I’ve been looking at a lot of Ivy Leagues but I’m not sure if I have a realistic chance of getting in. I’m kind of on the fence about it, I would appreciate any input.
-white female, middle class, family of 4
Scores: SAT-most recent score 1570, super score 1590
GPA: weighed around 4.3, by senior year I’ll have taken 8 AP classes in the 4 years and all other classes are honor level
World Subject test: 760, plan on taking -math and US history subject test and hopefully scoring 760+
Volunteer: spent the past 3 years volunteering at a non profit for children who have learning disabilities, also spent the last summer helping out at summer camp and volunteered in Africa last summer
I’ve been in a few clubs-2 community service clubs, Environthon , ASL club. I’ve also participated in a lot of writing programs (tons of extra creative writing courses, writing-related volunteer work, school newspaper, etc.)
-took part in a pre-med program over the summer. I also hope to do cancer research at a hospital over this summer, and I’m a long time math tutor in and out of school.
Awards: two-time Russian essay contest medalist, possible AP scholar, NHS, essay contest winner
I’d really appreciate any opinions or advice! Thanks!
Long time lurker of this board and I am posting for the first time because your academic accomplishments remind me of my child who was accepted at an Ivy in ED last month. Lets start with your academics which is the part that counts most: You have the academic rigor, the GPA and SAT scores to be included in the top 25% of the any applicant class to the Ivy League. Let’s say ivies receive an average of 32,000 applications in RD - you are now grouped in a pool of 8000 applicants with similar academic credentials. My personal belief is that 70% of the unhooked admits come from this pool. Others on this board may see things differently, but from my observations your academic success alone will have raised the admit rate from 10% to about 25%. That is a great start.
Your EC’s are decent to great. Keep doing what you are doing. Now that you will be a senior soon, it is time to move into leadership positions with your activities. Nothing rockets you higher in the acceptance rate than one or two leadership positions - like captain of math team or any other academic endeavors, president of a club or even a section leader in the school band.
Visit the colleges in the summer or sooner. and read up all about them. Not all are same and you will need to find a fit. You might feel really good about two or three and indifferent about the remaining. While on the visit, try to meet the regional admission officer for your region. When they come to your school in fall to make a presentation, meet them again. If there is a nearby regional college fair where this college is attending, you can bet that you will see them there too. It is not necessary to jump through hoops to meet them, but opportunities will come and it will serve you well if you make them aware of your presence. My child met the regional AO’s of two ivies and a leading LAC three times and was recognized the third time by all of them!! (College visit, high school visit and regional college fair). Others it was only once - where it was - Hi, my name is …, I really loved visiting your school, I really love your writing dept or everybody seem so happy there, etc and I am definitely applying to your school, etc… It will definitely help you if they remember you when they are reading your application. When my child was accepted, the AO mentioned their meeting in the accompanying letter.
Nail the essys. Extremely important. This is where you get a leg up as you are an accomplished writer. Genuinely embrace who and what you are or what you bring to the college in your essay to give the best impression.
Settle on one school to apply for Early Decision. Also look at some leading LAC’s which are as good as ivies. And they are all generous with financial packages which will allow the cost of education to be manageable for the family. It did for our middle class family.
This was really helpful, thank you so much! I’ll definitely be taking your advice 
Are you an international student?(because of the Russian essay contest) If so, it will seriously decrease your chances but you have a good shot!
No, I’m not! I live in the US, I just chose to take Russian at my school, thanks though
Statistically speaking, your best chance at Ivy admission would come from applying ED to Cornell.
Whichever Ivy you decide to prioritize, your odds will be greatly increased by applying ED. While getting into an Ivy RD isn’t impossible (my daughter was accepted to Cornell with a Regular Decision application), it is becoming increasingly difficult–and it was already tough to begin with!
Very good stats so you are a relatively competitive candidate
You have competitive stats, but so do most kids who apply. If you offer something they want – a skill you possess, a passion, a personality type, an idea you convey, a demographic data point – you can get into an Ivy.
The ivies differ from one another. I would suggest that rather than applying to all of them, make a list of preferences that are important to you – examples of categories are Academics, Environment, Cost, and Social Vibe – and then choose schools according to those preferences/limits. Make sure at least one of them is a safety, and you’ll be in good shape.
Just looking at curricular styles, most schools have fairly similar distribution requirements. But then there are schools like Columbia and UChicago, which use a more stringent core philosophy/model; and Amherst and Brown, which feature open curricula.
Curricular style is just one variable and right off the bat, two Ivies are at opposite ends: Columbia’s Core vs. the openness of Brown. You might not like one of those styles; certainly you should consider this and other variables before just applying to all eight of them willy-nilly.
A lot of kids on here seem to apply to around ten schools. If you have the time and resources to do that, I suggest picking 3-5 reach schools, 3-5 match schools, and a couple of safeties that fit your known preferences… and which are affordable without taking on too much debt. If you apply to places you can afford and which fit you – and aren’t all reaches – you very likely will have a successful admissions outcome and a blast at college. Better to do it that way, I think, than to just arbitrarily apply to an athletic conference.
