I am studying in [edited] India. I am currently pursuing my UG in BA Programme with Economics and Political science . I want to pursue my PG in a top Ivy league school. I will complete my graduation in 2023 . My 10th grade is 96% and 12th grade is 95.8%.
I would like to know the academic requirements and extracurricular activities . I would like to know my chances in getting into these schools and I want guidance to enhance my chances
Here are the "courses" you can take as an undergraduate at an Ivy. Some schools call them "majors", others call them "concentrations". Some allow you to take 2 "majors" or "concentrations" concurrently. Others like Princeton do not.
https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate_concentrations
http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/majors-in-yale-college/
https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/fields-concentration
https://home.dartmouth.edu/education/undergraduate-experience/majors-and-minors
https://www.cornell.edu/academics/fields.cfm
https://www.college.columbia.edu/academics/programs
https://www.princeton.edu/academics/areas-of-study
https://admissions.upenn.edu/learning-at-penn/majors-minors
The admissions rates cited by the previous poster are incorrect. The most current rates are the following.
Harvard - 3.43%, Columbia - 3.66%, Princeton - 3.98%, Yale - 4.62%, Brown - 5.45%, UPenn - 5.68%, Dartmouth - 6.17%, and Cornell - 8.65% (5835/67500)
Let's start with the HS requirements for coursework. I'll use Harvard because they are the hardest school to get into. From Harvard's website "we recommend:
The study of English for four years: close and extensive reading of the classics of the world’s literature
Four years of a single foreign language (English would not count)
The study of history for at least two years, and preferably three years: American history, European history, and one additional advanced history course
The study of mathematics for four years
The study of science for four years: physics, chemistry, and biology, and preferably one of these at an advanced level
Frequent practice in the writing of expository prose
Therefore, this is the benchmark you want to have in your academic transcript. If you are missing a science or English course, then try to make it up during the Summer prior to the calendar year you are applying to.
https://college.harvard.edu/guides/preparing-college
Besides the minimum academic requirement, it would be fair to say that the top Ivys also look for evidence of intellectual curiosity or (vitality). This translates to your love of learning outside of the classroom that can be evidenced either through additional college coursework, independent research projects, internships, and other bodies of work that speak to your academic spike. This may or may not carry over into your extracurricular activities or your community service.
With regards to extracurricular activities, I always recommend that you undertake those which highlight your leadership capabilities. At school, this might be being the Student Body President, the Editor in Chief of the School Newspaper, the Team Captain of your Cricket or Tennis team. Joining a lot of clubs is not impressive. Neither is just being an officer in a club. What is impressive is doing something that has an impact that is transformative or has shown a track record of service. Outside of schools, Ivys also want to see examples of your leadership ability in the community you live in and how you use your "voice" to impact the lives of others. Some examples of this might be being a student representative for a community-based activist group that meets regularly to improve things like environmental impact, anti-racist legislation, feeding the poor, providing health information to those who do not have regular medical resources. You can join a functioning Board of Directors in the city you live in, for example, the public library, the community parks, and recreation services, or the city council. Or if you are entrepreneurial, you can start your own non-profit and serve your community in a variety of ways like providing technology to those who can't afford it or women's hygiene products to the underserved that can't pay for such necessities.
Your grades seem perfectly fine so I would only be more concerned with your course rigor and make sure you have taken enough challenging courses.
When you apply to US Colleges, you will have to sit and take either the IELTS or TOEFL exam to show you have some mastery of the English language. I'm not sure what the cut-offs are but I think it's like 7+ on the IELTS or 100 on the TOEFL.for the Ivys. I don't think Harvard requires it but makes it optional.
With regards to the SAT or ACT standardized test, although all Ivys make this requirement optional, what is true is that most successful admits submitted either an SAT or ACT score during the last admission cycle. I'm guessing that 25%-33% did not submit a test score but they had to have very impressive academic records and the rest of their file to get accepted without one.
As an International Student, if you are at all concerned with the ability to pay for your education and will need to apply for financial aid in order to matriculate, then you probably should not apply to Cornell or UPenn because their admissions policy is "need-aware" for Int'l students versus the other 6 Ivys being "need-blind". What "need-aware" means is that your ability (family) to pay is factored into the college's decision to admit you.
Also, keep in mind that most published budgets to attend US colleges are intended for US applicants so the totality of costs may not be enumerated. As an Int'l student, you have to include the cost of travel back and forth to your home country, the costs of getting the correct student VISAs and documentation to permit you to study abroad, any other funds that will require during various holidays, Winter/Spring breaks, summers, if you are not planning to travel back to your country. Most colleges are on a semester system so your room and board are only covered during the academic calendar year which might only be 32 weeks out of the 52 weeks of the year.
I would also recommend that you watch some of the excellent videos that CollegeVine has made about applying to Ivy League colleges. For example.
Hey there! Congrats on pursuing an ivy league education, that's a super big accomplishment along with your high school scores! In general, comitting to clubs or groups for extracurriculars, work experience, or volunteering can show your interest and seriousness about specific passions that you have. I would focus on quality over quantity with extracurriculars and really show your commitment to them to impress the universities. Here's some info I could gather from the Ivy Leagues. I use collegexpress.com to research universities.
Harvard: The selection rate is 4%, which is extremely selective, but it sounds like you have a very strong application. For admissions, Harvard considers character/personal qualities, extracurricular activities, first generation status, a strong application essay, your GPA, racial/ethnic status, recommendations, and your work/volunteer experience. I would suggest taking the SAT test if you haven't already because I think it would greatly increase your odds of getting into an Ivy League. If you're particularly good at STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) I would also recommend taking the ACT. The average weighted GPA (on a 4.0 scale) admitted is 4.18. I would suggest taking AP classes if you can.
Yale: The acceptance rate for Yale applicants is 6%, slightly better odds than Harvard but still very selective. In applications, extracurricular activities, character, application essay, GPA, class rank, recommendations, and standardized test scores are very important.
Princeton: The acceptance rate here is 5%.Extracurricular activities, character, essay, GPA, class rank, recommendations, and standardized test scores are very important.
The average GPA accepted is 3.91.
Columbia: The acceptance rate here is also 5%. Extracullicular activities, character, essay, GPA, class rank, recommendations, and standardized test scores are very important.
Brown: The acceptance rate is 7%. Character, essay, GPA, class rank, recommendations, talent, and standardized test scores are very important. Extracurricular activities are considered.
Dartmouth: The acceptance rate is 7%. Extracurricular activitiess, character, essay, GPA, class rank, recommendations, and standardized test scores are very important.
U of Pennsylvania: The acceptance rate is 7%. Character, essay, GPA, recommendations, and standardized test scores are very important. The average GPA is 3.9.
Cornell: The acceptance rate is 10%. Class rank is important, but extracurricular activitiess, character, esssay, GPA, recommendations, talent, and standardized test scores are very important.
This is all the information I could find! I would rrecommend speaking to admissions offices since you're an international student and finding out if there are suggestions or aaccommodationsthey may have for your application process. If you can take the SAT and ACT that would be ideal. I'm not sure how to calculate your GPA because every school does it differently but it sounds like you have at least a 4.0. Demonstrate your interests in the humanities through extracurricular activities, clubs, and groups. You can also input your GPA and personal stats using college vine and see the adjusted admissions rates based on this. Sorry for any typos; my keyboard is being wonky. I wish you the best luck! :)
To keep this community safe and supportive:
Hey @CalisthaRoseJoseph, I edited your post to remove the school you attend for your safety. If your username is similar to your real name I recommend changing it as well - try to avoid giving out lots of personal information online!