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Getting into one of the Ivy League schools is a dream for many. Who gets that coveted acceptance letter? Are perfect test scores, excellent grades, dozens of extracurriculars, and a stand-out essay all that one needs to get into these top US universities?
Ivy league schools are notoriously difficult to get into. The Class of 2026 acceptance numbers at all eight Ivies were some of the lowest in history. Harvard only accepted 3.19% of its 61,220 applicants; Princeton accepted roughly 4% of total applications and Penn only gave admissions to 4.40% of its applicants.
This year has also proven to be one of the most competitive in the history of the Ivy League as the incoming class of 2026 got a record 4,14,000 applications. The colleges received 311,948 applications for the class of 2023 and 400,750 applications for the class of 2025.
While there is no cookie-cutter approach to these admissions, here are my top tips:
Take a Holistic Approach with your Ivy League Application
Admission officers review thousands of student applications with high SAT scores, perfect GPAs, and countless AP courses. So, it does take more than a deep passion for an extracurricular to get into an Ivy League school. Take this opportunity to showcase your multidimensional strengths — leadership and networking skills, drive and passion by using your grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, any challenging classes or projects and essays to complement your present and future career goals. Make sure your courses, future field of study and extracurricular overlap somewhere or the other.
Look for your best-fit school and not vice-versa
Being a competitive applicant means you should spend your high school years challenging yourself both inside and outside the classroom. Some of the strongest applicants have taken full advantage of what is available to them in their own schools, and if not, they find outside learning opportunities such as local college courses, independent study to supplement their high school curriculum. I would advise you to seriously consider variables beyond college rankings.
Start your application early and succeed
While there’s no exact time to start your university applications, the strongest applicants typically start their applications early. While you’re not going to fill out your application in your first or second year of high school, you should consider what you’ll put in it.
Typically, a year before applying, you should start your research and think about which universities you’d like to attend. Once you narrow down your search to 5 to 10 schools, focus on how you can learn a lot more about a school – talk with other students, learn about the programs or tour the campus. This research process can get overwhelming and this is where college consultants can step in and help you strategize your journey. They can walk you through each step of the process, ensuring you build the best possible application and complete every piece of your application on time.
About nine months before applying, you should take the tests multiple times and assess your strengths and weaknesses. If your score is lower than your desired score, identify the areas you need to improve and take the test again in a few months.
Six months before you submit the application, start thinking about who you will ask for a letter of recommendation. Consider the teachers and mentors in your life who will be thoughtful and knowledgeable about your experiences and character traits and provide them with ample time to complete them.
During this time, you should also start writing the first drafts of your essay. Start the essay early before the school year gets even busier. You’ll be happy you did!
When you’re five months out, start with your supplemental essays in addition to the Common App essay. Also focus on retaking the SAT or ACT, about four months before you apply. Universities will look at your best score, so it doesn’t hurt to try again, especially if you practiced the areas you needed to improve and are more prepared.
Don’t wait until the last minute to submit your applications. Aim to have everything finalised and completed one month before they are due.
A 2019 state of college admission report said the students who applied in the early action and early decision rounds had higher acceptance rates than those who applied during the regular decision round. While no proof exists that applying in the early decision round will tremendously increase your chances of getting into an Ivy, showing interest in specific universities early on will definitely help you.
The benefit of applying early is that you’re telling the school you’re passionate enough about their school that you picked them first! Students who apply early tend to be more proactive and driven, two qualities colleges look for in applicants. If you’re accepted in the early action cycle, it is a non-binding acceptance – you do not have to accept or reject the offer immediately. But one key drawback of early action is that only a few institutions, including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Yale, offer early action.
Early decision, on the other hand, is a binding agreement between an institution and a student, so you should only apply to that school if you’re 100% sure you want to attend. If you’re accepted in the early decision round, you must commit to attending that school!
Ivy League universities want to feel special, and one of the only ways to make them feel special is to apply early. For their Class of 2025, Harvard received 10,086 applications and had an early acceptance rate of 7.19% while the regular round acceptance was only 2.6%. The same for Yale was 11% early acceptance for the 7939 early applications received and 3.4% for the regular round.
Showcase your passion and professional skills through internships
Remember, it’s ok if your extracurriculars change later. What’s important is that you can showcase that you’re capable of achieving impactful results now because what you accomplish now is a good indicator of what you will do in the future.
A great way of showcasing this passion can be high school Internships. These allow you to explore various career fields and areas of interest and help determine which career path you want to pursue in the future. They help you narrow down and develop your skills, showcase your enthusiasm in a specific field of interest and help you gain a competitive edge among your peers.
Learn more about the culture at these top universities
All eight Ivy League universities – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania – are some of the oldest in the US, making them historical landmarks for education. In 1936, the “Ivy Group” was concerned about the growing interest in college athletics. Thus, the Ivy League was born.
Today, it is more than an athletic league. Today, the Ivy league constitutes a group of universities known for their reputable education, status, exclusivity, and notoriously low acceptance rates. Since they offer a unique curriculum and a distinctive undergraduate experience, they tend to attract students with unique views, experiences, and perspectives.
Hence the student bodies are full of curious, intellectual, and free-spirited youngsters who are accomplished and passionate about their interests and celebrate each other’s interests. Ivy students don’t fit a mold. Instead, they prefer to follow their own paths and expand their perspectives.
(The writer is an International Educational Consultant at Crimson Education India and has spent over 16 years in the Education sector.)
