<p>I've been told that if you have a mess up year (like freshman year) then you can't get into an ivy no matter what. I had a 3.3 freshman year due to many family problems; other than that I've had straight A's. Is there any ivy in particular that is most forgiving of this? I know they all say they care about upward trend and holistic review, but I've never actually seen evidence of this. I'm probably going to end up with a little higher than a 3.6 because of freshman year, do you think this excludes me from admission? Has anyone actually heard of any incidents in which a non-URM with no hooks and a competitive (but not outlandish) SAT/ACT score get accepted to an ivy with a mess up year? Can essays and ECs really be a saving grace?</p>
<p>With a 3.6 your Ivy odds are low. Make sure your focus your energies on schools that acccept students with your GPA and SATs. You can still apply if you have had all As and strong SATs (>2250), but consider it a longer shot. Even those with 4.0/2400 don’t get into Ivies.</p>
<p>Is there a reason you’re focused on the Ivies?</p>
<p>I’m not sure why people always refer to “Ivy League Schools” automatically as the top private schools in the nation. It’s a pretty superficial relationship because it just refers to an athletic conference. Maybe I’m missing something?</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure some schools like U Chicago and Stanford (not Ivy) and Princeton don’t look at Freshman year, but the others do. Good luck dude</p>
<p>^ this</p>
<p>Keep in mind that even if they disregard your freshman grades, those grades will still impact you class rank.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure why people always refer to ‘Ivy League Schools’ automatically as the top private schools in the nation. It’s a pretty superficial relationship because it just refers to an athletic conference. Maybe I’m missing something?”</p>
<p>It’s a genericized trademark (well, kind of). Something like “Kleenex.”</p>
<p>There’s no harm in applying, but they will have plenty of applicants without “mess up years.”</p>
<p>@Tomatox1</p>
<p>Really, really? Are you really “not sure why people always refer to “Ivy League Schools” automatically as the top private schools in the nation?” C’mon, all Ivys are both private and rank in the top 15 universities in the nation. Also, the top five universities are all Ivys and i’m pretty sure, any business would rather higher someone with a 3.5 from an Ivy league than someone with a 3.5 from another high ranked public school, just because of the branding. But I’m pretty sure you didn’t know that because “you’re not sure why people always refer to ‘Ivy League Schools’ automatically as the top private schools in the nation.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think you’re drinking the Ivy cool-aid. Employers do not genuflect at the Ivy alter and many “public school” students are highly sought by employers.</p>
<p>Based on tomatox1’s observations, I fairly confident that s/he knows that bigyonb knows little about the “highering” policies of businesses.</p>