The Secret of Why You Will NEVER Get Into an Ivy League School Part 2

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How to Get Into an Ivy League School

This is part 2 of a complete guide disclosing the secrets of how people get into Ivy League schools, including an in-depth 20,000-word article by experts.

This post contains some of my own conclusions based on my research and some notes from the PrepScholar article.

Whether or not you get into an Ivy League school will always be somewhat subjective, so there is no 100% foolproof formula for doing so.

So if all you want to do is get a job, get paid, clock in, and clock out, then this guide isn't for you.

Is it Luck?

Some think that getting into an Ivy League school is a numbers game.

For example, the current odds of getting into Harvard are close to 5%, so your odds would be 1 in 20.

However, this doesn't explain why some students manage to get accepted into every school they applied to, including Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford.

Are they the luckiest students in the world? Or do they know how to game the system?

Some Disclaimers

1. Going to an Ivy League school, such as Harvard, doesn't mean you will be instantly rich and life will be easy. The average Harvard graduate makes around $88,000.

2. For most careers, attending Ivy League schools won't add extra value. If you plan to become a lawyer, you have top bragging rights if you graduate from Yale or Harvard. For the rich and famous, the Ivy League is sort of like an exclusive golfing club.

So even if you don't want to attend an Ivy League school, learning some of the tricks on how to have a strong college application can help you get into other schools.

For Starters

Let's start with the obvious things you need to do to get accepted into an Ivy League school:

- Near-perfect GPA (3.9+ unweighted)
- AP exams scoring 4 or 5 on each exam
- 98th percentile score on the SAT (1520+)
- 99th percentile score on the ACT (34+)

It helps if you attend a school that has some grade inflation so that you can spend less time on basic courses and more time focusing on AP courses and SAT & ACT exams. A good public school is fine, as it is sometimes better to be a big fish in a little pond than a small fish in a big pond.

Keep in mind you don't have to be perfect. If you are super strong in math and science, then it's okay to be weaker in English, and vice versa.

Now the Secret

The secret to getting into an Ivy League school is to prove to the school that you will accomplish things that will change the world.

How do you do that?

Well, you need to have a track record that shows you are doing things now that prove you have an effect on the world.

Now this is hard to do, even for an adult with a successful career, let alone a 17-year-old teenager. This is why it's often a "privilege" to have parents that can support kids through this journey using their expertise.

Some examples to show schools that you are world-class:

- You are a state or national debate champion (pre-law)
- You started a successful business (Business major)
- You created GPL software that has 1 million downloads (CS major)
- You write blog posts for major news companies (English Major)
- Participate in nationwide research competitions (Science Major)
- You have 100,000+ social media followers (various majors)

Forget about volunteering, athletics, or playing an instrument. These things are a waste of time in terms of helping you get into a top school.

Here is a nearly 20,000-word article that explains all this in depth:

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum
https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-to-get-...rvard-alum