Colleges

JERSEY CITY, NJ — This Jersey City teen battled homelessness and poverty in his childhood, but he's risen above adversity — and been accepted into an incredible 17 colleges or universities.

Dylan Chidick, 17, is a student at Snyder High School in Jersey City. For those who aren't familiar with Jersey City, that's in the Greenville section, the poorest part of the city and an area plagued by crime and drug violence.

Dylan and his parents immigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad when he was seven years old, and he is a U.S. citizen. But their life has hardly been easy since then: The family struggled with poverty and has been in and out of homelessness. Dylan's two twin younger brothers were born with serious heart defects.

"It has been hard financially, we have been homeless," his Khadine Phillip, told CBS News.

Women Rising was able to place the family in permanent supportive housing, according to the report.

However, Dylan's mom also taught him something else: "Can't should never be in your vocabulary," according to his internship page with Jersey City Youth Works, a program run by the city that places local teens in summer internships.

"Dylan was a model intern for us. He was always so poised and dedicated and it was felt in the room when he spoke," Luis Pacheco, an aid to the Jersey City mayor, told Patch. "We always knew we’d get the honest truth when speaking to Dylan. He actually cares about what you’re saying."

Dylan went on to become senior class president at Snyder. He is a member of the National Honor Society there and this spring, he was accepted into an incredible 17 colleges. Dylan will be the first in his family to go to college. Tuition at all 17 of the colleges has been waived, due to his financial situation.

Of course, for Dylan, he's still waiting on lucky number 18: He still hasn't heard back from The College of New Jersey, and that's his top choice right now. A list of the 17 schools has not been made available yet.

Those who worked with this teen aren't surprised he was accepted so widely.

"Dylan encouraged his peers to speak up and offered kind, sound advice when needed," said Pacheco. "His confidence grew as he gained more experience. Honestly, we are the fortunate ones to have had Dylan be part of our JCSI Program, not the other way around. He made me want to become a better person for them."

Dylan said that for a career he wants to study law and public policy, because, as he says on his internship page: "I chose this field because want to help change the corrupt criminal justice system in America."