Tennessee student rejects all 8 Ivy League schools

MEMPHIS, TN -- A Tennessee student who was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools and several other elite colleges has declined them all.

In addition to the Ivy League schools, Ronald Nelson rejected Stanford, John Hopkins and New York University in favor of attending the University of Alabama.

"It's an experience that I'll absolutely never forget, being able to open up eight different letters and then seeing, 'Congratulations, welcome to our class of 2019.' It's definitely something to put on my tombstone," Nelson said.

The 17-year-old from Germantown says the reason was partly financial, noting that the Ivy League schools offered little in aid. The University of Alabama is giving Nelson a full scholarship.

Nelson took 15 AP classes and earned a 4.58 G.P.A. in high school. He scored a 34 on the ACT and 2260 on the SAT.

ABC News contributed to this report.