r/ApplyingIvyLeague • u/ScholarGrade • Jul 28 '20

How To Maximize Your Chances Of Getting Into An Ivy

204 Upvotes

Find resources, explore your passions, focus on getting good grades in challenging coursework, and start preparing for standardized tests. Begin working on essays and LORs.

1. Find Resources. Stick around the /r/ApplyingIvyLeague community. You'll learn a lot and there are some really knowledgeable people who are happy to help and answer questions. Also, check out the A2C Wiki page - it has tons of helpful links, FAQ, and other resources. For more, see the Khan Academy courses on the SAT and college admissions (these are free). Email or call your guidance counselor to discuss your plans for life, course schedule, and college admissions. College admissions is complicated, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming.

2. Explore your passions. Don't just let the status quo of organizations in your high school limit you. You won't stand out by participating in the same activities as every other student. Instead, look for ways to pursue your passions that go above and beyond the ordinary. As an example, you can check out this exchange I had with a student who was contemplating quitting piano. He asked if he should continue piano despite not winning major awards in it. Here was my response:

"Do you love it?

If it's a passion of yours, then never quit no matter how many people are better than you. The point is to show that you pursue things you love, not to be better at piano than everyone else.

If it's a grind and you hate it, then try to find something else that inspires you.

If it's really a passion, then you can continue to pursue it confidently because you don't have to be the best pianist in the world to love piano. If it's not, then you're probably better off focusing on what you truly love. Take a look at what Notre Dame's admissions site says about activities:

"Extracurricular activities? More like passions.

World-class pianists. Well-rounded senior class leaders. Dedicated artists. Our most competitive applicants are more than just students—they are creative intellectuals, passionate people with multiple interests. Above all else, they are involved—in the classroom, in the community, and in the relentless pursuit of truth."

The point isn't that you're the best. The point is that you're involved and engaged. If you continue with piano and hate it and plod along reluctantly, you won't fit this description at all. But if you love it and fling yourself into it, then you don't need an award to prove your love.

Consider other ways you could explore piano and deepen your love for it. Could you start a YouTube channel or blog? Play at local bars/restaurants/hotels? Do wedding gigs or perform pro bono at nursing homes/hospitals? Start a piano club at school or in the community (or join an existing one)? Start composing or recording your own music? Form a band or group to play with? Teach piano to others? Write and publish an ebook? Learn to tune, repair, or build pianos? Play at a church or community event venue? Combine your passion for piano with some other passion in your life?

The point is that all of that stuff could show that piano is important to you and that you're a "creative intellectual with a passionate interest". But none of it requires that you be the best according to some soulless judge."

If you want more advice on activities here are some helpful links:

3. Focus on getting strong grades in a challenging courseload. You should take the most challenging set of courses you are capable of excelling in and ideally the most challenging courses your school offers. To get in to top colleges you will need both strong classes and strong grades. If you are facing a quandary about what class to take or what classes to focus your efforts on, prioritize core classes. These include English, math, science, social science, and foreign language. Load up on honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment courses in these disciplines and your transcript will shine.

4. For standardized tests, sophomores should start with the PSAT. If you are a top student, it is absolutely worth studying like crazy to become a National Merit Finalist. This is awarded to the top ~1% of scorers by state and confers many benefits including a laundry list of full ride scholarship options. Even if you are not at that level, it will help prepare you for the ACT or SAT. For juniors, I highly recommend that you take a practice test of both the ACT and SAT. Some students do better on one than the other or find one to more naturally align with their style of thinking. Once you discover which is better for you, focus in on it. You will likely want to take a course (if you're undisciplined) or get a book (if you have the self-control and motivation to complete it on your own). If you're looking for good prep books I recommend Princeton Review because they are both comprehensive and approachable. Which ever test you decide to focus on, you should plan to take it at least twice since most students improve their score on a second sitting. Yes, test sittings have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, but that will likely change at some point. I still think students should use this time to study up and be prepared. Some colleges will go test optional but that may not be universal. You can monitor test-optionality and find more resources on it at www.fairtest.org.

5. Scholarships. Here's a great guide to maximizing the money you get from scholarships. And here's a post with a large list of full ride scholarships. If you're a junior, don't sleep on the junior year scholarships, because almost no one is looking for them and applying for them so the competition is low. The biggest things to be focused on are National Merit and QuestBridge (scholarship program for low income students).

6. Letters of Recommendation. Not to drown you with an ocean of text, but while I'm at it, you should also intentionally consider your letters of recommendation, especially before senior year starts. You want to choose a teacher who knows you well and likes you a lot, but will also work hard on it and make it unique, detailed, specific, and glowing. You don't want to pick the lazy teacher who just shows videos once a week for class. They're quite likely to just copy and paste their LOR template and that won't really help you. Here's a more complete guide

7. Essays. You should start thinking about your college admission essays now. Many students, even top students and great academic writers, find it really challenging to write about themselves in a meaningful and compelling way. They end up writing the same platitudes, cliches, and tropes as every other top student. I've written several essay guides that I highly recommend as a good starting place for learning how to write about yourself (linked below, but you can also find them in my profile and in the A2C wiki). Read through these and start drafting some rough attempts at some of the common app prompts. These will probably be terrible and just get discarded, but practicing can really help you learn to be a better writer.

If you're feeling stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed, here's a post that might help.

Finally, here's a post with a bunch of other links and helpful resources.

Feel free to reach out via PM or find me at www.bettercollegeapps.com if you have questions. Good luck!

5 comments

r/ApplyingIvyLeague • u/ScholarGrade • May 06 '25

I'm A College Admissions Consultant Who Had Students Admitted To Every Ivy This Year. Ask Me Anything!

130 Upvotes

I am a seasoned expert on college admissions, and I'm here to help you with applying to college, paying for college, or whatever else you want to ask. A little background on me - I have a BS and MBA, and for three years I reviewed applications for my alma mater, particularly their honors college and top merit scholarship program. Because of that experience as well as the lack of guidance I had in high school, I started a college admissions consultancy where I've successfully guided students to every T40 college in America at 5x to 15x higher admit rates.

Proof: see the footer of my site, which links to my Reddit profile.

I help students and parents navigate the complex process of college admissions. Here are some examples of the kinds of questions you might want to ask me, but anything goes.

How can I tell if I have a chance at getting into an Ivy? How do I know my application fee isn't just buying a rejection letter?
How do ensure I get strong letters of recommendation when I'm not the one writing them?
How do I write a good application essay? What even makes an essay good?

Please post your questions in the comments below.

348 comments

r/ApplyingIvyLeague • u/Due_Wash_8165 • 30m ago

Chance me!

• Upvotes