At what point is it worth it to apply to Ivies?

Answered

Hi, here are some tips.

First of all the average acceptance rate between all 8 Ivies is only 4.96% so if you have 17%-30% that's 3X-6X better than the going rate. And Harvard legacies have around a 30% acceptance rate so I think you should shoot your shot. (or someone said it boosts your CV chances by 30% so that would put you at 25%).

Using CollegeVine chancing data, my rule of thumb is that if you are under 15%, it's kind of a lottery ticket and I wouldn't bank on it whatsoever. I think 16-29% is a reach if you apply to 5-10 schools like that, you increase your probabilities because you have 10-20 different eyeballs reading your application, and 1 of those might resonate and connect with your narrative and essays and advocate for you for admission. At 30%+ to 49% you have a solid chance of getting so if you apply to 3 schools like that you should get into 1 of them. And personally, I wouldn't apply to schools that have CV chancing above 70% unless you form a strong personal connection with the school and really want to go there. I don't think it serves a purpose to apply to 5 safety schools, 1 or 2 should be perfectly fine.

In my case, I got into Columbia University ED 2 cycles ago. But if I didn't get in, I was ready to apply to schools with 70%-95% CV chancing because I liked the vibe. For me at the time, these were Trinity College (Hartford, CT), Mount Holyoke (MH, MA), Vassar College (NY), Colgate (NY), Hamilton (NY).

The main takeaway is that where you go to college as an undergraduate will really have little bearing on your future plans as an adult human. History is a great teacher and we should pay attention. While many powerful leaders, billionaires, and CEOs went to top boarding schools and Ivy colleges, the majority didn't. In America, you can go to Occidental College and still be President of the United States for 2 terms. And someone like Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College, which would not be on 99.9% of people's college lists these days.

What I'm saying is that if you want an excellent undergraduate education/experience/community you can easily find that in 100 non-Ivy schools. Academically, if you end up at UVA or Williams or CMU, the quality of teaching is not going to be subpar to an Ivy. In some cases, you may find that the teaching is better because you are being taught by full professors not TAs.

Each year only 15,000 enroll as first years at Ivys compared to the 3.85 Million High School Seniors that graduate so it's a drop in the bucket. It's not for everyone and everyone should not think that it's for them either.

I can only speak for the school I attend and will say that if you are not self-disciplined to love to do a ton of reading, expository writing, and using your voice in small classroom settings, it will be a miserable experience having to take 25% of your college credits as Core Curriculum classes. Prior to matriculating, I took a GAP year at Deerfield Academy where I took 6 college-level English classes, 2 History classes, and 2 religion classes just to prepare me better for the Core. So I think I had 11 English classes including AP Lit and Lang prior to my Freshman year. I'm a well-prepared Columbia student but I still find the assignments challenging and deadlines difficult to keep up with. I enrolled this first year with 38 credits (19 Fall 19 Spring) and keep perfect grades. But despite my solid preparation, I still find it hard to balance my social, work, and academic life on campus.

Too many students have Ivy aspirations but don't realize that getting in only the starting point of an Ivy career. Staying in the fight and graduating on time with commendations, awards, scholarships, internships, fellowships etc, it not an easy path to walk day after day for 4 years. There are many different type of students at Ivys, and for some it's a walk in the park because they are the sons or daughters of billionaires or partners at prestigious law firms or investment banks or run hospitals. For others, the Ivy League is a proving ground to build a foundation to move up to the next level of academia like Business, Law, or Medical school or getting a Ph.D. in a narrow subject area.

The conclusion is that everyone should pick the college that is the BEST fit for them and vice versa. Clout and prestige will not justify your college experience if you are struggling to fit in and survive academically.

Good luck in your final choice of schools to apply and hope you find the best fit for your undergraduate career.