how to get into an Ivy League school?

I got into Cornell, Brown, Yale, and Harvard, but I'll tell you specifically about Harvard, since that's where I will be going in the fall.

For one, my family has a legacy there. I will be the fourth generation attending.

Secondly, we offer a dowry of 500,000 dollars per year to the University. A great deal of the University's endowment comes from families like mine that donate a bit of money to its programs. I'm curious as to exactly how much. I'm guessing it's an overwhelming amount, since kids like me never get rejected.

I also played tennis. I reached a ranking of 2nd in the country and 9th in the world as a 16 year old. This also adds to the argument that the University looks for the best in particular areas, not well-rounded individuals. That's not to say, however, that I wasn't well-rounded. Throughout the course of my 18 years, I have partaken in wrestling, volleyball, polo, karate, swimming, tap dancing, ballet, and pointe. I was the president of my school's (Horace Mann) Model United Nations team. We've been the number 1 team in the nation for some years now.

When I was in 8th grade, I made an effort to learn some web development and computer science concepts. Through an online game called RuneScape I managed to meet other people of similar interests and started a decently sized web development business.

I speak German fluently. Another weird hook that I have is that I can alphabetize

I had a 2340 SAT score and got 5s on 12 AP exams. Scored 4 on U.S. History and English Language and Composition. I had a very low GPA: 84.3.

I am your typical Harvard student. Maybe a bit above average. This is what you are competing with when you apply to the Ivy League.

Best of luck!

*EDIT*

I meant that I can alphabetize the letters in words nearly as quickly as I can spell them.

For example.

I aemnt ahtt I acn aabeehilptz eht eelrstt in dorsw aelnry as ciklquy as I acn ellps ehmt.

For aeelmpx.

Two words:

Bull. S**t.

Dmouth wrote:

Two words:

Bull. Shit.

Gee, what tipped you off? Was it the combination of wrestling and pointe?

from what I hear most Ivy League girls are not very good looking

I danced when I was very young. I have very little memory of that time period. As I advanced more deeply into high school, the only sports I played were tennis and volleyball. Volleyball was a way to keep my mind off of the stress that tennis brought me.

I know this is a troll - but for those who were drawn to this tread for serious answers:

It's important to be a superstar. Literally, you've got to be one of the best. The trick is that they don't really care what you're a superstar in...as long as you're a superstar. So, go ahead and pick up some odd hobbies. Try to start a random charity. Become nationally ranked in trampoline dodgeball...

Try to identify something with a small enough community where you can really stand out, but you feel it has the potential to become somewhat "underground trendy" sometime in the near future.

Also get good grades. And good SAT scores.

---OR---

Run a 4:16 mile, have a 3.5 GPA and 1800+ SAT scores.

i see you wrote:

---OR---

Run a 4:16 mile, have a 3.5 GPA and 1800+ SAT scores.

That 4:16 won't be enough at some of Ivies--although, if it's a true mile (= ~4:14/1600), that'll help some.

I do agree that very high athletic ability can help tremendously. To my certain, *personal* knowledge, I can vouch that one of the smaller Ivies (that nevertheless is extremely competitive in our sports, and is often considered one of the US's very top schools) will give an *extraordinary* admissions break to a genuinely *extraordinary* athlete. 'Nuff said.

And yes, the OP was a troll.

If you want the easiest path to an Ivy, then pick your parents. And apply early decision. And possibly be recruited. This is, unfortunately, how a decent amount (25-45% at any Ivy) get in. So if you thought the overall acceptance rates were low (10% and lower for every Ivy except Penn and Cornell), it's only worse if you're none of the above. As someone who got into Cornell and Dartmouth and waitlisted at a bunch of other Ivies, my best advice is not to paint yourself as someone you're not, but to highlight something that is inexplicably your own. Don't try to pretend to be some fake-as-hell Renaissance man like the Harvard legacy above - applications like his reek of d-baggery. It's not that the Ivies discern from these types of people (read: they don't), but on a personal level it's much more important that you don't waste away your youth attempting to become some bastion of every physical and mental trade known to man.

Outside agitator wrote:

i see you wrote:

---OR---

Run a 4:16 mile, have a 3.5 GPA and 1800+ SAT scores.

That 4:16 won't be enough at some of Ivies--although, if it's a true mile (= ~4:14/1600), that'll help some.

I do agree that very high athletic ability can help tremendously. To my certain, *personal* knowledge, I can vouch that one of the smaller Ivies (that nevertheless is extremely competitive in our sports, and is often considered one of the US's very top schools) will give an *extraordinary* admissions break to a genuinely *extraordinary* athlete. 'Nuff said.

And yes, the OP was a troll.

Also, what this guy said. A girl who got recruited to go to the same Ivy as I is incredibly ditzy and nonintellectual and someone who generally doesn't deserve to be at a school of such prestige (for comparison sakes, her SAT was around 1800). To top it off, she wasn't even the top recruit.

Aside from Princeton, and possibly Columbia, 4:16 would definitely be enough...so long as the rest of your application was "solid" (e.g. 3.5+, 1800+) so you're academic index # wasn't pulling down the group (might have to be a slightly stronger transcript at Yale since they have the toughest AI standard). And, 4:16 would probably be enough to get the attention of Princeton & Columbia.

Change your name to Weinstein

Run a sub-four mile.

Outside agitator wrote:

although, if it's a true mile (= ~4:14/1600), that'll help some.

I don't really buy the idea of "helping some". The coaches need to submit a list of kids to receive admission support, and the average Academic Index of that group of kids has to be over a certain # (with no kids below a certain AI #).

The coaches are going to put together the group of kids that hits above the AI average and will help the program the most. That could be a handful of fast dumb kids offset by lots of smart slower guys, or it could be a big crop of solid guys.

Either way, you gotta get yourself on that list. It's an all in, all out deal. Either be a prize runner, a smarty pants who helps the coaches get that prize runner in, or a solid guy who might help the team and isn't pulling the AI index down (your 4:16, 3.5, 1850 kid).

If you can't be one of those three people, then you're not on the list. If you're not on the list, you're on your own against alumni kids, rich kids, minorities, and geniuses. In that case, a 4:16 mile isn't helping at all - and even if it is, it can't get you over your 3.5 and 1800 SATs. You're out.

I did some applicant interviews for Dartmouth recently - my sense is that above the grades and test scores, they want something that shows passion and makes you stand out. Running works if you have done it for 10 years, or outdoors activities, or science fairs, or teaching yourself programming.

They really aren't so interested in 100% academic people - they could choose those guys with a computer.

And matches with colleges can help - f'rinstance if you are applying to dartmouth with 10 years of constant outdoors activities (hiking, climbing, etc), and you can say 'I want to go to dartmouth because of the dartmouth outing club' then that means something.

To columbia, outdoor passion might be less impressive. but something else might.