50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays|Paperback (2024)

FAQs

Can you get into an Ivy League with just a good essay? ›

Personal Essays

The personal essay is just that - personal. A well-written essay can capture the authenticity of an applicant better than any other part of the Ivy League college application.

Because the Ivies are some of the most competitive schools in the country, your essays are crucial for you to showcase aspects of yourself that might not be apparent from other parts of your application.

Write only one essay (plus any supplements).

You'll submit one essay through the Common Application for all your schools. Some colleges may ask you to also answer a few supplemental questions.

Your Essay:

The sooner you start brainstorming and writing your college essays, the better. All of the things we've talked about above won't increase your chances of getting into an Ivy if your essay is terrible. You simply won't get in.

A weighted GPA between 3.9 and 4.0 should put you in good standing at most Ivy League schools, as long as you've taken the most challenging curriculum available to you.

Harvard admissions officers are looking for well-written, authentic, and unique essays that reveal who the student is, what matters to them, and what makes them stand out. Successful essays can take many forms, from personal narratives to academic essays to creative writing.

But, broadly, we observe that the most selective colleges ask for students to demonstrate passion, leadership, initiative, intellectual vitality, and memorability. Remember that admissions committees evaluate these essays as part of a holistic narrative of a candidate—a successful essay doesn't guarantee admission.

Writing. The first section is the personal essay. Harvard requires the submission of the personal essay with your application. We also offer an opportunity to add an additional information.

Cornell is considered the "easiest" Ivy League to get into because it has the highest Ivy League acceptance rate. While it's easier, statistically speaking, to get into Cornell, it's still challenging. It's also important to remember that students apply directly to one of Cornell's eight undergraduate colleges.

The Common App essay word count range is 250-650 words. But just how long should your statement be? Admissions Blog advises aiming for around 500 words.

What is the Common Application essay option 6 losing track of time? ›

The Common Application prompt #6 reads: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Yes, every college essay is read if the college has asked for it (and often even if they did not ask for it). The number of readers depends on the college's review process.

Overall, selective colleges value a rigorous course load over perfect grades. An Ivy League school might accept a student who had all As and one or two Bs in the highest-level classes, but it probably wouldn't accept a student who had flawless grades in all mid- or low-level classes.

Weak essays get skimmed. If a student's essay isn't great OR good, the admission officer will probably just skim past the essay and move right on to your transcript and your test scores to evaluate your candidacy for admission. Bad essays don't get read. Period.

While receiving a “C” will impact your GPA, it will certainly not ruin it. That “C” won't ruin your chances of getting into college either.

Average GPA: 4.18

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. With a GPA of 4.18, Harvard requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants.

However, for college applicants, the average GPA is more likely between 3.5 and 4.0. If you're aiming for a top university such as one in the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, or others of the same caliber, a 4.0 GPA — or close to it — is expected.

No, the truth is you don't necessarily require straight A's to get into Harvard. Harvard prefers all rounded students, who exhibit passion, hard-work, extraordinary achievements or potential for success.

For every 100 applicants, only 5 are admitted. This means the school is extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation.

Be cautious of overloading your schedule: Harvard would rather see a high GPA with 4 AP courses each year than a low GPA and a daunting 8 AP courses. Consider your AP, honors, and regular options carefully each semester based upon your own self-knowledge, schedule flexibility, and course offerings.

Does Cornell care about essays? ›

You will be required to write one or two supplemental essays depending on your chosen college. 3. How important are college essays? Your Cornell essays are an integral part of your application that can have a significant impact on the admissions committee's decision.

General Tips. Harvard College has three supplemental essay prompts, two limited to 150 words and one of unspecified length. The only required essay among these is one of the two short-response essays, but we strongly advise that all applicants attempt each of the three essays.

In particular, the essays help Stanford admissions officers answer the overarching question: Who do we want to be part of this community of learning? This article will discuss how the admissions committee attempts to answer this and how this affects what Stanford looks for in your supplemental essays.

Campus happiness: Brown is widely known as the happiest Ivy, perhaps because of students' freedom to choose courses with almost complete autonomy. Students report feeling less competition amongst themselves and an overall sense of campus community.

Harvard University

The most challenging Ivy League school to get into is Harvard, established in 1636 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to Harvard Admissions, only 2,008 out of 43,330 candidates were accepted to the college.

And maybe, you can get into a top tier college with a low GPA. We've always stated that the lowest GPA student we've ever helped get into an Ivy League school had a 3.3 unweighted GPA. And we're not saying that we could get anyone in with a 3.3 GPA. But it has happened before – and the student was Asian American too.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay. You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely.

