Emory University senior Leah Michalove never gave herself a shot at winning the prestigious Rhodes scholarship.

She and 31 other college seniors, including another with Georgia ties, were announced as the 2016 class of Rhodes Scholars. They will begin studies at Oxford University in October 2016.

“No one wins the Rhodes scholarship. That’s not a thing,” Michalove said Monday. “But (advisers) told me to apply, so I applied. It was never part of the plan. You don’t plan to win a Rhodes scholarship.”

Machmud Makhmudov of Lilburn, a senior at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, also was awarded a Rhodes scholarship Saturday night at a reception in Atlanta, where finalists’ interviews took place.

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HBCUs nationally will get $438 million, according to the UNCF, previously known as the United Negro College Fund. Georgia has 10 historically Black colleges and universities. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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