Applying to Ivy League Schools from Uk

definetley

Is there anything you recommend I do to strengthen my application other than the SAT? I have a month or two before sending off the application so will be willing to grind if there’s anything I could do to maximise my chances.

It might be worth doing something to show how much you appreciate literature. This could come in the form of a blog or even placing well in competitions. It also might be worth starting a business or earning some sort of certificate in a particular skill. Your academic section is stunning, so you have the hard bit down. Best of luck!

Thank you for the prompt response and great advice, I’ve got a tutoring business that specialises in tutoring for GCSE and 11+ start up and that non profit technology organisation which has so far has had some local community impacts. In terms of literature, I got a subject commendation award in my school for English Literature but based off your advice I will probably try publish some work or set up an “English blog” at my school. In terms of specific certificates I’m currently completing the Harvard cs50x course for comp sci and so would continue with that. Would that be satisfactory as enhancements to my application? Thank you very much!

For full context: I was in the process of applying to the Ivy league + others a year ago, decided not to apply in the end but others in my school did managed to make it (although not many). This was a private school in central London.
I find your desire to apply to the US commendable, I'm sure that you will likely face many obstacles on this road so I wish you a lot of luck regardless.
Here is the standard information:
I would seek out as much information as possible.
Using reddit (r/applyingtocollege & r/collegeresults) will give you an idea of the profile people have and where they end up going.
Here is a Notion website written by someone from the UK who then went to an Ivy League:
https://getintousunis.notion.site/How-to-get-into-the-Ivy-League-other-Elite-American-Universities-as-an-International-Student-ca44149dfa9240ab9ce32d9cae0b2e67
The rest below here is simply my opinion:
Most applications have a general major or identity the applicant is going for (ie CS, Physicist, Medic). As a general rule, I would strongly, strongly advise you not to apply as a "CS person" at MIT or Stanford.
The competition is simply too great, even for the brightest ( from personal experience but also see r/collegeresults for lots of examples). This does not mean that you cannot study CS there, but you can make your application profile under something else (ie Physicist is specifically into Quantum Cryptography - technically can be CS but you are now passed off as a physics major). Anything Environmental or more humanities leaning is even better - I know this sounds like cheese but this is the state of affairs we are in when it comes to MIT/Stanford/CalTech.
ECs are always about impact, so to each of the things you mentioned it is important to ask yourself how much impact you've done in tangible numbers, this makes it easier to stand out (e.g A non-profit is not that uncommon for applications, it is a meme in the applicant community at this point).
With this current profile, I would highly recommend that you consider colleges like Yale, Duke, Brown, Cornell rather than just MIT, you have a better chance as these are less associated with STEM and are more likely to appreciate your application.
I would also suggest that you consider applying to some lesser known schools to hedge (unless UK is your backup).
Amherst college is my personal favourite, it is a top liberal arts college that is aid blind in admissions for internationals (IMPORTANT), it kind of like Oxbridge in it's academic feel & more of a close community than large Unis (MIT is huge).
Please do not interpret this as discouragement from applying to MIT (I had to deal with my fair share too).
I just believe that you should identify what you want out of this application process and put forth a full strategy to achieve it. (companies are making millions just creating strategies for kids to get in).
I'm happy to respond if you have any further questions, I've tried to be concise but this application process is quite overwhelming at first glance.
Good luck in all of your applications.

Thank you very much for the detailed and thorough response. I agree with your logic, it does make sense for me to apply as a humanities for a higher probability of getting in, though I do have an inquiry regarding this strategy. Let’s say, I get in Harvard as a humanities major,
Am I then, when I’m at university, able to pivot towards computer science/fin tech, or will my degree have to be based on the social sciences? In other words, can I change my degree major to CS/engineering instead?
I am happy majoring in CS and doing a minor in English Lit/history, though I am less inclined towards applying to an ivy and then being forced to major mostly in humanities as I do want a career in STEM.
Considering your advice, I’m looking to apply at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, possibly Caltech. In terms of which ones I think I will have greater chances of getting in, I lean towards Columbia and Harvard (though Harvard is extremely competitive, based on the “profiles”; I am strong in both Mathematics/Physics and English Literature (Columbia is more humanities based than e.g. MIT).
My backup is UK universities so I’m not considering applying to other US colleges, as I am only willing to study in the US for the highest ranked institutions (though I know Amherst is internationally respected and competent).
I would be grateful to know if the “applying as humanities” tactic would allow me to still do a major in CS as my main major. Thanks!

