is my ivy league application strong

can you please reply if my app is strong for harvard, penn, stanford etc. or what unis would select me?

school: private - academic scholarship
ethnicity: indian

grades: so far A*A*A*A (econ, maths, further, physics) - a-levels

ACT Score: 33 (36 in STEM) - i will improve this in february to a 34 or 35 since i only failed the reading

sat subjects tests: planning to do maths II and physics (aiming for 800/800) - should i do more?

extracurriculars:
founder and chief editor of our school's economic magazine
intern at government / parliament for a week
planning to intern for the economist, santander and/or hsbc
oxfam volunteer for 10 months
gcse maths tutor
school investor club
gold in senior maths challenge // merit in BMO1
i give economics talks at my school (hopefully will become secretary by end of this year)
planning to write for the BOE/FT and NCH london economics essay competitions -> hopefully i'll win a prize
bronze dofe // ncs -> idrc about this tho

as you can see i am passionate for economics and maths - is there any other way to explore these interests?

i know it is a long shot but would i be competitive for the ivy league?

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

I think you should take a punt! But doesn't harvard have like a 1% acceptance rate. I heard UCLA is good too!

Here is a youtuber who seems to know alot about it
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeFijbdY7voIOnfRzWq4oSw

Reply 2

Anonymous #3

Your academoc record is strong.

Perhaps in your essay you could offer your perspective on solve a pressing moral issues on today's economical world?

Reply 3

hoixw

Your academic record is strong, and the subject tests definitely will help. I don't think a 33->34 will help, but a 33->35 will definitely make a lot of difference. There's a pretty common belief that a 35 is effectively a 36 among AOs.

ECs are decent too. I really like the government intern one personally. I know it's a bit late, but a rec letter from an MP or some high-level government staff adds a lot to an application. Aside from that, the ECs are pretty damn solid as well. Plans don't mean s**t unless you have an offer though.

In all honesty, it's going to depend on your essays - they need to be really good. Being Indian can be an issue due to affirmative action, and the quality of Indian applicants can be higher than other races, unfortunately for you. However, being an Indian from the UK is a bit different, as universities seek diversity in both race and citizenship so it might not harm you as much as you'd think.

Note: I speak from experience, I got into Yale REA.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by hoixw

Hi! Thank you so much for the reply!

Are you sure the ECs are solid cos lots of applicants are the secretaries of their clubs and whatnot. And what should I do to make my economics more 'useful' to 'society', i.e. like research projects of written papers idk? If I applied to Yale, would I get in and what's REA?

I also put my ethnicity on for that reason - they may have a but of a bias. But I am probably the best at Econ at my school in my year and it is extremely competitive (at least top 3 in the UK) because you have people coming in who have already finished certain A-levels. Because I am - let's say - very above average at a competitive school, would that make my application better.

And finally I am only redoing the ACT cos I got a 24 in reading - it was a bad day, but somehow I got 11 in writing so uhh.

Thank you so much if you reply!

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

Your academoc record is strong.

Perhaps in your essay you could offer your perspective on solve a pressing moral issues on today's economical world?

Thank you for replying!

Yes I will definitely state that, but it would imply that I should attempt to do that before coming to uni in the first place. How could I "impact" society with my economics (as thats my fav subject)?

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

Yh I'm trying for the general ivies but I'm really interested in: UPenn (wharton), u chicago and Stanford, while the harbard is just based on luck (like I don't mind if I get in or not)

Reply 7

hoixw

Original post by Anonymous

I like the research paper idea. Whether it's self-led or led by a mentor at your local uni, both will show significant drive to learn more about economics and its usefulness. There's a lot of essay competitions you can enter too - winning them is a nice little honor to put on your application.

When you apply to a US school, there's lots of ways you can apply. In the early rounds, you can apply three ways:
- You can apply ED (Early Decision). This means that if you get in and they give you enough aid, you have to go. You can only apply to one place ED, obviously.
- With ED, you can also apply EA to other schools. This is basically just applying earlier, there's no weird stuff to go along with it. There's not much advantage to EA, it's just getting your application in early I guess.
- REA, which stands for restrictive early action, is where you only apply to one school early. No ED/EA schools whatsoever. You also don't have any legal bind to attend there like you do with ED.

UK schools don't do class rankings (as far as I'm aware, your school may vary) but they'll be able to tell from your grades that you're smart anyway. If your school does rank, it'll be obvious it's a challenging school and they'll take that into consideration.

Reply 8

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous

You are trying to demonstrate your thinking process? Or mere plans? I am noy entirety sure. To be honest American unis are arbitrar. Read upna couple of accepted ivy essays and ssee if u can pick up a pattern. Try writing mutiple essays.