Do I bother applying to Ivy League schools?

Hi All,

I am wondering if it is worth my time to apply to Ivy League schools. I realize that my chance of admission is very small especially since my parents aren’t rich donors, I haven’t spent hundreds of hours completing my own scientific research, and nothing below stands out from the thousands of other applications these schools receive every year.

Here are some of my stats:

GPA: 4.35 weighted, 3.99 unweighted (hopefully this carries some weight because I attend school in a top district, Grading Scale: A’s are 92.5%+ and carry a weight of a 4.0, and A-'s are a 89.5%-92.5% and carry a weight of 3.7, Class Weight: 0.5 bump for honors, 1.0 for APs )
SAT: 1470 (720 verbal, 750 math)
SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry 740 and US History 740
AP Exams: Chemistry 4, US History 5, and English Language and Composition 5

Class Schedule:

freshman year: 5 honors classes, language, 2 electives (I took an extra class this year)
sophomore year: 4 honors classes, language, 2 electives
junior year: 1 honors class, 3 AP classes, language, 2 electives
senior year: 5 AP classes, 1 elective, study hall

Extracurriculars:

  • 100+ volunteer hours (long term projects: coaching youth cheerleading, helping at a library book sale, tutoring and playing with elementary-aged children with financially disadvantaged families in program run though a subsidized housing development)
  • 1 year JV cheer, 2 years varsity cheer, 1 year varsity gymnastics)
  • National English Honor Society Vice President
  • National Honor Society Officer
  • Science Honor Society
  • Key Club
  • Peer Tutoring Program at my school

I think you definitely should apply to ivies but I would see a match for you at top colleges that aren’t ivies, ex. Georgetown, BC, NYU, etc. because as you said, ivies are very corrupt and you cannot rely on getting into one.

How are they “corrupt”? (Or did it autocorrect you — because that word makes no sense in this context). OP, I could see putting in an app to Cornell or Dartmouth if one of the appeals to you. I agree that your ECs are on the light side. Georgetown might be a tough admit as well. You’d need another subject test for GTown, too (they want 3).

UPDATE:

Awards:
National Hispanic Recognition Program
AP Scholar

Should I send in my SAT II scores to colleges that don’t require them? They aren’t that great.

ECs are definitely weak

Thanks for the advice everyone!!!

I suppose it depends on the colleges you are applying to. The SAT II scores aren’t great for very top colleges, but there are a fair number of colleges where they would benefit your application. I think you are starting with the wrong question, though. “Do I bother applying to Ivy league schools?” should be replaced with, “What is a list of 8 to 10 schools I’d be willing to attend and can afford, where I have 2 safeties, 4-5 matches, and 2-3 reaches?” Start building your match and safety list first. Reaches are easy to find (that is why lots of people apply, they are easy to like). But there are hundreds more great colleges in the US. Focus your search on the schools that you realistically are most likely to end up getting into, and then add a couple of reaches once you’ve done the harder part of your search. Don’t start with the reaches.

If I were you, I would start trying to find very good safety and match schools. Worry about them first. You can add one or two highly ranked schools to your list when it comes time to apply if you want to at the time.

Also, I wouldn’t apply to just “an Ivy League School”. I did apply to Cornell at one point in my life because I liked Cornell after visiting many times, but not because it was in the Ivy League. The eight Ivy League schools vary quite a bit and IMHO you should have a reason other than the athletic league before you apply to a school.

Figure out what you want in a school. Then find schools that match what you want.

Think of it this way: Will you regret not applying? Can you see yourself always wondering if you would have gotten in? If that is the case, apply. Truly though, you’re not unqualified. Good luck!

What are you hoping to get out of college? What are your academic interests? What do you see yourself possibly doing career-wise? What kind of college environment would you like? Large/mid-sized/small school? Urban/suburban/rural? Region/weather/politics? Any must-have extracurriculars?

What about finances? Do you qualify for need-based aid, and will you be able to afford what the financial aid formulas say you can? Or will you need to focus on schools with good merit aid instead? Or is it a “money no object” scenario?

If you describe these things, then some “best fit” colleges may emerge. Whether they are Ivies or not is a secondary concern.

