Throughout high school, young and ambitious teenagers strive to fill their resume with extracurriculars, community service and rigorous classes in hopes of impressing various prospective colleges. While numerous students aspire to attend notable Ivy Leagues, these high-achieving dreams come with high-achieving standards.
Ivy League colleges — which constitute Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Brown University, Columbia University and Dartmouth College — rank among the supreme prestigious institutions in the U.S. alone. These eight vessels of higher education pledge themselves to academic excellence and well-rounded students, with the ultimate goal of producing America’s brightest minds.
As thousands of young, determined students decide on one of these eight as their dream school, it begs the question of what these colleges look for in their applicants. Each university prioritizes different qualities, which students can find on their websites. For example, Harvard’s website states they do not only look at academic achievement, but also note applicants’ leadership skills, personal character and extracurricular activities. No cheat sheet exists to please every college admission board, but countless colleges look at similar aspects.
“So I’ve had the privilege of having a lot of exposure to colleges through college tours, college access programs and being able to speak with college admissions staff or current students and honestly the truth is that there is no one thing that they look for in an applicant, rather they focus on how every part of your application comes together to paint a picture of the kind of person you are. This is what colleges will call a ‘holistic’ approach to college admissions, essentially taking in all parts of your application before making a decision. So the way to get around this is by making parts of your application work together to form this person you are. In reality, grades and test scores are just one small part and a lot of people overemphasize them when they should be focusing their time on extracurriculars like clubs, community service, hobbies and sports that demonstrate leadership skills and your personal qualities,” magnet senior Riley Kennard said.
Foremost, colleges — especially Ivy Leagues — prioritize academics. This may manifest in the form of a certain Grade Point Average (GPA), SAT score or ACT score, with almost all eight Ivy Leagues presenting average applicant data of around 4.0, 1460-1560 and 32-36, respectively. But an impressive high school transcript only accounts for a piece of the admissions process.
Another piece of the puzzle lies in passion. Colleges desire to see that an applicant cherishes the university program as well as his or her area of study. While culminating accolades and experiences such as internships do not constitute the entire admissions criteria, these facets of devotion do present a student’s commitment. Familiarity with a certain discipline allows a student to stand out amongst hundreds of other applicants who also typically have high grades and testing scores.
Lastly, a core attribute that Ivy League colleges look for lies in responsibility. Universities look for applicants they can trust will contribute to the school in a meaningful way; students help shape the environment of the college campus, so admissions boards pursue prospective scholars that will improve their domain.
In sum, the emphasis on academics in applying to Ivy Leagues overestimates the comprehensive profile a student needs to shine in his or her college application. Ivy League schools, especially, remain rigorous academic programs with numerous applicants, so standing out among the rest remains crucial to achieving one’s academic dreams.
“There are two things in particular that will make you stand out: making a genuine positive impact on your community, which can be through community service or leadership, etc. For me, that was my outreach program that sought to provide underprivileged students in the Philippines with school supplies and resources to support their learning — which was super personal to me because my mom went to the same school that the supplies were going to and she never had the opportunity to complete high school because her family couldn’t afford to have her go. You also stand out by being able to demonstrate how you exemplify ‘interdisciplinary learning,’ which means showing how you have multiple academic or extracurricular interests that intersect with one another,” Kennard said.
