Ivy League College Questions! Please answer.?

Okay, I'm going into highschool and I really want to do just absolutely amazing so that I can get into an Ivy League school.





1. Is it better to take 2 years of two different languages or 4 years of one language?


2. What extracirricular acctivities will look impressive?


3. How hard is it to get into Brown, Duke, or Princeton?





And basically just tell me as much as you can about how to get into an Ivy League. Its one of my major goals.

Ivy League College Questions! Please answer.?
Hi!





I wouldn't limit myself to the Ivy League, if I were you, because there are plenty of other fantastic universities out there. Choose a school based on how good it is in what YOU want to study, not just on how famous it is.





1: take four years of the same language. This lets you get into the AP (college level) class, which looks very good on applications.





2: anything, provided that you do it a lot and are good at it. Colleges couldn't care less if you like surfing and practice the piano allll the time, but they DO care if you participate in surfing competitions and play piano in concerts (even small ones). Get official recognition of your extracurricular activity: have your writing published; get your volunteer organization in the news. That kind of thing.





3A: Absurdly difficult. Brown wants creative, self-motivated, well-rounded students. Ecclectic students. A perfect score on the SAT and ACT and straight A's through high school aren't enough. You also need to be a concert violinist AND own your own small business. Well, as an example. Extracurriculars are, possibly, more important than academics to Brown. Brown accepted 12.3% of applicants this year. This means 12.3% of people who considered themselves "Ivy League material" actually did get in.





3B: Very difficult. They like students who are strong both intellectually and athletically. They also like leaders, so student government is a good thing to get involved in if you're interested. Duke accepted 21% of applicants this year.





3C: Insanely difficult. US News and World Report calls it the best school in the nation, and that's probably true. Princeton students basically have a ticket to do absolutely anything they want with their lives. The only school in the nation that's harder to get into is MIT. You'll need to be academically perfect and have some other notable skill/ability. Having connections to the school in some way (relation to alumni, knowing administrators or professors) is a big plus. Princeton accepted 9.48% of applicants this year.








To get into these schools or any other good school, you need to have extremely good grades in difficult classes throughout high school. Math, science, and English are, obviously, what they look at most. Tenth and eleventh grades are absolutely crucial. Membership in student government, the National Honors society, student newspaper, and ESPECIALLY a speech and debate team look good on an application. For the schools you mentioned.... try all of them. You should also have some notable skill or talent that you regularly use outside of school (as long as you have a legitimate claim that you're good at it). Volunteering is good, too. You'll also need letters of recommendation from teachers or other such important folk.





Study, work hard, and talk to teachers and administrators.





Good luck!
Reply:1. Take four years of one language. You'll be glad you did.





2. Anything the requires dedication or leadership. I got into a top 20 school partly because I spent most of my free time studying math (taking university courses and doing an independent study with a topology prof) and practicing my violin for hours on end. In addition, I dedicated time to the chess club and several math competitions, and I also did the usual stuff (National Honor Society and quiz bowl and so on). That's a bare minimum. You still need perfect grades and top test scores.





Why? Everyone else applying also has perfect grades and test scores, and you need to stand out somehow. You need a 'hook,' something that tells the admissions officers that they want you to be at their school. For me, it was probably a combination of my music and all the extra time I put into math (taking multivariable calc and differential equations before I even applied, for instance). At the top schools, you will be *expected* to have something like that. For each spot in a freshman class, there will be between 10 and 20 students with 4.0 GPAs and SAT scores upwards of 1500.





3. Brown is tough, but it's not that tough for a top school. Princeton is insanely hard to get into if you aren't a legacy student. Duke is easier than the other two, but if you don't have a really good hook, you probably need an SAT score about 1550 to be competitive.








Degrees from these schools are prestigious for a reason. Admissions are incredibly competitive.
Reply:1. It is better to take 4 years of one language. Colleges normally look for 2 - 3 years of the same language. I took 4 years of Spanish and now I'm evening going to Spain on Saturday!





2. Anything and everything! Do some activities that apply to what you want to do as a career, but also join things that you enjoy. This shows your diversity and many different things that you are passionate about.





