<p>Just want to know what people know from their experience gets you in to the best unis/colleges??</p>
<ul>
<li>I think everyone wants the answer to this one...........</li>
</ul>
<p>i think you need 1 or 2 (most likely 2) of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>crazy grades/scores</li>
<li>legacy</li>
<li>hook (URM, major awards, random locations, and so on)</li>
<li>GREAT (i mean like....the best in the adcom's life) essay</li>
</ul>
<p>I've had several friends who was admitted to multiple Ivies. I've talked with them and tried to see what in their application actually got them into the schools they are in now. It seems like you have to be well rounded (All of the ones I talked to had 2300+ SAT, not a requirement though), with incredible workload (7 up to 15 APs), very nice GPA (3.9+ GPA UW), and a slew of Extracurriculars (Girl at Harvard that I knew had 12! pages of resume). I'm not saying you need ALL of them ABSOLUTELY, but it would sure help you if you had surefire stats like the ones listed above. </p>
<p>SAT II's were top notch. All were above 750s. Their personalities were great, and I think it definitely showed in their applications.</p>
<p>I wasn't sure about their essays, but I have full confidence that they wrote very good, if not fantastic essays. Write down your passions!!!</p>
<p>You don't have to be State or National Champion at everything (I could actually compete with them on most subjects), but just show that you don't have any overwhelming weaknesses, have a competitive all-around app, and you should be in the running for a lot of the Ivies!. Another girl I knew (got in Stanford, Harvard, AND Yale+more), was the perfect example. She was in Calculus BC and wasn't exactly the top mathstudent, but she earned good grades and worked hard. Her strength was in language, however, and she cruised through AP English and Creative Writing. Her slight weakness was in AP Biology, and I had to tutor her (!) sometimes to get her through the class. Her extracurricular list wasn't extremely long, but there were certain club like robotics that she spent hundreds of hours on. It just shows that not all of the Ivy Students are perfect and pristine, and that they have flaws but try their best in every subject and every extracurricular. They definite have great motivation, leadership, and work ethic and they SHOW IT!</p>
<p>Remember, these are OPTIMAL students, the ones that got into multiple prestigious schools, so don't be disappointed if you don't meet one of their achievements.</p>
<p>Just offering you some feedback based on some amazing people I knew.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks.......</p>
<p>The true and basic thing you have to understand is that Ivies aren't looking for a "good student". They're looking for an outstanding student, mind, and overall person. Of course, good stats are helpful, but, as everybody says, there is no Ivy League formula. If someone can read through your application and not remember it ten minutes or even an hour later...that's a bad sign.</p>