Ivy League Schools (Obviously)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, I am currently a sophomore in high school, and I’m wondering if I have a good chance of going to an Ivy League school. The reason I must ask is because I am currently trying to plan my future, and I get stuck at the fact that I may not get accepted to these schools.

I have maintained a perfect GPA (4.0) so far, without any major issues (besides gym… lol). I can speak English and a small amount of Spanish, but I am taking more Spanish throughout this school year. While I have had perfect school grades, I am slightly better at science/math/geography than any kind of literature (I find them more interesting). I am also class rank 1.

For my volunteering, I have easily met all of the requirements in our school, and more. Each week, I support my local church by managing the sound system and the video systems throughout the service. I also have gone on mission trips and helped other churches in the hot sun! Another thing I enjoy doing is helping out a local program that feeds people who can’t feed themselves. I plan to continue volunteering throughout my life.

Another thing I feel that may be important to note are my ambitions. I am currently looking for high school summer programs for economics or philosophy, to support my efforts to do well with LD debate. I would also like to study over the summer.

I am not lacking in extracurricular activities. I have been in band since 5th grade. That includes marching band, concert band, and jazz band. I would love to be in orchestra, but my school does not offer it. I was a part of chorus for one year, until I realized I can’t sing. I was in and helped out during a theater performance last fall and plan to help out theater next spring.
Sports are not my thing, anymore. Since I discovered that sports don’t bring you anymore, (besides to become a gym teacher) I have been focusing on academics.
I am also in art/media club. I am going on a New York art trip next summer, and most likely more trips in the future.
My second to last activity is FFA. Future Farmers of America, or FFA, is actually one of my least favorite things I do in my life, but I still do it. I was involved with FFA last fall and will most likely continue this.
My most important extracurricular to me is my forensics career. Since I began high school, I have been actively participating in it. I debate in the LD division, which is debating philosophy. I have done student congress, oral interp, and individual speaking events. I have done really well, and will continue this tradition throughout high school, and most likely into college.

My teachers all like me (not including the gym teacher). I could have killer letters of recommendation from English teachers, science teachers, and math teachers.

I would like to know what my chances are of getting accepted into an Ivy League school, Stanford, or other schools. For example, what acceptance rate would I get accepted to (e.g. "You could get accepted to a school with an acceptance rate of 47% or higher). I know it is an estimate, but it’ll be close enough.
Feel free to also provide comments, tips, and best college fits for me.
I’m also interested in University of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, but it’s easier to get accepted to those than all of the Ivy League schools.

Thank you.

2

Also, I am attending HOBY this next summer, and business adventures in the future.

3

You sound like a strong applicant, but it’s very hard to chance a sophomore, let alone without SATs and courses.

Also, I would absolutely not recommend applying to all of the Ivy League schools. Find a few (at most) that fit your interests, and apply there. For example, I can’t imagine someone who would like to attend Brown would be happy at Columbia, and vice versa. If you don’t have meaningful reasons for wanting to attend a school, other than its prestige, it will show in your application.

4

You seem to be on the right track toward a very good school, and nothing you’ve said sounds like it would exclude you from the most selective schools (such as the Ivies and their ilk).

It is impossible for anyone to give you a more accurate prediction than that, especially since you haven’t posted any test scores.

Don’t trust anyone who says, “Very likely,” “high match,” or “47%.” Those are just nonsense predictions for even the best applicants.

You might look up past years’ decision threads for the various universities. Look at the posts that begin on days that decisions are released. It’s instructive to see who gets in and who does not.

5

Which school would be right for my with philosophy/economics?

6

I agree with most of what @WasatchWriter says, but also keep in mind that College Confidential isn’t representative of the general applicant pool. Furthermore, people are more likely to post if they were accepted than if they were deferred or rejected, so if anything, the decision threads are more positive than for most people.

7

It’s very difficult to chance you and give a percentage, as there’s quite a bit of luck involved as well. Until you have SAT scores, it will be difficult to judge you. ECs are impressive, but then again, everyone else is going to have impressive ECs.

In terms of the UK schools, it’s not necessarily easier to get into those. I’m from the UK, and the quality of applicants applying to Oxford/Cambridge is probably going to be a lot higher than the quality of applicants applying to some of the ivies – in the UK you’re only allowed to apply to one out of Oxford/Cambridge, (effectively cutting the number of ‘top candidates’ by half) and you can only apply to a maximum of 5 universities, so only the very, very best students will apply to Oxbridge, whereas in the US you can apply to as many schools as you like, so some really under-qualified people might apply to HYP just because they feel like it. Also in the UK you specialize early and apply for a specific subject, so unless you can show that you’re passionate about a certain subject, they won’t be interested. Keep this in mind, and the fact that ECs in the UK aren’t really looked at unless they’re very specific to the course you apply for.

8

Is an SAT test better to have than an ACT test?

9

@clightfield24 Either SAT or ACT is fine.

10

Actually, the instructive part of the decision threads are the posts by applicants who DON’T get accepted. There are plenty of them, and some of their stats are impressive. (Like this Harvard applicant, for example: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17195326/#Comment_17195326.) They illustrate why it’s pointless to ask for accurate predictions.

11

Based on stories of acceptance and rejection, it looks like they just draw names out of a hat of qualified individuals.

12

Are you asking about the Ivy League schools specifically (as in those particular 8), or are you using the term Ivy League as shorthand for “a really excellent school”?

Because the latter is a wise question to ask. The former is silly, because there’s nothing magical about those 8 schools in particular; they are merely 8 of the top schools that happen to be in the same athletic league and area of the country.

13

Just keep plugging away: grades, rigor, scores, deep ECs (quality, not quantity) and you will be a competitive applicant.

