Education Questions and Answers
Could I get into the ivy league or close?
Question:I am going into my senior year. I have a 4.0 unweighted, a 4.3 weighted, I do 3-4 school theatre productions a year, in which I usually have a leadership position (i.e. "crew head"). I am in drama club, a member of International Thespian society, part of Spanish National Honors Society, part of the mentor program at my school, I volunteer every sunday at the library, I got a 34 on my ACT, for the SAT I got Reading: 720 Math: 550 Writing: 660 (but I am retaking it in the fall). I have taken 2 AP classes and 2 honors classes so far and am taking 4 more AP classes and 1 more honors class this year. I am in the top 5 out of 530ish students. my aunt went to Harvard, my grandfather went to cornell but then transfered. what is your opinion? could I do it?
Answers:
The best way to find out if you will get accepted is to apply; I agree with the others, who have said that it is more likely that you will get accepted into the "lower ivy league schools." (In all actuality, however, there is nothing "low" about these schools, at all.)
Although your résumé is pretty impressive, you must keep in mind that there are a lot of students that are like you, with maybe a few differing qualifications. It is certainly true that the ivy league looks for students in leadership positions, so you need to try to obtain more of those your senior year.
I have a few friends who attend Harvard, and they say that it is all about your "story," and how you overcame something, or accomplished something great, not simply your GPA and a few activities you did in high school. What, exactly, do I mean by your "story"? One of my friends was an immigrant from Vietnam, and her family had practically nothing when they arrived in America; she overcame all of these things, and was Valedictorian, as well as a leader of many other activities. Another one of my friends was already a successful entrepreneur with his brother, before he even started college; it is a pretty magnificent story. The last of my friends at Harvard is an amazing singer, and he want to the Texas Boys Choir school, and had a marvelous story behind that, as well as and outstanding academic background. You really must know how to sell yourself to the admissions committee. Your essays are a very important factor, and you have to perfect them as much as possible.
I'm not trying to discourage you with all of these, but you have to keep in mind how competitive it is.
As far as your family members, I'm not sure their relation to you is direct enough for you to be considered a legacy; I could certainly be wrong on this one, though.
obv
IF you get your SAT scores up, and continue showing your passion for acting, you will have a shot at the lower ivies. The "lower" ivies include Dartmouth, Cornell, and sometimes Brown and Penn(depending on the major).
I graduated from Yale in 1991 and have been involved with local interviews for the past 15 years. Your GPA is obviously good and your school-based activities are strong. You're likely 80-120 points light on your SAT scores for Yale/Harvard/Princeton. The biggest gap on your application (based solely on what you've reported) is a significant commitment to any activities outside of school. (Volunteering at the Library is cool but probably doesn;t have a huge leadership component.) All of your competition will have been actively involved in school activities (like theater). One differentiator for your application will be something that you've done that others haven't. I like to think of it as the dining hall factor. When you're eating with your classmates, what can you talk about that they haven't already experienced themselves?
I wish you the best of luck. The Ivy League experience is awesome.
improve ur math : ) . ivies also give slight favor for children of alumni. ur act is very good, so is ur rankings, gpa, class difficulty and extracurriclars! u have a great chance of getting into a low to mid-ivy but harvard and yale might be a bit of a reach. never know tho. cant hurt to apply...unless u get hit by a car while mailing the application . lol
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