<p>Would it be smart to apply to four ivy leagues. Lets say you really want to go to Harvard but if that doesnt work out you want to go to MIT or Yale, should you apply?</p>
<p>btw i know MIT isnt an ivy league but i put it there since its a reach.</p>
<p>1) If you don’t apply, you can’t be admitted
2) There is no additive rule here. If you’re not viable for one, it’s HIGHLY likely you won’t be viable for all of them.
3) If you are viable for them, then apply to each you can see yourself attending. There’s definitely a “luck of the draw” to eventual admissions decisions. One could be accepted to MIT and denied at Penn, accepted to Yale and be denied from Columbia. To imagine that MIT or Yale are “fall back” schools is erroneous thinking.</p>
<p>If you truly are qualified, it’s wise to jump the gun and go for as many reaches as possible. Applying to a gazillion reaches when you’re an unqualified student is pointless, but if you have the stats, the best way of getting into a top school is simply by buying more raffle tickets (applications).</p>
<p>make sure no to just clog up their offices with your application; only apply to schools that you could see yourself at. Its okay for aim for a couple of Ivies, but just remember that they are all very different from each other.</p>
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That’s a fine strategy if your sole goal is to gain admission to any elite, top-ranked school. However, that’s a pretty stupid goal. If you want to go to Harvard (and you have decent stats), apply. If you also want to go to MIT and Yale (and you have decent stats), apply. But applying to a school you don’t really know much about just because it is top-ranked is idiotic.</p>
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<p>True, it’s best for an applicant to apply to only schools the applicant has expressed interest in. But let’s say your friend, a valedictorian with a 2350 SAT, doesn’t do his/her research and then tells you that he/she is apply to Harvard and the local state school (and no, he/she is not pressed for cash). Would you truly advise him/her to go with that decision? Or would you encourage your friend to apply to more top schools, even if your friend doesn’t know much about other schools?</p>
<p>Someone posted in a thread similar to this (I forget where it is) that he was originally going to apply to 2 reach schools, but he later chose to extend that list to 6. Had he stuck with his original decision, he would have matriculated at Auburn, but by going with the latter, he’s now matriculated at Dartmouth. The fact is, just because someone hasn’t done great research doesn’t mean that he/she should run the risk of facing an inferior education.</p>
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I would advise my friend to actually try their hand at research and find more than two schools that interest them.</p>
<p>If you have a competitive profile and can see yourself at the target schools, then it makes perfect sense to apply to all of them.</p>
<p>The point people are trying to make is that don’t apply to a school just for prestige. If you have a competitive profile you can apply to all of them and get into several, but things can go wrong, i.e. you hate the school, they are weak in whatever you want to major in, don’t like the weather, etc etc.</p>
<p>I will apply to 3 Ivies most likely. I am kind of embarassed though because it makes me seem like that I am a label whore, but I’m not! I just like the schools =]</p>
<p>^Don’t be embarrassed. At my school, it is practically tradition for the top students (every year there are a few 4.0 2350+ers) to apply to all 8 Ivies, or at least most of them.</p>
<p>i know someone who ONLY applied to all 8 ivy’s. got rejected at all except one, and is there now.</p>
<p>^Now THAT is risky. Even the utmost qualified candidates should have a few matches/safeties.</p>