Getting into an ivy league school?

Question

My story: I started out high school with a bad outlook on the effort I should put into achieving high grades, which has resulted in me receiving rather poor grades during my first two years of high school (about 3.6 avg gpa), until I realized how bad this was and actually tried my junior year easily getting straight As. I know no school will care about my story but I was wondering if the first two years will hinder my chances of getting into an ivy league school for undergrad.

My SAT scores have consistently been around 1560-1580/1600, will it give enough boost? Or, is it better to attend a decent school and get 4.0 for 4 years and then continue my education at an ivy league school for grad school?

Answer 1

First of all, congratulations on your newfound maturity! That will serve you well, wherever you go in the future.

Some people on this site are a little obsessed with Ivies. Yes, they are good schools, and some, in fact, are excellent, but there are other schools out there which are just as good in a lot of fields.

Having said that, there is some information we don't have. Are you taking AP or honors classes? If not, the most you could end up with would be a 3.8 by the time you graduate, and while that is certainly not terrible, when you are applying to places as competitive as the Ivy League schools, it puts you behind some of the other applicants. You aren't so far out of the loop that you shouldn't bother to apply, especially if your SATs are as high as you report, but it isn't a sure thing, so you do need to consider back-ups.

If I were looking at your record, I would want to know why things suddenly changed, especially since you will only have about a year of the improved grades by the time you apply. I would want to know that you have some good reason for a permanent attitude change, not just a temporary panic while you apply for college! You might work it into your essay somehow, without sounding like you are making excuses for yourself

Again, if your SAT scores are that high, and your higher grades continue, you can get into some pretty good places relatively easily Look at some of the more prestigious liberal arts schools at back-up. They tend to feed people into the Ivy grad schools, and will serve you well even without a graduate degree.

Answer 2

Unless you're valedictorian or salutatorian, I can assure you that Yale, Princeton, and Harvard are out of reach for you. You have to remember that these aren't just incredibly competitive schools, they're Ivy Leagues. I know several people who had higher marks and rankings than you, with tons of extra curriculars and other things, and were still rejected from Ivy Leagues. If I were you, I'd try for Cornell, though. You have a great shot at getting into somewhere like NYU, too. Just remember that because a school isn't an Ivy, doesn't mean its not equally valuable education-wise.

Answer 3

Yes, your poor performance will hinder you.

That does not mean you won't get in. It only means that compared to someone who maintained a high A average for 4 years straight, you are at a disadvantage.

Yes, no school will care that you were lazy for 2 years.

You have absolutely zero indication you're going to get a 4.0 in college. You have zero indication that you'll get into an Ivy League for grad school. If you think past performance in HS is any indication on how you'll do in a competitive college environment, you're living in a dream world. With that, best to apply to your Ivy Leagues now and if you get in, great. If not, do your best wherever you go and maybe in 4 years you'll be good enough to get in then.

Answer 4

Do you mean that your Math and Verbal SAT scores add up to close to 1600, and that we should infer that your Writing section is equally great?

You might consider applying to one or two Ivies and to some other decent schools. If the Ivies take you--great! If not, go to the other schools and do as you said: get 4.0 (3.9 isn't so bad either) and go to grad school. Besides, everyone says that school doesn't matter after the first job.