3. It is very difficult. That is why they are called Ivy league schools. It's very easy to tell you what to do (get a great GPA, exceptional SAT scores, etc), but it's hard to do.





4. Yes, you can, if the essay question is the same. Some colleges just say "Tell me about yourself.", while others have specific questions: "Why did you choose this college?" or even something crazy like, "What was the best part of your summer last year?".
Reply:4 Years of one language will be superior to 2 years of 2. They want to see depth and consistancy.





Extracurricular is really up to you. Nothing is more impressive than another. They just want to see consistency, and leadership. For instance, they want to see someone who started up their own extracurricular group or campaigned for some political cause all four years of high school. as far as sports, be consistent and get a varsity letter.





It is tremendously difficult to get into any of the schools you mentioned, with princeton probably being the toughest. you need to to something to stand out. everyone will have tons of AP or IB classes and 4.0 GPAs and SATs in the 95th percentile or higher. You need to really do something that sets you apart. perhaps start your own business, your own society, etc.





Just to give you my background


I graduated #1 in my class with a 4.0 (i don't do any of this weighted stuff. it's just an excuse to make a non-4.0 look like better than a 4.0). I got 4 or better in 7 of my AP classes. I took a slew of honors courses. Was really really involved in leadership at my church and in various clubs at school.... was a varsity water polo player, and did a whole bunch of other activities. I had the requisite SAT in the 95th percentile or higher... (the number system has changed so much in the 15 years since I enrolled as a freshman in my ivy league school... that i don't even know what number is good nowadays).





But this gives you some idea. you basically have to be tops at everything. And don't be fooled by what some people tell you. I have friends from stanford, berkeley, u-michigan, harvard etc...





The folks from Ivy Level schools (harvard, stanford, etc) are a cut above the top state school folks i know (umich, berkeley, etc). They just are much more well versed in almost every aspect of what's going on in the world... are more well rounded... and think super quickly on their feet... and are often much much more intellectual. of course, this is not always the case. but 80% of the time this has held true. honestly, how many people would go to berkeley after they found out they got into stanford? very very few if any. and how many people get into stanford who are rejected by berkeley? very very few again. That says something. I went to an Ivy undergrad and a non IVY grad school... while i was at the non ivy grad school (umich), i took some undergrad courses for the hell of it, and I must say that the course work at the ivy undergrad was magnitudes more difficult, and the student quality was enormously different.





The education I got at my undergrad was not just through courses... it was through the conversations and debates I had with my fellow students. And if you throw 4 thousand top students together and have them talk and discuss all kinds of things ranging from the battle of waterloo to queen hatshepsuts burrial tomb, you tend to suck up a whole lot of knowledge. and you are challenged more than you can imagine. After four years in a crucible like that, there is no way you would walk away unchanged or without an immense store of all kinds of knowledge and expertise.





However, you don't need to go to an ivy league school for certain things. let's say you want to go into medicine. just get a scholarship at a state school, get a 4.0 in your sciences, and kill your MCAT. getting top marks at any ivy in sciences is EXTREMELEY difficult... you are competing against people who are all super smart. if you go to state school, the curve will be less difficult for you to trump. just make sure this is exactly what you want to do and that you can pull of high marks on the MCAT. I didn't have to stomach to study 12 years post highschool so I didn't go this route, but i will tell you that i have friends who went to my college who got a 3.0 in sciences who would have gotten a 4.0 going to their state college.... And for medical school gpa, and mcat seems to matter much more than where you went to school (although i feel this is a little unfair, since some people at my school were turned off by pre-med because the tremendous difficulty re: getting good grades... they were none the less extremely well rounded, critical thinkers who would have made excellent doctors... had they gone to state school.





As a last note. An Ivy school gives you an EDUCATION! not a free ticket to success. some of the most successful folks are college drop outs (bill gates) or didn't even go to college! You have to believe that the value in going to a top school is the education you get, not the potential to rack up bucks (although, i haven't done to poorly for myself in my career).





Good luck...

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