You dismissed the only sure way to make it to an Ivy: “Sports are not my thing, anymore. Since I discovered that sports don’t bring you anymore [sic], (besides to become a gym teacher). . .”

Sports got my S to one of the schools in which you are interested. Sports got him a summer internship in NYC and several job offers in his field (finance/Econ). And, of course, sports got him to where he is now (professional athlete).

While it seems counter-intuitive to some, if a kid develops his/her sport to an extremely high level (recruitable + desires to play in college) and combines that level of achievement with good scores and grades, and no red flags (disciplinary issues) gaining admissions to an Ivy school is close to a slam dunk.

14

That’s silly advice; people are either athletic or they aren’t.

15

HOBY is amazing!!! I went in 2013. You seem certainly qualified, keep up the good work! Two years ago, I definitely thought I wanted to go to an Ivy League, but as my search continued junior and early senior year, I fell in love with the idea of a small, liberal arts schools. This past December, I was accepted to Bowdoin College. As your search continues, make sure you keep your options open. At the end of the day, it doesn’t come down to SATs and GPA. Be honest, be open to new ideas, and make sure your essays are revealing and candid. Wishing you the best, and remember to enjoy high school!

16

Oh, and to comment on what you said about “it looks like they draw names out of a hat of qualified individuals”… it comes down to essays in all honesty (along with other factors you cannot control, recommendations, positions they need to fill at the college e.g. oboe players). But you can certainly control the essay, so use the essay as a place to reveal something that cannot be seen anywhere else in you application. Feel free to message me if you have any questions (just went thru this college process :slight_smile: )

17

Pizza.

Actually, it’s an excuse to say “people are athletic or they aren’t.” You apparently assume that simply because someone is a recuited athlete, that person must be “athletic.” Some are and some aren’t.

However, even assuming that there is a portion of the HS population who aren’t “athletic” (by" genetics" [whatever that is], rather then choosing not to try), of the roughly 3,000,000 HS seniors, the majority could have taken the path of developing their athletic talent to an extreme level. But, sacrifices and trade offs would need to be made - during middle school years: vacations gone, weekends doing what normal middle school kids do gone, early pre-dawn workouts; games in the rain, camps, clinics, nutrition, over scheduling, and the rest of the incredible committment.

For one reason or another this path appeals to very few of that 3,000,000; for the vast majority, they would rather compete with each other for the limited spots in each matriculating class.

Certainly athletics isnt a panacea for every person. The OP made a specific comment that he/she had given up athletics not because he/she wasn’t athletic, but because athletics didn’t lead anywhere. The point of the response is that the conclusion wasn’t valid.

So many posters are seeking the holy grail of admissions; they ask if they should retake a 2300 SAT, get rescinded for getting a B, should they join more or fewer clubs, should they take AP Chem or AP physics, should they develop an interest in math, have strangers tell them what is their passion, etc. All that contrived passion, all that resume padding, all designed to create the “edge,” that magic piece of information which makes an applicant stand out from the hoard. And so much of that search simply is contrived; invented during HS to gain admittance to some college.

Yet, there is a clear path which makes certain applicants separate from that mass: becoming a recruited athlete; and a recruited athlete with good grades and scores goes virtually anywhere.

Hard work for many years - beginning well before HS - in small incremental steps is what tips the scales for athletes. Some may be blessed with more coordination then others; but for the vast, overwhelming majority, hard work, dedication, and enjoyment of their sport is what gets them into the schools that so many others are seeking.

18

“However, even assuming that there is a portion of the HS population who aren’t “athletic” (by” genetics" [whatever that is], rather then choosing not to try), of the roughly 3,000,000 HS seniors, the majority could have taken the path of developing their athletic talent to an extreme level. But, sacrifices and trade offs would need to be made -"

I can’t think of anything stupider than trying to push a square peg (non-athletic kid) in a round hole (athletics at the Ivy League level). It’s about as dumb as saying that I should “practice” art non-stop in hopes of becoming the next Picasso.

19

Even among the athletic kids, it’s dumb for the vast majority of them. My kids played ice hockey at a relatively elevated level, and I’ve seen very few of the kids around them get into college on that basis. One girl at Harvard (and U.S. national team) with very string academics and stunning talent, and a couple more at Brown. Non-Ivies also accepted some with medium scholarships and perhaps a slight admissions boost.

There is a huge industry that survives based on parents’ wishful thinking. Coaches, lessons, this year’s latest innovation in skates and sticks, travel to tournaments, the $5,000 in goalie gear we bought for our kid, etc. It can be a lot of fun, and overall I’m glad that we did it as a family activity, but I feel bad for the thousands of families who think that it will move their marginal student into the tippy top. We made it clear to our kids that, if college sports were a possibility, we would strongly discourage it. DS enjoys being a so-so player on the Yale club hockey team; DD gave up hockey completely after injuries and pain became a large part of it – stays fit with Krav Maga.

@stemit, you might have given the worst advice I have ever read on CC. I think you were well-intentioned, but suffering from astronomical over-generalization from your kids.

20

“Actually, it’s an excuse to say “people are athletic or they aren’t.” You apparently assume that simply because someone is a recuited athlete, that person must be “athletic.””

How is being naturally gifted / talented in athletics any different from being naturally gifted / talented in art, music, theater, math, foreign languages, etc.? Yes, people can improve their capabilities by hard work and studying, but all the hard work ain’t ever going to turn me into anything more than a bare-bones-competent artist, musician, or athlete. On the other hand, give me math or a foreign language and I’m yours, baby. That’s who I naturally am. It would be just as stupid to try to athlete-my-way-in as it would be to try to art-my-way-in.