Academics: Students are encouraged to take challenging courses in high school, such as honors and AP courses. Strong grades in honors and AP courses are typically more impressive than perfect grades in regular classes.  SAT and ACT scores are also a major admissions factor at most colleges.  Some students take test preparation classes very aggressively, but in our experience, students who can focus well when studying by themselves can do equally well on standardized tests.  If your score is close to perfect, it is better to do something else to enrich your profile rather than chasing after a perfect score. For detailed information about preparing for the PSAT, SAT, SAT II, and AP tests, please visit our relevant pages. If you need personalized help, please feel free to call us at 888-494-0938 (toll free) or email us at info@ivytrack.org.

Extracurriculars: If a student would like to gain admission to Ivy League schools or other national top colleges, he or she has to be a well-rounded, high achiever or an exceptional leader in one or two related fields. Successful applicants typically possess a special activity or unusual characteristic that sets them apart from other applicants. Admissions officers look for quality over quantity. Join school clubs and other extracurricular activities that really interest you and where you are significantly involved.  Use such activities to demonstrate your achievements, your passion, and your creative nature.

Community Service: Community service shows your commitment, your passion, and your self-fulfillment through helping others. It is a very important part of your profile. There are many non-profit organizations; try to join one as a volunteer and get more people involved.

Creativity and Leadership: Study your school environment and found new clubs, teams, and organizations with your talent and creativity. Love politics? Join political election campaigns and recruit new members. Love biology? Do related research, create your own project, and invite other students to join. Love writing? Create a magazine or newspaper club and publish your work with other members. The possibilities are endless!

Recommendation Letters: Recommendation letters play a very important role in college applications. They contribute to 70% of rejections in the college application process.  Choose high school teachers who know you well and are willing to write a strong recommendation letter for you.  Talk to the teacher first and ask if he or she is willing to write a strong letter for you. Typically, colleges require two letters from your high school teachers and one from your school guidance counselor.

                                 Steps for Asking for a Recommendation Letter:

• Timing: Ask for a letter no later than September in your senior year.

• Approach: Talk to the teacher and ask if he or she can write a strong letter for you.  Don't be afraid to directly ask "Can you write me a strong recommendation letter?"

• Action: Make an appointment with the teacher who will write your letter, and bring your resume and transcript for his or her reference.

• Waiver: Waive your right to see the letter.  This gives the letter more weight.

• Format: Generally, the letter should be typed and printed on the school letterhead.

• Follow-Up: Verify that the letter reached its destination two weeks before the deadline.

• Thank-You Note: Send a thank-you note to each person who wrote a letter for you.

Writing the College Application Essay:

There is no magic topic for college application essays, but the topic you choose should present your personality, passion, and commitment. To choose a topic, you should start by thinking about how you spent your free time, what is most important to you, what has impacted you the most, and turning points in your life.  Remember, the college application essay is designed for the admissions officer to get to know you better.  Write a personal essay.

In your essays, your tone must be positive and mature. If you write an essay full of complaints, or sound sarcastic, lazy, or spoiled, you might be rejected. We know a student who had a high school GPA of 99 out of 100 (unweighted), an SAT score of 2300+, and who was very actively involved in extracurricular activities and community service.  But this student mistakenly filled the application essays with complaints and a negative tone.  This student was rejected by all the top colleges that she applied to.  Rather than complaining about a bad environment, write about how you tried to improve it and take advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves.  Also, a little well-placed humor is ok, but don't be a clown.  Most importantly, your essay should emphasize on showing, not telling about, yourself to the admissions officer.

Start early, because showing yourself is not an easy task. It requires a lot of practice and work. Write-Read-Edit-Consult-Rewrite.  You need to repeat this process many times until you have written an excellent essay. You can– and should– ask for other people's opinions on how to improve your essay, but you should not ask someone else to write the essay for you or buy one from Internet.  That essay will not sound like you.

Ask others to review your drafts and offer comments and suggestions. Take their comments and suggestions seriously, from the point of view of a reader.

If you would like to have a better chance of getting into the Ivy League or other top universities, your essays should indicate that you are a creative and strong leader.  They should show that you are an unique person. If you need help in choosing your essay topic or in writing a strong and compelling essay, please call us at 888-494-0938 (toll free) or email us at info@ivytrack.org

College Interview: Most colleges require an interview after your application has been received. Usually, the interview is conducted by a local alumni. College interviews play an important role in the application process, so it is better to practice before the actual interview. Before, during, and after the interview, pay attention to your words and your demeanor. During the interview, smile, stay positive, and most importantly, talk, don't recite. For detailed information about college interviews, please visit our College Interview web page.  If you need personalized training for college interviews, please feel free to call us at 888-494-0938 (toll free) or email us at: info@ivytrack.org

Clean Up: College admissions officers may check your profiles on social networking sites such as FaceBook, YouTube, and MySpace. Please clean up any negative comments written by you or about you and make sure that there is nothing in your profile that could cause the admissions officers to reject your application.