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools

Definitely send the SAT IIs, which are decent, and most top 50 schools want them. It sounds like you are Hispanic, which is some advantage. It terms of academics, you may not be at the level for Ivies, but I would apply to low Ivies and similar schools as reaches.

“'Most top 50 schools want them”. Not true. Very few schools say they recommend or require SAT2s. Look up each school’s requirements.

They recommend, which means very close to require. Additionally, OP’s scores are good, and not sending them makes it look like they are much worse than they are.

OP, you told us your GPA and how the weighting of AP/honors impacts class rank, but you haven’t told us what your rank is, or the percentile from your HS. You have taken 3AP classes so far - have other kids taken many more at this point. Even though you are taking 5APs as a senior they won’t help in your application process which you are working on now. If your HS does not allow fresh/soph students to take AP classes and it limits juniors to at most 3 AP classes, your application would look different in comparison to whether you could have already taken maybe 10-12 APs and you have only taken 3. Your class rank might be top 1%, top 5%, or barely top third. Similarly, you say you have 3.99UW so that means mostly A’s - but if you got mostly 93% and dozens of other kids consistently 95% or even 99%, you may find that your class rank, rec letters, etc. pale in comparison to other kids.

If your financial situation indicates you can afford multiple application fees or qualify for fee waivers, and you can write a great essay, I would definitely suggest that you go for it.

But if you know going in that you will be full-pay at the Ivies, since you are likely to get significant merit money at plenty of other great schools, I would suggest you save the time and expense and don’t bother applying to the Ivies.

What does your HS GC suggest about Naviance results from your school - how have other similar students done?

Go for Cornell. I think you have a chance!

Agree that Cornell is within reach. But several others might be as well depending upon why you want to attend that school.

Your ECs are lacking.

P.S. If you happen to live in an underrepresented state, such as North Dakota or Wyoming, you might get a slight boost for geographical diversity in addition to an URM boost as an Hispanic applicant.

Where do you really want to go? Do you love a particular Ivy or just the idea of an Ivy? Have a bit of faith in yourself and give it a shot. Are your letters of recommendation going to portray you in a good light? Can you write a killer essay? My kid went through this last year and was told she’d get in somewhere great but that the Ivies weren’t happening. She 's a 1470 Sat kid, just like you, 6 APs. Her EC tell a story, they are not hit and miss, a bit of everything, they show focus. Her essays were very good, again, focused and told a story. Applied to four Ivies accepted at Harvard, Brown and Yale waitlisted at Cornell. Believe in yourself but be realistic in your expectations, get your matches and safety schools in order, believe in the holistic approach, it’s certainly not all stats, as the 1600 and rejected kids will attest. Realize they are longshots but longshots come in once in a while.You’re 100% not getting in if you don’t apply. Good luck.

If you want an Ivy, you have to start better than assumptions like having to be a rich donor or spend years in research. Or that having an A average in a tough district is any special boost. And you should know which colleges expect the SAT2 scores.

The 720 verbal is low, considering the competition.

Yes the ECs are light, a rather big risk. If you’re a stem wannabe, where are the stem ECs? Same question for humanities. Not a list of honor societies. This isn’t going to be about cheerleading and working with little children. (What is the possible major?)

Your application will need to make sense.

This is much more than having a high gpa.

You will get a boost from URM( Hispanic). I would go for low Ivies as suggested. Also, you will need STELLAR recommendations and essays to boost your ECs which are weak. Also try to create a story about what you love. Show passion.

You can’t talk your way through 3.5 years of weak ECs or get teacher enthusiasm to make up for those choices. Nor is it passion when the only examples are cheer and little kids. In case OP is thinking an education major, many, many schools are better for that than a tippy top.

Plus, many posters are not comfortable with the notion of “low Ivies.”

Happytimes2001
By “low ivies” do you mean Columbia with a 5.5% acceptance rate, Brown with a 7.2%, Penn at 8.4% or Dartmouth at 8.7%?

I would caveat that advise with the warning that while you are an impressive and viable candidate for all of the aforementioned schools they are all extremely unique in what they look for. It remains very hard to stand out in a very crowded applicant pool. Don’t overestimate your chances, don’t underestimate the need for safeties you love. Good luck