Four seniors from Norwalk High School are Ivy League-bound this fall and they are sharing the secrets to their success.

Maria Fe Luque says she moved to the U.S. from Peru in the first grade. Shortly after, she garnered a passion for American history.

"This is our country. That's amazing that people from so long ago established a foundation for today, and what everything's based on today," she said.

Luque is taking that passion to Harvard on a full scholarship this fall. She says the language barrier never stopped her parents from being her biggest cheerleaders.

"They pushed me so much, in Spanish...all the way," said Luque.

Across town at Brien McMahon, three senior students are Ivy-bound this fall.

"My dad told the imam, he told everyone at the mosque, and then everyone's like 'OK, you have to be the future for us all, help us all out,'" said Roja Yousuf.

Yousuf is planning to dive into cancer research at Harvard College. A stellar student who hates tests, Yousuf says she was skeptical of the new test-optional application.

"I thought that was a myth. Like, OK, this is impossible. I'm just going to give it a try. So I guess it's not a myth," said Yousuf. "I did not expect to get in at all, it was a total surprise when I opened it and I saw I got in."

Camille Legenani is attending University of Pennsylvania this fall as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar, and is hoping to keep fighting for social justice.

"I'm really passionate about food insecurity, which unfortunately disproportionately affects communities of color. So just access to food," said Legenani.

Katherine Romero is choosing between Yale, Harvard, Columbia and Brown for the fall.

"My older sister went to Harvard so it's kind of like that pressure was always on me, whether I like it or not," said Romero.

She fills her time volunteering with local nonprofits, but she says she is blazing her own path.

"To be very unique and to present yourself as best you can to these schools, if you want to if that's your end goal," said Romero.

All eight Ivy League universities are making standardized tests optional on applications at least through the 2023 application season.