Ivy League Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Do I have a shot at any Ivy League?

I want to do Business or Political Science.

I have a 3.7 GPA (My junior year I had a 4.0). On my ACT’s I got a 34.

First place at dance nationals

Google in robotics.

Mock Trial - Finals (As well as Co-Captain)

Peer Court

Editor & Chief of the school paper

Dhesi Student Association - Officer

Cyber Security - Club Leader

Green Focus - I shadowed under the business aspect of an electrical company. The women who I shadowed under works directly for Governor Jerry Brown of California.

Energy Audit - (Cut down our schools cost on electricity in half)

I am a member of our Student Body, elected in. (Student Board Member, I go to board meetings with the leaders of our school and I give a full report on the high school, taking back any questions or concerns. I also attend booster meetings).

I have fantastic relationships with my teachers and other mentors around me.

Recommendation letter from my Principal (Stanford Graduate) and Mock Trial Coach

Overall, I have a driven passion, reaching out to many colleges such as Yale as a Sophomore and getting in contact with a Yale Alumni. (We still communicate today). I created my Yale application back in Sophomore year, updating it every day. I am mainly interested in applying to Columbia ED, because I do see myself going there. (I would apply to Yale ED but I doubt I would get in even though I want to go to Yale so bad haha).

I heard about students with 3.5 GPA’s getting into Columbia before… therefore I think that I have a chance at an ivy, but I’m very unsure.

2

Sure, you are a strong candidate, but competition is fierce. First place at dance nationals should intrigue admissions folks in light of your other stellar credentials.

3

@Publisher So what do you think will get me in? My essays?

4

Yale doesn’t have ED

5

@onceortwice Yale has some type of early action but it’s non binding.

6

SCEA(single choice early action) doesn’t give much of an advantage IMO.

7

@onceortwice So should I stick with applying to Columbia early? Do I even have a shot?

8

You are a competitive applicant. You want to get straight As first semester senior year just because your GPA is a little low. But your standardized test score and your ECs are great

9

If your first choice is Yale, don’t ED to Columbia. If you are fine with both, ED to Columbia…

10

@doorrealthe Thanks! I’ll focus on my senior year for sure.

@onceortwice I’m fine with both to be quite honest, I can see myself attending both.

How should I present myself in my college essay? Is it good to have a theme?

11

A recurring theme is good. Try to differentiate yourself by focusing on an activity that you like and go deep into it.

12

@onceortwice So more of what I would like to do in college at Columbia? Can I do anything else to benefit my chances of getting in?

13

Your named choices do not appear to offer business majors. You might want to consider this in light of your expressed interest in this major.

14

Are you Editor and Chief of the paper, or are you Editor-in-Chief?
It makes a difference when you think about how competitive they are and how they will read your info.
Even a perfect 4.0 GPA does not guarantee you admission.
Make sure that you have some back up universities because you may be rejected from both, and it will be heartbreak for you, so you need to be realistic. I hope you applied to safeties that you can afford.
Remember it’s doesn’t have to be an ivy that you graduate from, as long as you graduate.

15

@merc81 Well Columbia does, Yale doesn’t, which is fine I am also interested in Political Science, I’m very unsure on that haha.

@“aunt bea” I have some safety schools which I know I will get into. I see your point, it doesn’t have to be an ivy, but I would like it to be. I should also mention that I’m a junior in high school, not a senior yet, so I haven’t started applying for college just yet. I’m the Editor-in-Chief of the paper by the way, thanks for catching that haha.

16

@SafalM : Oh yeah, I see now that Columbia offers a “special concentration” in business management, so you might have that option there.

17

Here are some private schools that offer both Business-related majors and Poli Sci:

  • MIT
  • Penn
  • Cornell
  • Washington U
  • Georgetown
  • Notre Dame
  • Emory
  • Carnegie Mellon
  • USC
  • NYU
  • Boston College
  • Washington & Lee
  • U of Richmond
  • Bucknell
  • Tulane
  • Lehigh
  • Northeastern
  • SMU
  • Villanova

As for Yale’s SCEA admit rate, it is up around 15%, some three times as high as its RD rate. All of that difference cannot be explained by athletes and legacies. So yes, you probably do have at least slightly better odds of getting in SCEA than RD at Yale, even without a hook.

As for Columbia’s ED rate, i can’t find it. Their overall acceptance rate is around 6% though, so I would bet it’s probably fairly close to Yale’s SCEA rate.

(But if you want a BBA/business school major, neither Columbia nor Yale offers them to undergrads. Both have excellent Econ majors, but you won’t get the breadth of business knowledge that you would with an actual undergrad Business program.)

18

Sorry – ran out of time to edit.

More private universities with undergrad B schools:

U of Rochester
Case Western
Boston U
Brandeis

19

@prezbucky Thanks a TON for listing all of these schools. I’ll check them out for sure. I checked out Columbia’s early decision acceptance rate and it is relatively close to Yale’s SCEA rate. Should I apply to Columbia ED or Yale ED?

20

You seem all hyped on going to a famous name (updating your Yale application everyday for the last year and a half??), but numerically you are not a strong candidate for these schools, which means it is (give or take) 90% likely that you will not get offers from these specific schools (they all have admissions rates of ~10% or less). I am not trying to be mean, or kill your dreams, but your goal is to go to college. As @auntbea said, you have to cast a wider net- and there is a huge space between safeties and tippy-tops.

Look at what you like about Yale and Columbia (besides how cool it would be to wear their sweatshirts). Besides the fact that they are famous, why do you want them in particular? They are more different than you may realize- and there are very strong (aka highly selective) places that have similar features, and somewhat kinder odds. Are you excited about the Core Curriculum at Columbia? What about Claremont McKenna or Georgetown? Do you like the house system at Yale? Rice and Notre Dame have one as well. And so on.