Ivy League Question...?

What does it take to get into an ivy league college? The valedictorian at my school as well as a kid with a class rank of 12 got into one.... USA Today featured an article with the American all Academic Team, and those kids accomplished things that most people wouldn't do in their lives. Needless to say mostly all of them got into Ivy League Schools..





So, what sort of SAT scores, GPA, extracurriculars, etc.. does one need to get in?!? THANKS!!

Ivy League Question...?
So this answer won't be completely accurate because I'm still a soph and haven't gotten into any Ivy League schools yet. But from the enormous amount of research, college seminars, web-surfing, and talking to people who did get in (many of my friends' older siblings are in Ivy League colleges), here's what I've found:





-Virtually everyone has a GPA over 3.75, so you're going to need to be really high to be competitive.





-Generally speaking, you must get above 2200 on your SATs, maybe lower if you have something else on your resume that's really good.





-Good grades are a requirement, and not something to make you shine. What makes you shine is your extracurricular work, and awards won. Every Ivy person I've spoken to has won some kind of contest or placed in some kind of state competition. Most have at least one officer position in a school club.





-Getting good grades alone will NOT get you into an Ivy. I've talked to a couple people with 4.0 GPAs and all honor courses, near perfect SAT scores, etc., who just didn't have some kind of distinguishing factor to make them special.





-The acceptance rates vary. Harvard takes 9%, Cornell takes around 20%, and the others are in between.





-Certain colleges have legacy (if someone in your family attended/is faculty you get better chances). Practically all of them use affirmative action (it's slightly easier to get in if you're black or Latino, and possibly harder if you're Asian).
Reply:Just wondering, why is it harder if you're Asian? Report It

Reply:You'll need almost perfect, if not perfect, scores in all the aptitude tests as well as grades close to 100% for at least your last two years. You also need to show that you are "well-rounded." That doesn't mean overweight; it means that you participate in something other than academics such as a sport, music, or club. You need documented community service for which you have volunteered. You need superior references. It also helps if you are related to a graduate of the school to which you're applying. And last, but not least, you need lots and lots of money.
Reply:First of all its important to remember that the ivy league admissions process is a gamble. Something like 4 out 5 valedictorians get rejected. I'd say to be competitive you need at least a 3.8 GPA unweighted and you need to have taken lots of honors and AP classes. For the ACT i would recommend a 29 or 30 and up. 1350 at least for the SAT. For extracurriculars you need to be way involved but not with a little bit of everything, more like a ton of involvement in one or two things. You should hold strong leadership positions in most of these clubs. Finally to top it all off you need a killer essay. Remember these are all minimums. Good Luck