If your institution doesn't provide a specific word count, it's best to keep your essay between the length established by the longer college admissions essay format: 250 to 650 words. Word count is just one factor to consider as you craft your college admissions essay.

What are the 7 Common App essay prompts? ›

The Common App essay requires you write between 250 and 650 words. Hitting the maximum is great, but make sure not to settle at the minimum. For all college admission essays, it's best to come as close to the maximum as you can, as long as you're not filling space with meaningless sentences.

For the Common App, also try to stay within 550-650 words, even though the given range is 250-650. Any shorter than 500 words will simply look like you didn't care enough, and it won't be long enough to truly share who you are and what matters to you.

Overstimulation of the brain: With so much information and stimuli constantly vying for our attention, our brains can become overwhelmed, causing us to lose track of time. Lack of structure: Without a clear schedule or set of tasks to follow, it can be difficult to keep track of the passage of time.

Admissions officers look at “hard factors” (GPA, grades, and test scores) and “soft factors” (essays, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and demonstrated interest) to gain a full picture of applicants.

Many schools make sure most applications receive at least two full reads before going to committee. The second reader will add additional input and notes to the applicant's file. The second reader often agrees with the comments and recommendations of the first reader but sometimes they will disagree.

You can allow your counselor to see a PDF preview of your in-progress application. Under their name, you can click on the 'Enable Preview' button to grant them preview access. Please note that a Counselor cannot edit or change your application in any way; they may only see the answers you have provided.

There are students out there who have been accepted to Ivy League schools with a few Cs, but they are very rare. Most of them will be legacies or athletic recruits (and even then it's an unusual situation).

1 B on your HS senior mid-year report will not affect your admissions results.

Since all Ivys use a holistic approach to admitting students, it's entirely possible that someone with a good reason could get admitted with a C or multiple Cs.

What words should not be used in an essay? ›

So, colleges will never directly ask if you've had any sort of mental health issue or if you've ever had a disability. Based on this reason alone, you are not required to disclose mental or physical health concerns on your application. Disclosing your mental or physical health is strictly a matter of personal choice.

Yes, admissions officers do actually read essays, but they might have already screened candidates first in a preliminary round. Every admissions office has a different process and it's impossible to sum up the exact step-by-step process for each admission office in one blog post.

While there is some anecdotal evidence that overqualified students get rejected, these students aren't usually turned down because of their better-than-average grades or test scores. Most likely, the overqualified student isn't the right fit for a school or they haven't shown enough interest to admission officers.

Failure to meet high GPA or test score standards. Insufficient academic rigor. Lack of demonstrated interest. Application essay errors.

If you are a “borderline” candidate, with good but less-competitive grades and test scores, a strong essay could push you into the admitted pool. However, your essay is unlikely to compensate for grades and test scores that are too far below average, since academics are the primary basis of evaluation.

A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.

The short answer here is: No, an essay won't get you into college on its own. Your acceptance at most universities is dictated primarily by your GPA, course-load (how hard your classes are) and, to varying degrees, your test scores, recommendations, and extracurriculars.

Yes, you can get into an Ivy League college without straight As. Not all Ivy League students had straight As during high school. It's more important to show that you took advanced courses and a strong course load in high school than to get straight As.

What do colleges not want in an essay? ›

College essay topics to avoid also include anything that's highly personal or a delicate subject. For example, avoid doing an essay that provides too much detail on an illness, disability, or injury, especially a severe one.

A good essay will help you look good to admission officers. However, a good response to an option question doesn't mean guaranteed acceptance. If you have a competitive academic profile, well-written essays can make or break your acceptance into college. All you have to do is your best and hope for the best.

You don't have to ask why do college essays matter. They are clearly just as important as the leadership roles and activities outside of academics you participate in, but even more important than your GPA and test scores.

Avoid swearing in a college essay, since admissions officers' opinions of profanity will vary. In some cases, it might be okay to use a vulgar word, such as in dialogue or quotes that make an important point in your essay. However, it's safest to try to make the same point without swearing.

Colleges look for three things in your admission essay: a unique perspective, strong writing, and an authentic voice. People in admissions often say that a great essay is one where it feels like the student is right there in the room, talking authentically to the admissions committee!

SAT, ACT, and other tests will never become more important than an admission essay. It's the only assignment helping the admissions committee assess each applicant's personality. Fortunately, you don't need to have exceptional writing skills to get the acceptance letter.

For example, at Yale a whopping 96% of students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. If you have a few B's and are still at the top of your class, you remain in a strong position!

Realize that you don't need straight "A" grades to get into the Ivy League, but every "B" on your transcript is lessening your chance of admission. Most successful Ivy League applicants have unweighted GPAs that are up in the 3.7 range or higher (3.9 or 4.0 is more common).