Yale/Harvard admission

[Milkaturtle]

Hello everyone!

I have a question about admission to Yale/Harvard/other Ivy League uni. Do these universities require that a student would have all 7 in his/her HL predicts? I understand that there are more chances that a person will be admiited to these colleges with all 7 in his predicts but can I apply if I have less than 7 in my HL predicts?

[unicornication]

You can apply no matter what. These schools don't require anything.

We were fortunate to have an Ivy League fair here in Hong Kong on Tuesday - I spoke to pretty much all of them, and the picture they painted with regard to grades, was: they don't have any specific requirements, but to have a realistic shot, you'd need at least 38-45, and academic ability on your IB is only 1/4 of what makes you even considerable.

Most Ivies look mainly at your HLs, so 6's, 7's would probably be preferred, but most of them are holistic - if you took HL Math, scored a 5, then scored perfect 800's throughout the SATs (math sections) - they might look over the 5, but they'd be wondering why you were lazy, or what caused that 5.

Finally, they want you to have taken the most rigourous courseload available to you. With regard to that, if you look at my signature, you might have noticed I'm aiming high too

[Arrowhead]

You don't need all 7 predictions. I got into Yale with a predicted 38, it didn't matter. So long as you have killer essays and recommendations, a 2200+ SAT score, and excellent overall grades throughout high school (Years 9-12), you have a genuine shot at getting in.

[Peanut Butter Jelly]

Also, don't be an Asian applicant from an overrepresented country like India or Canada.

[Forester]

You do not need all 7s. Coming from Lithuania, you do not have as much competition as other places such as Singapore or Hong Kong.

[Guest HayashiEsme]

You do not need all 7s. Coming from Lithuania, you do not have as much competition as other places such as Singapore or Hong Kong.

Yeah, and I'm extremely jealous of that!

And Arrowhead, do you know how much they take into account grades from previous years? I'm worried that the fact that I had things (personal issues) that really affected my performance in school for the last two years will hinder my chances of getting into the Ivy Leagues. (Edit: Just to add a little more info - there's a pretty obvious drop from my "normal" standard between the first assessment and the ones after when I started Year 9, but everything before was doing pretty great.)

Edited December 8, 2012 by HayashiEsme

[Arrowhead]

You do not need all 7s. Coming from Lithuania, you do not have as much competition as other places such as Singapore or Hong Kong.

Yeah, and I'm extremely jealous of that!

And Arrowhead, do you know how much they take into account grades from previous years? I'm worried that the fact that I had things (personal issues) that really affected my performance in school for the last two years will hinder my chances of getting into the Ivy Leagues. (Edit: Just to add a little more info - there's a pretty obvious drop from my "normal" standard between the first assessment and the ones after when I started Year 9, but everything before was doing pretty great.)

It doesn't matter as much if there's a rising trajectory. I had a dip in grades in the final semester of Year 9 and the first semester of Year 10 where my GPA(-equivalent) fell to a 3.0. But in the Year 10 Semester 2 and then throughout the IB I maintained a consistent, unweighted 4.0. That's what counts that you were able to recover from whatever went wrong.