Kaplan Test Prep Announces University of Florida Student Justin Correll as the Winner of Its Where Will You Take You $25,000 Sweepstakes

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Justin Correll, a student at the University of Florida’s college of engineering and native of Jacksonville, is the winner of Kaplan Test Prep’s annual Where Will You Take You $25,000 Sweepstakes. Kaplan created this national sweeps about 10 years ago to offer college students and young professionals – many of whom aspire to enroll in graduate, business, law or medical school – a chance to start their own business, pay off student loans or pay tuition to earn that higher degree. Justin’s name was selected at random out of thousands of entries from across the United States and Canada.

“Winning this money gives me the freedom to fully pursue my career and education goals without worrying as much about how much it will all cost. My options are so much broader now. It has really changed my life”

It’s been a long, but worthwhile road for Justin to get to this point in his career. After graduating high school, Justin enrolled in college, only to quit after one semester to enroll in a trade school instead. After receiving his electrician’s license and working a few years, Justin came to realize the importance of a college degree in meeting his professional goal of becoming an engineer, so he enrolled at Florida State College, a community college in Jacksonville. He then moved to Gainesville in spring 2012 with his wife, where he enrolled at the University of Florida that summer to study engineering. Enter Kaplan.

Justin explained that a Kaplan rep had been handing out sweepstakes forms around campus. He eagerly signed up – though the friends he was with didn’t. “They thought nobody ever wins these kinds of things,” Justin laughed. And oh, how they were wrong. A couple of months later, while Justin was sitting on a campus bench mentally preparing for a phone interview for a potential summer internship, his phone rang. Not recognizing the New York area code, but thinking it could be another internship possibility (he applied to several), he picked up and got the exciting news that he won Kaplan Test Prep’s Where Will You Take You $25,000 Sweepstakes…which he says he completely forgot he even entered.

“Winning this money gives me the freedom to fully pursue my career and education goals without worrying as much about how much it will all cost. My options are so much broader now. It has really changed my life,” said Justin who is financing his BA through Pell grants and loans. “I want to pursue a master’s in engineering to secure a job in which I’ll be working on something innovative. I want to come up with new ideas about how to better use technology and energy. I want to be driving these ideas.” Justin says he is particularly passionate about renewable energy.

Justin plans to take the GRE, the graduate school admissions exam required by most programs, and enroll in a top program in 2015, the year he graduates from the University of Florida.

As for what he’ll do with the $25,000, Justin says, “I plan to use most of it to pay off student loans and bills, but the first thing I am going to buy is a nice bicycle.” Ever the energy conservationist, Justin says, “Soon I can just finish class and hop on my bike to go home. No more bus.“

About Kaplan Test Prep

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

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