Mean Girls actress Avantika Vandanapu jokes about getting rejected from Harvard after SAA names her person of the year

On March 7, 2024, Mean Girls actress Avantika Vandanapu shared a video on Instagram from her visit to Harvard University. In the video, she can be seen joking about the prestigious university rejecting her application after the university's South Asian Association awarded her Person of The Year.

"My mom definitely did want a diploma from Harvard but I hope this award will do."

In the caption, she wrote,

"side note - since y'all at harvard rejected me the first time around - id like my common app fee to be reimbursed please and thank you."

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Avantika Vandanapu gets Person of The Year Award from Harvard University's SAA

Avantika Vandanapu posted a thread of photos on her Instagram handle, thanking the university for naming her South Asian Person of the Year. She can be seen wearing a pink lehenga with her hair slicked back. The Mean Girls actress also posted a note from Harvard SAA.

"Dear Avantika, Welcome to Harvard! Thank you so much for coming in this weekend for Andaaz and it is an absolute honor to name you as our 2024 Harvard South Asian Person of the Year! We are in constant awe of you and inspired by your trailblazing in the arts and media...hope you enjoy the show and have a great time in Cambridge this weekend! With Love, Harvard SAA."

While giving a thank you speech at the university, Avantika Vandanapu dedicated the award to people of color, people fighting at the frontlines in Gaza, Humanitarian leaders, and people the States lost to the World Central Kitchen. Born to an Indian, Telugu-speaking family in Union City, California, Avantika is an undergrad studying Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University, as per her cover story on Vogue Singapore.

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Avantika Vandanapu on playing a South Asian mean girl

Avantika Vandanapu gained recognition after playing Karen in the latest adaptation of Mean Girls. Before taking on the role of Karen, Avantika has appeared in movies like Senior Year and Moxie and Indian Telugu and Tamil movies. While talking about her experience of playing Karen during a conversation with Vogue, Avantika said,

"The movie felt like an epitome of everything I wanted to experience but never could, like being glamorous and popular and being able to talk about boys and what outfit we're wearing. Basically, things that kids at my school would snub as vain."

Avantika Vandanapu also mentioned that with her character in Mean Girls, she hopes to break stereotypes revolving around other brown girls. She recalled her experience of watching the original Mean Girls, with Amanda Seyfried as the original Karen.

"When I first watched Mean Girls, I was being bullied in a rigorous South Asian-dominated school, where kids would break into each other's lockers to leak their report cards."

While speaking to Vogue, Avantika shared about growing up in a South Asian household. She recalled having a "crazy curfew" growing up. She also talked about how she feels about her parents watching her as Karen.

"Mean Girls was definitely a hump in our family dynamic because I'm shown in a little bit of an older light in the film. It's a shock for any brown parent to watch their kid on screen doing a number like 'Sexy.'"

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Post Mean Girls, Avantika Vandanapu will be seen in a coming-of-age Hindi drama Big Girls Don't Cry, and a horror movie, Tarot. By playing a diverse set of roles, Avantika aims to be a jack of all trades and doesn't want the audience to pigeonhole her.