This is good information. DS has applied to some Ivy’s and higher selective schools. Had positive feedback from when he met the Columbia rep. Do these schools look at overcoming challenges. Now has 35 ACT 12 on the writing portion 4.0 all AP courses. Grade school diagnosed with LD’s in reading and writing and score at 15%o of those areas. 250 volunteer hours, summer job, 2 leadership positions, 1 for volunteer and 1 for mentoring underclassman, planning service projects and some other clubs. One interviewer marked him down for being passionate in music and also his grandfather came over from a country Europe/Middle East and the interviewer wrote the country down when talking about diversity. He is already accepted into 4 schools waiting for these selective schools.
Do you have an idea on a major? You have stem related and non-stem related activities, e.g. your taking history subject tests and your summer pre-med program. You would need to figure that out and then focus your ECs and essays in that direction. If you’re going into stem, you’ll have a hook being a girl, but you would need to take a science subject test for the ivies. I’m not a fan of ED but it is the best way to go or the five ivies that offer it, as others have said. Good luck!
Getting into an ivy league is one thing. Paying for it is a completely different story. If you think about it, it’s just a bachelors degree. It’s not worth $250,000 which, by the way, is more than the cost of most medical schools. You don’t want to start a career with that kind of debt.
@coolguy40 The majority of people don’t pay that full sticker-price. If you need financial aid, a lot of the time one of the ivy league schools, which tend to be very generous with financial aid, will cost less or the same as your state school. If you don’t need financial aid or if you don’t qualify for a lot, that’s a different story; it depends on whether or not your family can pay for it and it is your personal choice to take out a loan. This person is probably well aware of the cost of these schools. They asked for people to chance them, not for financial advice. Also, if they are not applying ED then they will be able to compare offers and make that decision on their own. And even if they do apply ED, they can check out the net-price calculator for that school and make a decision based off of that. Their question is “can I get in?”
@sciencenerd123 I know. Even if they offer a financial aid package where the cost is reduced, it still comes down to several times the cost of a state university. Most often, the family takes out a large loan to pay for the difference, or that gets co-signed to the student. Either way, it often turns into a crushing amount of debt, which is simply not worth it for a bachelors degree.
@sciencenerd123 The majority (more than 50% the students) do pay full sticker at about half the Ivies, though at the others, HYPM, 50 to 60% receive financial aid. But yes, your point is correct, that the Ivies offer great financial aid.
This blanket statement is NOT true. The Ivies meet full financial need. Yes, the need is as they define it, and yes, there are donut-hole families who cannot afford their EFC for a multitude of reasons, but (1) it depends on the individual circumstances and (2) the cost after financial aid would not be several times the cost of the state U; the sticker is generally 3 times the cost of most state Us. For a family who can afford their EFC, It is quite common for the cost of an Ivy to be comparable to, or even less than, the cost of the state U. This varies by family. I urge students to sit down with parents and run Net Price Calculators at each school you are interested in.
I feel it is important to correct this type of blanket misinformation that prevents excellent students, especially those of modest means or disadvantaged circumstances, from considering meet-full-need schools. They cannot get a sense of affordability for their own family unless they run the NPCs and examine the types of aid provided.
@evergreen5 Agreed. Sorry about the false statement–I knew it was true at some ivies, but not at others. If someone is a fantastic student who comes from an under-privileged background then they should 100% apply to an ivy league school or a LAC that is known for great financial aid. You should not be scared by the sticker-price, and by statements made by people like @coolguy40. Check out the net price calculator, and see for yourself if you can afford it.
@sciencenerd123 You’re missing the point The point that I’m trying to make is that it’s a bachelors degree, which have become standardized over many decades. There’s no rational reason to pay 2-3 times the cost. Certainly there are need based grants that I could get that could bring loans to a minimum…but if I can get into Harvard, I can get a full ride scholarship virtually anywhere and start a career without additional debt on myself or family.
There’s a big misconception about elite schools. Prestige is an emotion based on the opinions of others, which these schools are very good at exploiting.
@coolguy40 If you are someone who comes from an incredibly poor background and you are incredibly smart and accomplished so you got into say, Princeton,then if your family makes less than 60,000 you will go to Princeton for FREE. If you got a full tuition scholarship to your state school and a full ride to Princeton, which would you choose? I think you’re missing the point.
@coolguy40 The point is that you cannot assume what some other kid’s price is. Many kids do not pay 2-3 times the cost of the State U and indeed pay less - there is no single price; the price is extremely individual. There are kids from low income levels that go to Harvard for free and there are prices everywhere in between.
It is important to note that not all Ivies still include federal subsidized student loans in the financial aid package, though it’s complicated and depends on the particular college and sometimes family income level. Most Harvard students will not have debt, with the exception being the donut hole families who cannot afford their EFC. For students accepted to an Ivy that does still include federal subsidized student loans in the financial aid package, the amount is hardly burdensome (somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-27k total for four years?).
Students should run the NPCs with their parents and carefully examine the contents of the estimated financial package. Only then can they make an informed decision about applying rather than assuming that a bachelor’s degree from an Ivy is never worth the price.
The two most important replies on this thread are from @prezbucky (differentiating the Ivies) and @evergreen5 (on FA).
Here’s how it works in the career world. So few people graduate from ivy leagues that’s there’s no reason to be impressed. Employers are more interested in what you can do and how well you work with people than where you went to school for your bachelor’s. You work with people with a wide variety of backgrounds, and they won’t tolerate a school superiority complex.