@Jr12317 Yes very good point. But its not about the money for me, its for the title. Many people have told me that i would never be able to do well in school. For me, it’s about proving them wrong and doing something useful with my life in this world.
Now, I think you are projecting.
I am an employer and am not a “brand worshiper” as you say. In fact, when I see your Ivy name-dropping, I am going to expect more from you to even stay level with the other candidates.
You shouldn’t hear about those people’s opinions. You are the person who is going to decide your future not them. Some people are in the world just to criticize the other person because they know that the person has potential. Don’t try to prove anything to people who don’t deserve to know about you.
@JustOneDad Hmmm. Then can you explain to me why everyone wants to study at prestigious post-secondary educational institutions?
@Jr12317 Yeah, that’s the ethical way of looking at my situation. I still want to do something useful with my life though, and not throw away the one chance I have at highschool.
True . . . but the overwhelming majority worship their own brand! In other words, you want to get hired by a University of Alabama graduate? Well, you’d better hope that’s where you graduated from too, if you want a leg up over other candidates. An Ivy degree matters if you want to work on Wall Street. But if that’s not your goal, then any other college will serve you just as well.
This doesn’t even merit a response. If you’re a freshman in high school, you ought to be able to do simple math - add up the number of Ivy applications in any year, and compare that to the number of high school graduates during the same year. Keep it simple, stick to U.S. graduates only.
@dodgersmom I think you will better understand my “ignorant question” if you read @JustOneDad’s recent post.
Then focus on the now, and don’t stress yourself out about getting into an Ivy!
This thread, from the start, had a freshman aura. Giving up is not the sort of thinking that the top schools are amused by. You decide. A good sweet spot is somewhere between the Ivy or bust mentality and joking abut being a failure. You should be doing your research, reading what the colleges themselves say, not fooling around…
@MITer94 @lookingforward
Appreciate the advice
People are guranteed to get into even most of hypsm. Even only normally brilliant asians (ie didn’t cure cancer, didn’t win or compete in international Olympiads etc).
First, have as close to a 4.0UW as possible. One B freshman year won’t kill you, but put in an inhuman effort to get as great grades as possible. If you are an asian, be especially wary of your humanity classes. Then, achieve at least a 2250 on the sat or a 35 on the act (try for a 2300 or 36 if you are an asian male).
Now comes the tricky part; obtain as many leadership positions as you can; regardless of who you have to suck up to and who you have to crush in your path. This is where apps are made or broken; there are still far more people with near 4.0 gpa and 2300 sat than spots available at most of the Ivies (except maybe some of the lower Ivies and Cornell). Elite colleges want people with leadership (and near 4.0 gpa) as these people are the grinders who’ll rise to success in the corporate world (and thus improve the school’s prestige, help younger alums, and donate $$$$ back). Have some music and sports to round you out, but don’t spend too much effort on them unless you can get to all-state level in music or D1 recruitable in sports.
Awards and special recognitions can help, but not as much as leaderships, because you’re never writing a test for a promotion in the real world.
Unless you’re willing to run on 3-4 hours of sleep in your later years of HS, to achieve the success you want, you’ll need to be able to get straight As without having to focus and stress on it too much and be able to get a 2300+ with minimal help. I do know people of average intelligence who did get into tons do great schools by sacrificing these 4-5 hours do sleep however.
Good luck!
P.S
The easier path would be to just get good grades and sat and do some ECs you like and ED to some good but not HYPSM college like CMU or Cornell or northwestern, maybe even up to columbia or upenn.
If you have hooks like donating a lot of money, or legacy, or being a URM, ignore my advice, you’re set.
No one called you ignorant. I did, however question the premise on which you relied. Once again, if you believe “everyone” wants to study at prestigious colleges, do the math. Compare the number of applications in any year to the number of U.S. high school graduates during the same year. If it turns out to be the same number, I’ll gladly concede my error.
@theanaconda Good advice
@dodgersmom Yeah, i get your point. I now realize that tone of voice does not translate well through text.
Do they? Harvard only gets about 40,000 applications out of a total pool of, what, 3 million? That’s about 1-2%.
For the ones that do, I’m sure there are a variety of reasons, but, as evidenced by this thread, I can assure you that some of them are brand worshippers.
You have answered the “why it’s so important to you” question so I won’t go in to that. The problem is beyond telling you to do your best and apply no one can tell you “How” to get accepted into the most prestigious institutions. That you need to be at the top of your class with superior grades and tests scores is a given. The lower the stats the less likely you will even be given anything beyond a cursory look. Frankly if I had the answer it would change by the time you applied as everyone who felt like you would be doing those very things and you would no longer stand out.
I see college as a means to education which hopefully will result in achieving other more important goals rather than a goal in and of itself. Where you go isn’t nearly as important in my opinion as what you do when you get there. Good luck.
@Rigid123, that’s sad because that attitude will be the reason for any rejections you may receive. Ivy’s don’t want a 4.0 UW gpa/2400 SAT. They want someone who is so passionate and talented at something they’ll surely go far no matter where they go. Your obsession with getting in will obstruct you from doing exactly that. Sorry!
You’ll still go to a good school and be happy; eventually you’ll just realize that a sports league doesn’t determine quality of education.
@Rigid123: Everyone wants to go to an Ivy because everyone else wants to go to an Ivy. Isn’t that your reasoning?
Cure Cancer. That should give you a 50/50 shot, or at least 40/60.