<p>How do I get into the ivy leagues? I am interested in Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Yale and UPenn.</p>
<p>Wow, how to get into an Ivy League? I wish there was a simple answer to this question. </p>
<p>Will there are first your academics. You should obviously try to maintain a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and take the most rigorous course-load available at your school. So make sure to take as many APs available as possible. Obviously, it may be hard to maintain a perfect GPA, but there really is not much of a difference when an admissions officer see’s a 4.0 and a 3.9. Just try not to get anything lower than a 3.9. </p>
<p>Then you have standardized testing. If you choose to take the SAT, aim for a score of 2250+. If you manage to get at least a 2250, then you will not be rejected BECAUSE of your SAT, but you may still be rejected. Don’t be too confident, or cocky, but do not degrade yourself. It is not easy to get in to an Ivy/Stanford/MIT. </p>
<p>Then for your extracurriculars, find your passion and blossom. Thats really all I can tell you. Striving at 2 or 3 clubs looks much better than being a part of 8 clubs, but having no impact. Try to gain leadership positions.</p>
<p>Do amazing on your essays. </p>
<p>Hopefully you have a hook.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>FightThePower,
Thank you! I’m really trying to do as much as I can. I am a low income latina orphan interested in biomedical engineering. I have a 3.98 weighted and will be graduating with around an 8.00 as either first or second in a class of 540 students. I will be starting my senior year next week. By the time I graduate, I would have taken 13 of the 16 AP classes offered at my school, almost all the honor classes offered through virtual school on top of my in-school courses and five dual enrollment courses also on top of my in-school courses. I will be graduating with 42 credits, 24 being the requirement to graduate. I take my SAT IIs in October, I have a 2030 SAT, and 30 ACT that I will take again in October. I have done a mentoring program with a local elementary school all through high school and have been a very active member in Mu Alpha Theta (mathlete-type club) since sophomore year (the first year you are allowed to join the club). I am pretty sure I have some good recommendations coming my way. As far as the essays go, I have a lot of options going for me being that I have overcome foster care and becoming an orphan. I personally don’t believe I can get into my dream school (Columbia) but I’m still going to try. Thank you for the tips! I just want to make sure that when I submit my applications I won’t be taken as a joke by my list of colleges. Thanks again! 
</p>
<p>** Correction** 3.98 unweighted and around a 8.00 weighted</p>
<p>You could spin a compelling story with your essay as a URM and thus have a shot.</p>
<p>I think you can make it! Your test scores are a bit low, but there’s always room for improvement.</p>
<p>How is an 8.0GPA calculated when an UW “A” in a course is 4.0? I’m unfamiliar with this. What if you got a B in your honors/AP class or “C”? Plz advise</p>
<p>Well you know that you can look at the published stats and see if they have taken students with your stats and see that they have so, while that doesn’t mean it is likely, it isn’t a joke. You can use your brain and your internet to figure that one out, right? You also have a couple of hook/tip factors. Again, not making anything easy, but will get you taken with serious consideration. You also have a remarkable transcript and I’m not sure how you are doing that and have any time left in the day.</p>
<p>Now, I have a student friend this last cycle with remarkably similar profile, strong academics, solid SAT like yours but not the top, foster care-- very interesting. Missing one of your hooks. Also some strong competition from the peer group at the top of the class with hooks too. Applied to 5 Ivy too, accepted one (on your list) w/l at one that didn’t go to the w/l (not on your list.) But also got accepted to some other very good choices.</p>
<p>I gave feedback on the essay. In hindsight, I think one can spend too long talking about circumstances that sort of/almost speak for themselves. And forget to dig deeper into what makes you tick and you own ‘intellectual vitality’ that especially HYPMS are stringent on. But this background was unusual. It really takes some time to craft the essay and get it right and it is easy to get sick and tired of the rewrites. Hard and frustrating to keep working on a good essay to dig even deeper. And another piece of advice is not to neglect the short answers because I see that a lot.</p>
<p>Not to disrespect your race/ethnicity or anything but combined with that, and you have great stats, sure your standardized tests are below par (great scores, but not ivy material) but you are a URM. I think you have an amazing shot, better than most people with a 4.0 and 2300. Especially with being an orphan. And if you are either 1st or 2nd in your class, and you took most APs available then your class rigor should be fine. If you can, take those 3 APs senior year so you can show colleges that you are still going hard. You will end up somewhere amazing. Apply to all the top universities, HYPSM, UPenn, Columbia, Duke, MIT, and Cal Tech. But definitely have some safeties. I think you will definitely get in somewhere amazing. </p>
<p>^^ pretty much. </p>
<p>Add U Chicago and maybe Northwestern to that list.</p>
<p>Also, unless you want to major in something they do not generally offer, you might do well to consider applying to some liberal arts colleges (LACs).</p>
<p>Here are some of the best:
Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Pomona
Middlebury
Wellesley (females only)
Wesleyan
Bowdoin
Carleton
Haverford
Claremont McKenna
Harvey Mudd
Grinnell
Reed
Vassar
Hamilton
Washington & Lee
Davidson
Oberlin
Smith (females)
Bryn Mawr (females)
Bates
Colby
Trinity
Macalester
Kenyon</p>
<p>T26E4,
At my school, each honors course adds .04 to your unweighted GPA per semester and each AP/Dual Enrollment course adds .08 per semester to your unweighted GPA. So, unweighted GPA + honors/AP/DE credit = weighted GPA. I have a 6.44 right now. With all the classes I already have scheduled for my senior year, I am predicting that I will graduate with around an 8.00. Many schools calculate it differently. For my school, I will be setting a new record. I believe the highest anyone at my school has ever gotten is around a 7.50. Hopefully this will look good to the colleges I am applying to.</p>
<p>BrownParent,
Thank you for your response! Yes, I do have very little time for myself, but I consider myself a workaholic and I enjoy things that challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone. Hopefully my applications will reflect that. Again, thank you! :)</p>
<p>FightThePower,
Thank you for your support! Reading such encouraging responses really helps me pull through. I am planning to take both ACT and SAT over. I am in the process of applying for the Questbridge National College Match and praying for a good outcome. Again, thanks! :)</p>