<p>Can the average smart person get into an Ivy? The ones will lots of APs, good SAT scores, doing just a few ECs that they really love, and good recs? Or do we need to do something amazing like I don't know, invent some crazy thing or be in the US science olympiad? I'm taking a rigorous courseload, doing a couple of music groups as a violist, and getting good SAT scores, but there is really nothing huge to separate me from the pack. I want to get into princeton, and my mom went there...but....I need some advice or reassurance or something...these low acceptance rates just seeem like death!</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly, but I did have a friend who is just like you described–was top of the class, took lots of APs, volleyball captain, heavy with the volunteering, played piano and violin… She’s just the normal kind of overachiever. She was one of the most normal people I’ve ever met (albeit extremely hard-working), and she got into Harvard.</p>
<p>To this day (she’s heading to med school now), she claims that it was her essays that got her in.</p>
<p>So good luck! (And, honestly, with such low acceptance rates, there will be a part of the process that’s always based on luck.)</p>
<p>With most rapidly moving towards sub 10% acceptance rates, the average smart unhooked student won’t be getting into ivies. </p>
<p>By average I mean a kid who’s top 5%, but not very top at an non top high school with a 2200 and no special EC. A kid fitting this description who is low income from an inner city or rural area or is from an underrepresented state would be an exception.</p>
<p>Yes, by applying ED and very carefully considering the image you project in your essays, ECs, recs, and SAT Subject/AP tests</p>
<p>^I thought it was established that ED does not help boost chances?</p>
<p>^ED generally can, EA generally doesn’t</p>
<p>It seems to me that the Ivies are already where the top 1% fight it out (unless you’re a legacy or URM), and even the top 1/10th of 1% are looking over their shoulders, wondering if someone better is going to take their potential spot.</p>
<p>It seems like there should be a better way. What other organization tries so hard to boost demand while refusing to increase supply? Maybe the Ivies need to buy up some failing colleges, slap their “brand” on them (Harvard South, Yale West) and expand a la Disneyland.</p>
<p>
In a word, probably not. </p>
<p>Suppose you’re in the top 3 in your HS. That’s real impressive, but then consider that there are more than 25,000 public HS in the country. So that’s 75,000 kids vying for under 20,000 slots at an Ivy. And when you consider the Ivy’s don’t just pick from the top 3 in a HS but reach further down because they are looking for athletes, have legacies to take care of, have affirmative action programs, etc. – it all boils down to a tough competition and the typical smart-but-not-standout kid isn’t going to win.</p>
<p>But wait – the OP said mom went there. That means legacy pool, so the chances increase…</p>