<p>Ivies are a very tough bet unless you have some sort of hook(like legacy status, son/daughter of a rich donor, URM status, or recruited athlete status). That's not to say that people without those attributes don't get in-- it just becomes much harder without these qualities. If you have top-notch stats(read: 3.8UW GPA+, top 5-10% of your class, 2300+ SATs), then you are a serious contender even without those qualities. Never don't apply to a school you want to go to, even if you don't think you have a shot.</p>
<p>All of that said, if you just want to go to an "ivy league school" so you say you have attended an ivy league, don't bother. Go to a school you WANT to go to; don't worry about prestige.</p>
<p>My friend scored a 1650 out of 2400 on his SAT I, scored 600-650 on his SAT II's, missed the interview (he set it up but didn't go and stood the interviewer up) and still got into UPenn. He is ranked #2, IB diploma and had a lot of impressive ECs and awards though. Just goes to show you that test scores (and interviews) does not count as much as people make it out to be.</p>
<p>My advice: keep your grades up, participate in your ECs with passion and, most importantly, keep you head high. Don't worry about what other people say, apply to where you think you fit best at. Whether that be an ivy or not, it should be a place where YOU want to go, not how other perceive it as.</p>
<p>Yeah, but your GC isn't giving you the entire story. Most Ivys are sick of letting in the standard Asian, 2400, 4.0, violin, math team etc. These people are certainly qualified individuals, but still, someone who scores a little bit lower, has great ECs, and has a passion the admissions team thinks they can bring to the school will, most of the time, be a preferable candidate.</p>
<p>The numbers are but one part of the game; important, but not omnipotent.</p>
<p>This is a very good point. Test scores really are not everything. For example, a friend of mine scored a 2150 (one sitting) on the SAT, and he got into Stanford because he had great extracurriculars and was valedictorian. Even if you don't have those going for you, explain to the admissions committee in your essays why you still deserve to go to those schools.
If you yourself can't think of any reasons why you should be going to an Ivy university, well you're in trouble, and most probably it might not be the place for you.</p>