VIJAYAWADA: Seventeen-year-old Akarsh Chittineni from Vijayawada has achieved what most can only dream of. He is the only student from Andhra Pradesh and one of just six from India to gain admission to Duke University, ranked sixth globally in the QS World University Rankings 2025.
With this, Akarsh joins an elite league of global scholars, having secured admission offers from 40 prestigious universities in the United States, along with scholarship offers worth a staggering Rs 25 crore. He is set to step onto the world stage this August (Fall).
Set to pursue engineering at Duke, Akarsh stands out not just for his academic brilliance but also for a holistic profile marked by service, leadership, and creativity. The acceptance rate at Duke this year dropped to just 3.25%, underscoring the extraordinary merit behind his selection.
A student of Delhi Public School, Vijayawada, Akarsh has been the school topper for six consecutive years. He earlier clinched a gold medal for topping the CBSE Class 10 exams at KCP Siddhartha Public School. With a 98th percentile SAT score, an IELTS band of 8.5, and distinctions in four Advanced Placement exams, he was named the AP Scholar with Honours. He also received a full-ride scholarship to study multivariable calculus at Stanford University’s prestigious pre-collegiate programme.
