I’m junior in high school and I’m trying to get into an Ivy League school for fall of 2016.
I wanted to know what are my chances of getting in to these schools.
I would also like to know what are the average requirements for athletes at Ivy League schools. I am aiming for Columbia or Yale.
About myself.
GPA- I have a 4.0 gpa unweighted throughout high school and I’m taking the hardest courses offered by my school. This semester I’m taking physics, calc, biology and chemistry. My guidance counselor acknowledges that I have the most rigorous schedule in my high school.
Class Rank- My class rank is in the top 10%.
Athletics- I play a competitive sport (not exactly going to say for confidentiality) in the US and have been as highly ranked as top 30 in the country for my age.
My school does not offer any AP classes but I’m planning to take some online in the summer. (Calc and microeconomics or macroeconomics)
Sat scores- I have only taken the sat once without any prep and got 1800. (650M, 610W, 540R)
However I’m planning on taking the SAT a second time in June and I’m aiming for 2100+ (730+M, 720+W, 650+R)
I also might consider taking the ACT if my scores are not good enough.
SAT subject tests- Subject tests I am aiming for 700+ in math and physics.
I have already been offered full scholarships from many D1 schools but I truly want to go to Columbia/Yale or another Ivy League.
Much depends on what sport you are talking about. If you are the 30th ranked point guard or defensive end in the class of 2016, then a 4.0/1800 may be good enough. For other sports, an 1800 likely is too low. Read up on the academic index or AI, which is the key to recruiting in the Ivy League. There are a ton of threads here on the AI, but to simplify it is a number derived from your unweighted GPA, class rank and your standardized test scores. Each school is going to have different requirements for each sport. This will depend in large part on the AI of the student body at large at a particular school and how important your sport is at that school. Recognize that Yale, along with Harvard and Princeton, have the strictest AI requirements in general, and Columbia is not too far behind.
To be honest, if you’re good enough at your sport, all your other stats become completely irrelevant.
I have a friend who got recruited, and basically the coaches should tell you straight up if you need to improve your scores and by how much. The admissions committee will also give your application a pre-read during your official visit. Then you may commit, and you will receive a likely letter.
The way the Academic Index works is basically depending on how desirable of a recruit you are, you are held to different standards in admissions. If you are an all-state caliber athlete recruit at a Big Ten school (which, depending on your sport, you may be), then you could get in with a significantly lower SAT. Then the Ivies compensate and get better average athlete SAT stats by accepting athletes with near-perfect scores who will be benchwarmers. Although they will never play, their GPA and standardized test scores get factored into the team ones, allowing the school to say, “Our average athlete SAT score is above [insert impressive score here].”
The information you posted on this thread could very easily have nothing to do with your admission chances, depending on how good of an athlete you are. I think you have good chances at those schools. Best of luck!
Ok. First, there is an academic index floor below which no athlete can be admitted at any Ivy. I believe the floor is 181, but could be wrong. While it is true that if you are a truly distinguished athlete in a sport a particular school tends to prioritize you can get supported for a likely letter at or near the floor, very, very few kids get admitted anywhere near the floor in a given year. Realize that even if the coach says he will support you for a letter the admissions committee makes the final decision, and the closer to the floor you are the less likely it is that the admissions committee will give a thumbs up. In that sense, I would think the 540 CR score would be problematic at any Ivy, and particularly at Yale which has a rep of not dipping down close to the AI floor very often.
Of those few kid admitted near the floor, I would bet a substantial amount that most are admitted in football or specific sports at a given school (wrestling at Cornell, basketball at Harvard, etc) Therefore, it is incorrect to say that your academic stats are meaningless. In fact, they matter a whole lot.
The one thing that I believe to be universally true in Ivy athletic recruiting is that the better your standardized tests and gpa, the less heartburn you will have during the likely letter process. Study up for the SATs, maybe try the ACT. Talk to your recruiting coach at the schools you are looking at, they can give you more definite information on where they would like you to be. Good luck.
In your post you said you were aiming for 700’s in your SAT II tests. Why not go for an 800? If you are willing to put in that study time (just like I am sure you do for your sport), then you will have a good chance at achieving your goals.
