Even for the Best and Brightest, Tikvah Koppisch is extremely successful. Her academic career – including 15 Advanced Placement Courses – causes school staff to describe Koppisch as “rigorous as she is curious.” A National Merit Scholar, she currently has a cumulative G.P.A. of 4.314.   According to her college counselor at the Vanguard School, over the last 18 months, Tikvah has also read 291 books. Her interests are wide-ranging – from The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. She accomplished this feat while also taking a calculus course at UC Berkeley.  Tikvah told us in her application, “I have wanted to be an engineer since fifth grade.” But this young woman didn’t gain her success alone.…