Ivy League College Information

          Harvard University is a private institution that was founded in 1636 and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1650 students. It was ranked #1 in the 2011 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $38,416.

Harvard offers regular admission and requires applicants to submit the results of either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing . All applicants must also submit the results of two SAT II Subject Tests. A third SAT II Subject Test is recommended. Harvard does not offer Early Action or Early Decision.

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138

Phone: (617) 495-1551

Admissions E-mail: college@fas.harvard.edu

Website: http://www.college.harvard.edu

      Yale University is a private institution that was founded in 1701 and is located in New Haven, Connecticut. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1300 students.  It was ranked #3 in the 2011 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $38,300.

Yale offers Single Choice Early Action to freshman applicants. All applicants are required submit the results of either the SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT II Subject Tests or the ACT with Writing, but some Yale departments may use the SAT and/or SAT II Subject Tests for course placement.

Yale University

 New Haven, CT 06520

Phone: (203) 432-9316

Admissions E-mail: student.questions@yale.edu

Web site: http://www.yale.edu/

      Princeton University is a private institution that was founded in 1746 and is located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1100 students. It was ranked #2 in the 2011 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $36,640.

Princeton offers regular admission. All applicants must submit the results of the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing, In addition, all applicants must submit the results of two SAT II Subject Tests.

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ 08544

Phone: (609) 258-3060

Admissions E-mail: uaoffice@princeton.edu

Web site: http://www.princeton.edu

Columbia University is a private institution that that was founded in 1754 and is located in New York, New York. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1850 students. It was ranked #8 in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $39,326.

Columbia University offers Early Decision. In addition to submitting the results of either the SAT Reasoning test or the ACT, you must also submit the scores of two SAT II Subject Tests. For Columbia College, you may take any two subject tests; for Columbia Engineering, you must take any level mathematics test (Level 1 or Level 2) and either the Physics or Chemistry test. Applicants must submit all SAT II Subject Test scores from all test dates.

Columbia University

NY, NY 10027

Phone: (212) 854-2522

Admissions E-mail: ugradask@columbia.edu

Web site: http://www.columbia.edu

Brown University is a private institution that that was founded in 1764 and is located in Providence, Rhode Island. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1450 students. It was ranked #16 in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $38,848.

Brown University offers Early Decision. All applicants are required to submit the SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT II Subject Tests or the ACT with Writing.  If you submit the SAT and the ACT, Brown University will consider both tests.

Brown University

Providence, RI 02912

Phone: (401) 863-2378

Admissions E-mail: admission_undergraduate@brown.edu

Web site: http://www.brown.edu

The University of Pennsylvania is a private institution that was founded in 1740 and is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 2500 students. It was ranked #4 in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $38,970.

The University of Pennsylvania offers Early Decision. Freshman applicants must submit the results of the SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT II Subject Tests or the ACT with Writing.

The University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA 19104

Phone: (215) 898-7507

Admissions E-mail: info@admissions.ugao.upenn.edu 

Web site: http://www.upenn.edu

Cornell University is a private institution that was founded in 1865 and is located in Ithaca, New York. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 3300 students. It was ranked #15 in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $37,954.

Cornell University offers Early Decision. Applicants are required to submit the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing scores.  Two SAT II Subject Tests are recommended. Cornell does not does not participate in the College Board’s Score Choice.

Cornell University  

 Ithaca, New York, 14853

Phone: (607) 255-5241

Admissions E-mail: admissions@cornell.edu 

Web site: http://www.cornell.edu

Dartmouth College is a private institution that was founded in 1769 and is located in Hanover, New Hampshire. It has a freshman enrollment of approximately 1000 students.  It was ranked #11 in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges published by the US News. 2010-2011 Tuition and Fees: $38,679.

Dartmouth College offers Early Decision. All applicants must submit the results from the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing.  Applicants must also submit two SAT II Subject Test scores.

Dartmouth College

Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755

Phone: (603) 646-2875

Admissions E-mail: admissions.office@columbia.edu  

Web site: http://www.dartmouth.edu