<p>Thank you acdunk543, he actually understood what I wrote without many misconceptions.</p>
<p>IvyLeagueFreak:</p>
<p>Stanford, Chicago, Duke, and Northwestern as backup choices? I’m guessing that means you’d attend any of the Ivy Leagues over these schools?</p>
<p>You should note that all of these schools are considered better than at least a couple of the Ivy Leagues. Stanford may very well supersede Harvard to become the the most prestigious university in the US over the next 5 years (it already has the lowest admit rate in the country), and Chicago isn’t too far behind.</p>
<p>I’ve always wanted to go to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Its been a dream of mine, not just because its an Ivy league. Those are my first 3 choices, but the others are the ones that I wouldnt be sad if I got rejected (if you know what I mean) For example, if Princeton and UChicago accepted me, I’d go to Princeton. I’ve lived in Chicago so I know about UChicago, and its an outstanding school.</p>
<p>It doesnt matter to me what rank they are, those top 10 schools are the ones that I’ve looked at & liked the most.</p>
<p>Ok, that’s understandable. Good luck.</p>
<p>@Phuriku, any suggestions or any thing that I should improve?</p>
<p>Honestly, the single most important part of admission to elite universities is to understand that grades, test scores, and extra-curriculars constitute a significant, but limited part of the application. Admissions committees spend most of their time looking over essays, so if you really want to stand out, you’re going to need to focus on giving off a good vibe in your essays. (People think this is just for liberal arts colleges or “quirky” schools like Chicago. This isn’t true. This is also how most Ivy League universities separate the admitted students from the rest of the pack.)</p>
<p>To stand out in your essays, you need to give them a good reason to like you. One method of doing so is demonstrating how you can fit in and contribute to the university’s overall atmosphere. Too many students focus on how it would be great for their personal life and career to attend the given university; this is entirely the wrong approach and gets a lot of people rejected.</p>
<p>Ahhh, okay. Thank you!</p>
<p>^Etonian- I was thinking the same thing. To the OP, do not have delusions of grandeur. You still haven’t given a good reason as to why you want to attend the Ivies, but that’s your right. You might want to think about what it is you want to study, and then start looking from there.</p>
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<p>This statement does not make sense. The ten schools listed include urban, rural and suburban campuses. They are located on the East Coast, West Coast, Southern and Midwestern. They range from large, nationally-recognized Division I athletic programs to small Division III programs. Some have half a dozen or more undergraduate colleges while others have a single UG program. Student enrollments range from about 5,000 to over 20,000. Some have fraternities/sororities, others have eating clubs, others have a house system.</p>
<p>The only common characteristic of OP’s list is that they are all top 20 ranked universities.</p>
<p>I dont mean to imply that you are uninformed or ignorant OP, but the idea that “if [you] get into one out of the ten, [you]'ll stick with the one I get into.” Is a BAD choice. The Ivy League Schools are united by their world class education and their cooperation in sporting events, but other than that, they are VERY different. Yale and Brown’s liberal atmosphere often appeals to students that also apply to Middlebury, Cornell and Dartmouth’s sporting culture are very similar to that of Williams, Princeton’s focus on public and foreign service as well as its campus is remarkably similar to that of Georgetown, Columbia’s rigorous focus on academics makes it a close relative of UChicago, UPenn is often compared to Northwestern, and Harvard has a great deal in common with Duke. I wouldnt be so quick to zero in on Ivy Leagues, and rather focus on what appeals to you about each school individually and come to a conclusion on where you want to spend what are arguable the four most formative years of your life.</p>
<p>OP, you need ACTUAL backup schools. I’ve heard horror stories about students with stellar grades and test scores, a plethora of extracurriculars, and glowing teacher recommendations who only applied to Ivies (and Stanford/Chicago/etc.) and were rejected from every single one. You must be realistic, or else you’ll be sorely disappointed next year.</p>
<p>Stanford, Duke, Chicago, and Northwestern are NOT safeties, nor would they be very pleased to be considered “easy-admit.” All of those schools have annual acceptance rates of lower than 15%. Public state universities, on the other hand, ARE safeties. I suggest you look into those.</p>
<p>To acdunk543: I have degrees from two of the schools OP covets. Believe me, I am not jealous of the OP. Unfortunately, at this stage of my life your chancing matters not. I have been able to exceed your expectations of zero life chance, and did so many years ago.</p>
<p>However, OP, I must APOLOGIZE for being particularly snide. I think I had just read one too many “Ivy League or Bust” chance threads that day. I think what set me off was your seeming ignorance of the differences between the eight Ivy League schools, and your seeming lack of interest in being educated about those differences. You came across as someone who just wants the label, but NOT as someone who has actually researched the schools and determined which schools might actually be best for YOU. Though they are comparable in quality and difficulty of admissions, all eight of the schools have distinct personalities and academic programs. Therefore to say you just want to get into an Ivy League school, ANY Ivy League school, does not sound particularly wise or discerning on your part. And it really set me off in a fit of snideness for which I apologize.</p>
<p>Having a school as a dream is great. But you are more likely to achieve the dream with an intelligent, well-researched pursuit of those schools that are your best matches. As has been said many times on the individual Ivy threads, the best way NOT to get into a Ivy is to spend all your time trying just to get into an Ivy. These schools know which students have genuinely pursued excellence and knowledge as ENDS IN THEMSELVES throughout their high school careers, and which students have spent their high school years trying to “game” an Ivy admit. You will need to be the former. Not the latter.</p>
<p>As has also been mentioned, planning to apply to ten reach schools is unwise. You seem to have just looked at which schools are prestigious and let that be your guide. You need to seriously research a MUCH BROADER RANGE of schools. Once you do this, some of your ten will fall off your list. Others will be added. The end result of your research should be a well-rounded list of reach, match, and safety schools. Any other approach is folly.</p>
<p>Please just get off of the “I HAVE to go to an Ivy” merry-go-round. You do not. Your belief that only CC-defined “prestige” is synonymous with real success is a belief I hope you discard. It is not true. There are scores of amazing colleges and universities in the U.S. Start researching them!!!</p>