What would be your advice for an Ivy aspirant with freshman scores of 99+99+99+98+98+97+97 in one AP, 4 honors, 1 language & 1 fine art courses? If he can continue this winning streak, which is likely as that’s how he scored through elemantry and middle as well then what other steps need to be taken? Already doing NHS, leadership position in a non profit, officer in 2 clubs. Took 1900 in practice SAT last summer without prep.
Is it necessary to do a school sport?
If you are really interested in being helpful to your son in the college admissions process, you might want to take back your question for now and just become familiar with this board and the questions and answers about admissions that interest you. You’ll get a feel for what is “necessary” and what is realistic. You won’t find anyone really willing to give “Ivy Advice” as there really isn’t such a thing. A few recent ongoing threads I’d recommend are:
This forum is a wealth of information. I’d advise against speaking of your son as an “ivy aspirant” because it really isn’t about that. You want him to find a school where he can thrive, and it may or may not be a member of a specific
sports league. There are far more than eight schools to consider. Good luck.
Check out the book “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
My free advice…broaden your horizons. There are tons of wonderful colleges that are not part of the Ivy League. Tons.
It’s not as much as Ivy as he wants to be in a top ranking business program. Any helpful ideas to be eligible for those? Things to do or to avoid?
Most Ivies don’t have business for undergrads.
Read the excellent advice on posts 41 - 44 on the following thread:
This is not necessarily about ivy league schools but about the timing of when to do what. Also keep in mind that teenagers sometimes behave differently than we parents would like them to. Make sure your son enjoys high school and has a fabulous time before moving out and going to college.
He is having a fabulous time with friends, viola and activities. To be honest, he loves being the top scorer and doesn’t have to work super hard, he is naturally gifted. My other kids worked twice as hard to get 90’s. He is stubborn so we can’t push him to do anything unless he wants it himself.
I think you need to put all of this on the back burner.
You can use this time to investigate how much you can afford to pay. Finances end up driving a lot of college decisions.
We are fortunate that finance isn’t an issue. We inherited a family business that supports us well.
Continue to allow him to pursue his interests as he wishes, and encourage him to mature as a person, as well. From what I have seen and experienced, qualifications/accolades and meaningful contributions come naturally when a kid is really passionate about something.
As much as I appreciate general spiritual advice, I came here for more specific admission related tips.
In answer to your question about a school sport, I don’t believe doing a school sport is any better than any other EC unless you are good enough to be a recruited athlete. GPA and rigorous curriculum are extremely important, and it sounds like he’s on the right track there. If he aspires to Ivies, aim for getting a 2300+ on the SAT in junior year. My D found it useful to prep for both the PSAT and SAT at the same time, so she took the SAT in December of her junior year and had that out of the way. Stick to practice SAT’s until he’s ready for the real thing. Many highly selective schools make you report all scores, so don’t be one of those parents who has your kid take it 4 or 5 times. When it comes to EC’s, depth is more important than breadth. And holding an officer position is nice but not synonymous with actual leadership or accomplishment.
I would second Cal Newport’s book.
@WorryHurry411
I mean, I’m sure you know that your child needs a high SAT score, a high GPA, and everything else that Corinthian mentioned in the comment above. You can look around on basically every other thread on College Confidential for that advice. But I do truly believe that colleges are looking for interesting, mature, and authentic individuals, and not just strong ‘applicants’, if you get my gist. To answer the question above, a school sport is most definitely not ‘necessary’.
“As much as I appreciate general spiritual advice, I came here for more specific admission related tips.”
Actually, that’s what you are getting. What will help is for him to discover and develop his passions, not you pushing him into doing a laundry list of things you think the admissions committee is looking for. There can be no specific things to do because they are looking for diversity, not a bunch of kids who all do the same list of “specific things to do to get into Ivy schools”.
I will say that “NHS”, “leadership in non-profit”, and “officer in 2 clubs” are not necessary, so I hope he is enjoying these activities and not doing them just to put on his college application. The way you describe his activities sounds more like it’s designed to impress colleges. We don’t learn a thing about the kid’s actual interests from that list you gave.
You want specific advice. But really as a student who just completed 9th grade…what do you expect to hear?
Encourage your student to put forth good effort and do her best. Encourage her to pursue a non-academic area of interest that SHE likes…not that you think will impress adcoms.
And above all, don’t make the next two years of school all about the elite college hunt.
GPA and test scores are just basic benchmarks for consideration at Ivies, and don’t get you in. it really makes no difference if you are a “top scorer” in an AP class.
Please, at his age, he should not be thinking about this. Living your high school life in order to get into certain colleges is a terrible way to live and is damaging over the long term. Let him pursue interests and support them along the way. Encourage your son to think of academics for the learning, not as a contest. Sounds corny, but it’s a real concern. His attitude is a sign of immaturity and he will hopefully grow out of it, with your help.
For business, UPenn has Wharton. There are other schools that are really good for business, such as Babson in Massachusetts. The majority of Ivies don’t have undergrad business: in the past it was considered too vocational for undergrad. Students major in economics instead.
I think it is concerning that you know every grade your son got in a class. I personally never knew my kids’ GPA’s or test scores. They didn’t prep for SAT’s and didn’t have top scores. They weren’t class leaders or editors or anything like that, or athletes: they were busy with other things. They did fine with admissions. High school has built in stresses but you don’t have to add to them due to false ideas about what gets applicants in to certain schools.
Among un-hooked applicants, the Ivies are looking for interesting people who will contribute to the university community. An excellent GPA and scores are necessary but not sufficient. What makes someone “interesting” is hard to define. It’s a “you’ll know it when you see it” thing. Just racking up a laundry list of activities or positions probably won’t cut it (although many admitted students were school newspaper editors, team captains, class presidents, valedictorians/salutatorians, etc.)
Here are a couple of old but still relevant discussions about impressive ECs:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/188656-examples-of-some-ivy-level-ecs-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-are-weak-so-whats-good.html
There’s a certain amount of luck involved, so you definitely need to broaden your horizons beyond the 8 Ivies.