This Hoo is receiving two degrees at once. But that’s not his proudest achievement

He’ll be announced during Final Exercises weekend as “Paul Clancy,” one of three members of the University of Virginia’s Class of 2026 receiving a dual degree from the Darden School of Business and the School of Medicine.

On Reddit, though, he goes by “Spartan10142,” the username he created on a whim six years ago to post a framework for his proudest achievement to date.

Clancy is the founder of AdmissionsAcademy.org, an online education program that helps aspiring doctors – especially those without access to costly advising – navigate the path to medical school. Clancy leads a team that provides free guides, MCAT strategies and application resources.

The program, which has already assisted some 270 students nationwide since its 2024 founding – including some at UVA – has links to an October 2020 Reddit post, “My adventure to a 525/advice/knowledge/life tips.”

Clancy, then a senior at Michigan State University, had just put the finishing touches on a rigorous process that culminated in a score in the 100th percentile on the MCAT, the medical school admissions exam. He didn’t come to Reddit to boast; he came to share his secrets with the premedical community on the social media platform.

“We’re all in this together,” he wrote on the MCAT subreddit.

The post blew up with comments like, “Thank you – this is what I was going for!” to “(This is) the best novel I have ever read.” It sparked Clancy’s tutoring career after he enrolled at UVA’s School of Medicine. And later, it laid the foundation for AdmissionsAcademy.

“I realized I had the skill set and the passion, and I could make this into something more,” Clancy said. “A (Reddit post) is nice, but it doesn’t have structure, doesn’t have the scale.

“And that’s why I started asking, ‘What would the next step be if I wanted to help more people and impact others? What would that look like?’”

William Adu-Jamfi personifies Clancy’s ambition. The second-generation American received Clancy’s tutelage while pursuing his master’s degree in biomedical engineering at UVA, and now he’s been accepted into four medical schools.

“Only 40% of people even get one acceptance,” Adu-Jamfi said. “So, the fact that I was able to get four is a testament to Paul’s mentorship and how much he was able to help me with everything.”

The son of West African parents, Adu-Jamfi worked with Clancy on essays, statements, gaining letters of recommendation and a variety of other tasks necessary in the medical school application process.

“Black men only make up around 2% of physicians today,” Adu-Jamfi said. “So, I don’t really have a lot of mentors who look like me or mentors who are willing to help. Paul really stood out in that aspect.”

Clancy’s medical training gave him the insight to build AdmissionsAcademy. A Darden School education, which he pursued in 2024 as part of UVA’s combined degree program, gave him the tools to expand it.

“I went from having these ideas to actually executing them,” Clancy said.

AdmissionsAcademy, a past winner at the UVA Entrepreneurship Cup and a featured venture at the 2025 Tom Tom Festival in Charlottesville, began as an LLC and is now transitioning to a nonprofit.

“What Darden has done is given me the confidence to do this,” said Clancy, a native of South Lyon, Michigan. “Like, ‘You can start a company. You’re a guy from a small town in the Midwest who can have an impact on people from all over the world.’”

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If Clancy is determined, he typically completes a task. Paul Clancy Sr., Paul’s father, isn’t surprised he’s been able to juggle the rigors of two prestigious UVA graduate programs in addition to leading AdmissionsAcademy.

In eighth grade, Clancy Sr. challenged his son to score a 28 on the ACT before getting an Xbox. He did – at 13.

“I mean, he just applies himself,” Clancy Sr. said. “He’s disciplined, and it’s really worked out great for him.

“I think he’s got a fantastic future ahead of him.”

In June, Clancy will begin anesthesiology residency training at the University of Michigan, while also keeping the doors to AdmissionsAcademy wide open.

In the beginning, it was only a Reddit post with positive feedback. It’s since made real-life impact.

“If I can get someone who’s deserving to medical school,” he said, “they’re going to have a career where they impact thousands more people.”

This article was originally published in UVA Today.