Applying to the Ivy League: Everything You Need to Know
Applying to college is no simple task, no matter where you apply, but for students applying to the prestigious Ivy League, the challenge is even greater. With acceptance rates consistently dipping below 10% and college applicants on the rise, getting into the Ivy League is a goal that most can only dream about.
At CollegeVine, we have coached hundreds of students towards their Ivy League acceptances. In fact, we even helped one amazing student gain acceptance to seven of them! But what’s success if we aren’t willing to share it? Here, we provide a home for our top Ivy League tips. To learn more about the Ivy League and how you can score an acceptance too, take a look at the resources below.
What Is the Ivy League?
The term Ivy League actually refers to a collegiate athletic conference composed of sports teams from eight private colleges and universities in the northeastern United States. Though the term officially refers to an athletic conference, it is more commonly used to refer to these same eight schools in other contexts.
Ivy League schools are generally known for their academic excellence and their extreme selectivity in admissions.
The eight Ivy League schools are: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.
To learn more about some of these schools and what they’re all about, check out these posts:
Which Ivy League is Right for You?
College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Brown
College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Columbia
College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Harvard
College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Princeton
College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Yale
Who Goes to the Ivy League?
The Ivy League is exceptionally difficult to get into, especially by today’s increasingly selective college admissions standards. To learn more about the standards expected by the Ivy League, check out these posts about Ivy League students:
What Are the Average High School GPAs of Admitted Students at Ivy League Schools?
Meet the Ivy League Class of 2021
CollegeVine Student Gains Acceptance to Seven Ivy League Schools
The Demographics of the Ivy League
Learning More About the Ivy League
Before you apply to any colleges, you’ll want to learn as much about them as possible. This can be through campus visits, interviews, college rankings, summer programs, or other avenues. To get started learning more about the Ivy League, have a look through these CollegeVine posts:
The Harvard Interview: What It’s Like, from a Harvard Student
2019 U.S. News and World Report College Rankings Released
An Insider’s View of Seven Top College Campuses
Into Engineering? Check Out Penn’s Engineering Summer Academy
Harvard vs. Wharton: A Guide for Pre-Consulting/Finance
12 Things to See On Your Campus Visit to Brown
5 Things to See on your Campus Tour of Columbia
9 Things to See On Your Campus Visit to Harvard
How to Prepare for the Ivy League
As is the case with any school you apply to, you’ll need to be sure that your high school classes and extracurriculars qualify you for acceptance. To learn how you can prepare for the Ivy League in high school, check out these posts:
What Classes to Take Sophomore Year to Impress Selective Colleges and the Ivy League
How 9th Graders Can Prepare Now for the Ivy League
How Your Summer Plans Factor Into Ivy League Admissions
Do I Have To Do Something Extraordinary to Get Into an Ivy League School?
What Does It Take to Get Into Harvard?
Standardized Test Scores for the Ivy League
Although the overall trend in Ivy admissions places less emphasis on test scores than it did in previous years (thanks in large part to Harvard’s Making Caring Common initiative), your scores are still important. To learn how they factor into Ivy League admissions, check out these posts:
Score Choice Policies for Ivy Leagues: A Complete Guide
What’s a Good SAT Score for the Ivy League?
Applying to the Ivy League
For more tips about Ivy League applications and essays, refer to these popular CollegeVine posts:
Should You Apply to Public Ivy League Schools?
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Brown University
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the Brown University PLME Program
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Columbia
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Cornell
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Dartmouth
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Harvard
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Princeton
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the University of Pennsylvania
The Ultimate Guide to Applying to Yale
How to Write the Common Application Essays 2018-2019 (With Examples)
How to Write the Brown University and PLME Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Columbia University Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Cornell University Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Dartmouth College Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Harvard University Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
Should You Send the Harvard Optional Supplement Essay?
How to Write the University of Pennsylvania Application Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Princeton University Supplemental Essays 2018-2019
How to Write the Yale University Application Essays 2018-2019
Now What?
Are you college applications signed, sealed, and delivered? Now you wait. For many students this is the hardest part of the process. Waiting and receiving college decisions can be stressful. Here are some CollegeVine tips to help along the way:
Important Next Steps After Receiving a College Acceptance Letter
Deferred From the Ivy League? Don’t Panic—Do This Instead.
How to Move Past College Rejection
How Do I Appeal My Admissions Decision?
Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!
