How to Get into the Ivy League: Brief Overview
This article is long and detailed, but I strongly believe it’s well worth yourtime. These are all the lessons I wish I had known when I was in high school.
Part 1: What is an Ivy League School?
Part 2: What it takes to get into an Ivy League?
Part 3: Myths
Part 4: How to Prepare?
Part 5: Other Tips
The Ivy League, a group of eight institutions onthe northeast coast of the United States, includes
All these schools are more than a century old and seven of these were founded in the Colonial Era of the USA.
These eight institutions are known for their excellence in academics, teaching standardsand research facilities, and low ratio of student to faculty.
NO.2What it takes toget into an Ivy League?
Out of the 8 Ivy League schools, 7 schools had acceptancerates lower than 10%. Harvard had the lowest acceptance rate (less than 5%)whereas Cornell had the highest acceptance rate, at slightly above 10%.
Clearly, getting into an Ivy League school is an impressive achievement. So, the first question to answer is-
Then an extensive plan has to be drafted for building an application which is uniquein character and compels the reader to read through and consider.
■ Qualities & Factors
1. Contribution/Services(Are you a giver, or just a selfish taker?)
Students who are going to
#1 Case in point:
Let us look into how she contributed positively to her community
#2 Case in point:
2. Leadership
“Leadership” is amajor buzzword in college admissions; it is found across applications through essay supplements.
Showing leadership roles and specific responsibilities highlight students’ initiative and developed capacity as a leader, role modeland doer. Key words: “impact” and “inspire”.
3. Passion
It doesn’t matter if a student is doing athletics, community service, academic clubs or anything else. What the admission officers are looking for is the student’s genuine commitment.
4. Outgoing
Ivies look for students who are talented and have lives outside the classroom. This shows that you’re a fun person and the admission officers are interested in knowing what you have learned out of these activities.
5. Be a good person(Genuine)
Being nice might just be the thing that solidifies your spot at an Ivy League school. Colleges want the students they admit to be good people who give back.
Case in point:
NO.3Myths
1. Higher Scores = Better Offers
FACT:
What many Chinese students fail to understandis that, unlike in the Chinese admissions process where everything rides on the Gaokao score, in the US, perfect grades and test scores don’t guarantee admission to top universities.
US admissions offices use “holistic review,” meaning they look at all aspects (extra curricular involvement, essays, demonstrated interest, and recommendations)of an applicant and what he or she can contribute to the campus community, notjust academic performance.
Case in point:
2. Activities:More means good
FACT:
Your application need not show how you are an all-rounder, but it should focus on your strength. Ivies are looking to admit students who focus on a fewcore interests for all four years of their high school careers. So, it is important for students to focus on what they love instead of joining a bunch of random clubs that they don’t care about.
3. Colleges preferthe SAT over the ACT
FACT:
4. Recommendation Letters from influential figures will help my admission chances
FACT:
Parents with connections often think that such letters from government officials, celebrities, or other notable public figures will give their kids a big edge in the high-stakes battle for admissions atprestigious schools.
In a majority of cases, this simply isn’t true and the insight added by these recommendations is rarely anything other than superficial.
Case in point:
What is more likely to persuade a committee to accept anapplicant?
-Genuine letters from your school guidance counselor and teachers whowatched your commitment to service grow over a period of years.
-A transcript filled with AP history classes and a beautifully writtenessay.
NO.4How to Prepare?
Every part of your application should be consistent with your strengths-your GPA, SAT/ACT scores, letters of recommendation and your personal statement.
The majorcomponents of the application are:
Grades/GPA
Test scores
Extracurricularactivities and awards
Recommendationletters (Mentioned above)
Personalstatement (Stay tune for our next post)
SupplementalEssays (Stay tune for our next post)
AdmissionInterviews (Stay tune for our next post)
Grades/GPA
One factor that is certainly considered by all schools is an applicant’s Grade Point Average (GPA). It is a testament to a student’s work in high school.
Often, GPAs are weighed based on the difficulty of a student’s selected courses. If you’re aiming for a top university such as the Ivy Leagues, a 4.0average – or close to – is expected.
Here’s a quick letter grade and percentile to GPA conversion chart to make things easier:
Source: CollegeBoard
Calculating your GPA as an international student can be challenging. Here’s a GPA calculator you can refer to calculate what you GPA would be based on yourcountry’s grading scale:
Link: https://www.scholaro.com/gpa-calculator/
Average GPA of Admitted Students at Ivy League Schools:
The academic expectation of Ivies is well above average; with only two universities fall below a GPA of 4.0. This is because all the Ivy League universities take into account a weighted GPA over unweighted GPA. Hence, it’s important that you challenge yourself with your course choice. Such as, taking AP/IB/Honorcourses.
Test Scores
SAT/ACT
You’ren going to need good Standardized Test scores to get into an Ivy League school,successful applicants do tend to be in the top couple of percentiles.
Below you will find a side-by-side comparison of scores for the middle 50% of enrolled students
However,just keep inmind that the Ivy League is so competitive that many students within the ranges below do not get in.
If you’re scoring lower than the 25th percentile on either the SAT or ACT, you’ll have a really tough time getting accepted to an Ivy League school.
Clearly,these are very high standards. In fact, all 75th percentile scoresfor Ivy League schools are in the 99th percentile nationwide.
To be at the top of the Ivy League application pool, you will need to be one of the top 1% of test takers in the country!
TOEFL/IELTS
Most of the Ivy League schools have minimum TOEFL score requirement of 100 and 7 for IELTS. For example, here here’s Yale’s TOEFL and IELTS requirements forunder graduates.
PS. In recent few years, college admissions have become increasingly competitive. Most Chinese students who have gotten into Ivies have an average TOEFL score of110+.
Extracurricular Activities
Since other components are more or less of similar standards for most applicants, it is the
Examples of Activities: Volunteering, professional work experience, notable hobbies, publishing a book or articles in the newspaper,winning the Science Olympiad, being a national level sportsperson or the pivot of a charitable organization
Since there are so many common activities out there, how do you set yourself apart?
Let’s take cooking as an example to evaluate your competitiveness according to a model called
It’s never too late. Start taking initiative and devote efforts to bringing your activities to the next level.
NO.5Other Tips
1. College Prep Plan
2. Is SAT 2 necessary?
Whether they are required or not, by taking SAT 2, students could stand out by revealing to admission officers that they are knowledgeable in multiple different subjects.
There are 20 SAT subject tests that fall into five categories:
Some universities that require SAT subjecttests are:
Harvard University:
California Institute of Technology (Caltech):Math Level 2 and 1 Science
Harvey Mudd College:
MIT:1 Math and 1 Science
Cornell University:
Rice University:
Tufts University:
Webb Institute:
3. College Selection
Regardless of how much you love top universities and that all your dream schools are in the Top10 list, it’s important to have realistic expectations when it comes to selecting your college.
Suggested School Selection Model: 3-4-3 Formula; 3 Reaches + 4 Matches + 3 Safeties
Reach:
Match:
Safety:
Tips: Build your school list based on admission data fromprevious years (refer to acceptance rate, SAT/ACT average score, TOEFL averagescore, GPA, major offering and etc.)
4. Start Early
According to Harold Ekeh, teen who got into all 8 Ivies in 2015. DON’T PROCRASTINATE!!!
Final Reminder:
Thank you for your patience and for reading the entire article.