I’m a sophomore at a pretty prestigious school. A lot of people get into ivy league schools every year and i was just wondering what level of colleges i could get into. i am tutoring in ACT right now and i get around a 32 usually but my score will probably improve by the time i take the test. my gpa is a 4.8 out of 5.0 and i take the highest level classes. i have straight A’s. i am going to take 6 AP’s by the time i graduate. i am on the debate team, varsity fencing team (MVP this year as a sophomore and also 2nd team all league as a sophomore). i am in 5 clubs and treasurer of one of them. i studied abroad at Oxford University this spring. i currently have over 200 hours of community service and am going on a mission trip to puerto rico this summer. i also am going to a medical camp at vanderbilt and volunteering at a hospital. i am hispanic and also first generation.
Help people help you. What can your parents afford for tuition? Will your family qualify for financial aid, will you need merit aid, or are you full-pay? What state are you in? What are you thinking of studying?
Your stats are good but there are a ton of schools out there so these questions will help narrow it down.
You can get into a pretty good college like top tier, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia are pretty high reaches but UPenn, Duke, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown I’d say should be your goals
Please do not focus on ivies or bust. It’s a terrible strategy even if your act was a 36
Yes, there are many, many outstanding schools that offer the same academics as Ivy League and similar schools. You will find unbelievable faculty, staff, and students at many, many schools. You will find students as bright (and I’m taking you to be very bright) as yourself at hundreds of schools, including Ivies, state flagships, and national universities like Rochester, Richmond, William and Mary, CWRU, UVA, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhodes College, Kenyon, WPI, Holy Cross, Dickinson, and many, many more. Apply to any Ivies that are a good fit for you; you’ll be a reasonable candidate, and will understand that many fully qualified candidates will be denied admission simply because more are applying than there are spots available. But be sure to find some where admission rates are higher than 4.6% (Harvard), and many among that 4.6% have hooks. All those schools I listed will give you an amazing education. They are all very competitive and have relatively low admission rates, but much higher than 4.6%.
Here’s why it’s a challenge: We visited a tip-tip LAC. They said 70% of applicants were fully qualified and they were confident they would succeed academically and otherwise at their school. They then accepted 14%. So 4 in 5 fully qualified applicants were denied admission. It’s simple supply and demand. The good news is that very well-qualified students can find many, many great schools. You’ll do great. Just concentrate on places that are a good fit for you, that will make you the best person you can be. Good luck!