How to Get Into Ivy League as International Student: 3 Tips

getting into the IV league is already tough but as an international student it's even tougher I know this firsthand I'm actually from South Africa and I got into Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania so in this video I'm going to be giving you three powerful tips that can increase your chances of getting accepted into the IV league as an international student by the end of this video you'll know exactly how to stand up out from thousands of other applicants and maximize your chances of getting in so let's get [Music] started so before we jump into the tips let's quickly explain what the ivy league actually is because a lot of people misunderstand it the IB league isn't just a group of the best universities it actually started as an Athletic Conference so basically you can think of it as a sports league and it was a sports league for eight prestigious schools in the northeastern United States but over time these schools actually became famous for their academics and their powerful alumni networks and this is what led to people thinking about the ivy league as these prestigious institutions that are the gold standard for Education now there's actually eight IB League schools Harvard University Yale University Princeton University Columbia University University of Pennsylvania Dartmouth College Brown University and Cornell University so all these schools are actually located in the northeastern part of the United States now these schools are known for there are low acceptance rates strong financial aid packages and incredible opportunities I can attest to all of these because going to the ivy league definitely opens up a lot of career opportunities so many doors get open with an Ivy League degree and this attracts a lot of people to try and get into them but it is not easy so let's talk about how you can increase your chances as an international student so the first tip I want to give you is that your story matters more than your grades now a lot of people think that to get into the IV League you just need the perfect grades and a high SAT score but that's actually not true a lot of people with perfect SAT scores and perfect grades get rejected by IV leagues each and every single year having said that it is true that strong academics are important but not as important as your story this is because thousands of students have top grades but what the ivy league really wants is a student with a unique and Powerful story so for this tip the best ivy league applications actually tell a compelling story that makes the admission officer say we definitely need the student at our school so for example instead of just saying I got a 4.0 GPA and a perfect SAT score you'd want to say something along the lines of I launched a financial literacy program in my community to help students from lowincome backgrounds manage their money as you can see that story will set you apart it's much more powerful than just saying I have a 4.0 GPA and I have a perfect SAT score these institutions want people with powerful stories and a story such as launching a financial literacy program will definitely get the attention of an admissions officer so tip number one have a compelling story now for tip number two do one thing exceptionally well not everything a big mistake students actually make is trying to do everything so what they'll do is they'll join 10 different clubs they'll play three different sports they'll be volunteering and learning five different languages but this isn't what the ivy league is actually looking for the IV league isn't looking for students who are just average at everything instead what they want is they want students who are exceptional at one one thing this is basically called having a spike which is basically an area where you're so strong that you stand out now let's actually go through some examples of strong spikes that you could use in your application let's look at academics maybe you're ranked number one in a math competition in your country that is a spike right that is something that you can tell the admissions officers that hey look I am ranked number one in this math competition in my country that gives you a strong Spike but of course not everybody has this for academics so let's actually look at another Spike for leadership so for leadership maybe you started a successful nonprofit that helps thousands of people so that is a very powerful Spike if you as an individual have created an organization that's helping thousands of people that is impressive and admission officers are going to look at you very favorably now let's say you're not into academics or you don't have leadership let's actually look at another Spike that you could use maybe in research so maybe you have published a paper in a science journal at 16 years old that's another Spike so you publishing a paper in a journal it's a very very big thing so as a young individual if that's your thing if you like reading papers maybe publish a paper in a journal and that will be your Spike and there are more spikes let's look at one in entrepreneurship you know maybe you've built a startup or an app that people actually use that is a spike right because you're are showing institutions that you have this entrepreneurial bug and you are taking action so a lot of people want to be entrepreneurs but you're showing them that at a very young age you already becoming one and these ivy league institutions want individuals like that people who are going to be changing the world so coming back to my tip instead of spreading yourself too thin by focusing on many things you should just focus on one something that you're truly passionate about and you should become world class at that so whatever it may be if it's chess if it's building apps if it's entrepreneurship if it's social causes if it's content creation you need to focus on whatever is you very passionate about and then bring that to the table when you're applying to these schools now the third tip is a little bit more controversial but you should apply to multiple IV League schools so here's something that might surprise a lot of people just because you're rejected from one IV League school doesn't mean that another I League school won't accept you and basically what I mean by that is even if you get rejected by seven Ivy League schools there might be one Ivy League school that actually says you're the perfect candidate for them now this is because each Ivy League school has a different selection process and looks for different types of students so for example Harvard might reject you but upen might love your entrepreneurial experience another example could be like Princeton might say no but Brown University might think you're a perfect fit for their culture and their campus so the acceptance rates at these schools are so low that even incredible students get rejected that's why you should apply to multiple Ivy League schools so that you can maximize your chances of getting getting in again this is a numbers game even though you could be the perfect candidate there are so many students that are applying to these schools that you could be overlooked at one school so you want to make sure that you apply to multiple Ivy League schools so that you increase your chances of getting in so those are the three tips that I have for you now what I want to say is the ivy league isn't for everyone but if you have a unique and Powerful story you are exceptional in one area and you have the ability to apply to multiple schools then you should definitely apply to the ivy league as an international student I actually made a video on why you should be applying to the IV league as an international student and I'll be putting that video somewhere up here so definitely go and take a look at it so that you can understand why you should be applying to the IV League now having said that just remember it's not just about grades when it comes to the ivy league the ivy league is looking for students who will change the world so you're going to have to show them how you'll be doing that so I hope you found this video helpful and if you did definitely smash the like button subscribe and turn on notifications so that you don't miss any more tips that I have on this channel now I hope these tips have really helped you out and I hope that you'll be applying to the IV league as a result of watching this video now thank you so much for watching and I'll be seeing you in the next video