As stated by OhioDad51 depending upon your sport and where it fits in to the emphasis or degree of importance to a particular school will dictate where your academics need to be. The higher your standardized test scores the more certainty you have. I do believe that a very desired athlete can see the equivalent of a 200 to 300 point bump in what a non athlete/hooked student would need.
@madamecrabster
Your right but realistically I believe I can aim for an 800 in math 1 and 2 but in physics I am going to have to study all summer to get to an 800. I have been putting the most time into the actual SAT over the past two months. I have two months before I take the next SAT. Right now in my practice tests I am scoring 720M, 73 W MC and 620 CR. (2070) but I sill want to get it up as much as I can and
I believe with more hard work it can get even more higher up. All it takes is motivation and I have seen some posts on CC where kids have improved their SAT scores from 1500 to 2200. It takes a lot of time and effort and almost everything is possible. Even if I don’t get the scores I want for the next SAT, I will take it again in October and study all summer.
OP, you are a junior in high school, you are/have been top-30 nationally in your sport, and it is mid-April. Are you being recruited by Columbia or Yale, or have you been offered a slot?
If not, then the Academic Index is irrelevant. Your skill as an athlete is irrelevant–except to the extent it is looked upon as a positive extra curricular activity. Your application will be evaluated according to general admission standards.
If you are being recruited or have been offered a slot, the Columbia or Yale coach by now would have given you very specific advice about the academic credentials you need.
Can’t prove it, but I would say it is late in the game and you are behind your competition in terms of timing, to be having initial discussions about these things with Ivy coaches. Late in the game…not game over.
@fenwaypark I’ve already been contacted by Cornell and they invited me to visit Cornell last summer. They wanted an AI of 205. However I would like to go to Columbia or Yale more. However, I am still keeping Cornell as an option. As I said earlier, I am going to see the Columbia coach in two weeks and he wants to see me play. I have also been reached out by other ivies including Harvard, Yale, Brown and Princeton and they are going to see me play at a tournament in the summer and will let me know about details when they meet me. I just wanted to know what to expect as their academic requirements before talking to them about academics.
Good for you! Keep grinding it out. My son was in similar situation, though not ranked quite so highly.
He decided he didn’t want to make the commitment to a D1 program and so is just concentrating on Academics.
Although might still play if he attends Amherst. His SAT was just over 2100 and after taking a fantastic program he’s consistently “hitting” over 2300. Prep scholar. Couldn’t recommend this program enough.
Good luck to you!
@Zebra11 Thank you for your tips. It’s really hard to balance academics with athletics but I find I’ve done a pretty good job so far. I might consider trying out prep scholar. I’ve ordered many books this week (dr john Chung, Erica meltzer grammar and Barron’s 2400. So far I’ve been only using the blue book but I’m very thankful for any tips I can get.
In the experience I’ve witnessed, one of the first questions Ivy coaches ask is about academics. They do this so they don’t waste time on athletes who are talented enough to play, but wouldn’t get through the admissions process. Cornell apparently has done that with you. The others seem to be doing it differently.
Anyway, I think the Cornell benchmark of 205 on the Academic Index is a good one for you to work with. Maybe other schools will be ten points higher or lower, but you cannot target or pinpoint your ultimate AI in any event. With due respect to the knowledgeable posters here, I would rely on what the Cornell coach told you.
@fenwaypark thank you for your advice. I am keeping Cornell’s AI in mind and hopefully I can even get higher. I will see the coaches in the summer and will get specific details on each school’s AI. I assume Columbia’s and Yale’s AI will be higher.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
OP stated in original post that the sport was not being mentioned due to privacy. That does not make this thread a blind item where everyone guesses the sport. Respect the wishes of the OP.
Different schools calculate AI averages differently. Some schools average across all teams. So a hockey player’s 220 combined with a fencer’s 190 would yield an average of 205. Some schools average it out team by team. I heard at a recruiting event at Yale a few years ago that each athlete in each sport has to meet their minimum. Do not know if this is still true. If so, then yes, they might be higher than the Cornell coach’s number of 205.
But anyway, I think the Cornell coach has given you a good benchmark to work with.