Thank you for the quick response. I will definitely see if I can win a competition or two (English Lit included). The institutions I have in mind is Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Caltech. I would be really happy at Columbia as I enjoy their liberal arts approach as well as their STEM course. In terms of creating something tangible with alumni, do you mean like helping out with a research paper? For the societies, I’m hoping to run a cryptography workshop, so I will definitely include that too. Thanks a lot for the advice, I will report back here with my results.

A research paper is a good example - getting it published in a reputable scientific journal is the impact.
The workshop idea is also good, to increase the impact of these sorts of things is to get as many people involved as possible (perhaps an online workshop for aspiring physicist across the country).
We just want as many big numbers and buzzwords/prestige as humanely possible.
(e.g Came first out of 1000 essays submitted to the Oxford Young Writers Prize - (I made this up but you get the idea))

MIT recruits around three from the UK every year. So far, most of them are national-level athletics. Even the top UK mathematician hasn't stood any chance in the past few years.

Ah okay thanks for clearing that up. In terms of the research paper, it is peer reviewed by the department head of my school and written with reference, and so with that I presented my argument for quantum cryptographic implementation at computing society, which led to others presenting afterwards based on weakness of RSA encryption etc, so I believe there is impact there. I’m gonna go with the workshop idea, and move it into an online space where I encourage aspiring computer scientists / physicists to explore the value of quantum mechanics in encryption schemes through a website or something. Now in terms of essay writing I don’t think it’s possible to do any competitions at this stage due to applications being due in Jan,
though I was wondering if publishing a dissertation style literary critique of a novel would suffice instead.
It’s difficult for me to think of anything of impact from doing that, though last year I did spend some time at creative writing club, where we mentored Year 7 and 8 students in story writing, and have also worked in a tutoring company (over 2 years) specialising in essay marking for 11+ students who later went on to go to grammar/private schools, which inspired me to make my own. In terms of the non profit, although it does sound cliche, we were able to help about 14 students in Hyderabad India get access to computers where they could learn how to code and help break out the cycle of poverty, with one of them currently now in university.
Do you think I’d have a good go at Columbia?

Yes there is a chance. But I would always emphasise to that colleges in the US are just a numbers game at this point. Even Americans with a similar profile to you may end up applying to 20+ colleges (of varying levels) just to ensure that they get in somewhere. There is no standard formula, and they can reject you for a million reasons. Nonetheless, you still have time to ensure that your essays and rec letters are as good as they can be.

For full context: I was in the process of applying to the Ivy league + others a year ago, decided not to apply in the end but others in my school did managed to make it (although not many). This was a private school in central London.
I find your desire to apply to the US commendable, I'm sure that you will likely face many obstacles on this road so I wish you a lot of luck regardless.
Here is the standard information:
I would seek out as much information as possible.
Using reddit (r/applyingtocollege & r/collegeresults) will give you an idea of the profile people have and where they end up going.
Here is a Notion website written by someone from the UK who then went to an Ivy League:
https://getintousunis.notion.site/How-to-get-into-the-Ivy-League-other-Elite-American-Universities-as-an-International-Student-ca44149dfa9240ab9ce32d9cae0b2e67
The rest below here is simply my opinion:
Most applications have a general major or identity the applicant is going for (ie CS, Physicist, Medic). As a general rule, I would strongly, strongly advise you not to apply as a "CS person" at MIT or Stanford.
The competition is simply too great, even for the brightest ( from personal experience but also see r/collegeresults for lots of examples). This does not mean that you cannot study CS there, but you can make your application profile under something else (ie Physicist is specifically into Quantum Cryptography - technically can be CS but you are now passed off as a physics major). Anything Environmental or more humanities leaning is even better - I know this sounds like cheese but this is the state of affairs we are in when it comes to MIT/Stanford/CalTech.
ECs are always about impact, so to each of the things you mentioned it is important to ask yourself how much impact you've done in tangible numbers, this makes it easier to stand out (e.g A non-profit is not that uncommon for applications, it is a meme in the applicant community at this point).
With this current profile, I would highly recommend that you consider colleges like Yale, Duke, Brown, Cornell rather than just MIT, you have a better chance as these are less associated with STEM and are more likely to appreciate your application.
I would also suggest that you consider applying to some lesser known schools to hedge (unless UK is your backup).
Amherst college is my personal favourite, it is a top liberal arts college that is aid blind in admissions for internationals (IMPORTANT), it kind of like Oxbridge in it's academic feel & more of a close community than large Unis (MIT is huge).
Please do not interpret this as discouragement from applying to MIT (I had to deal with my fair share too).
I just believe that you should identify what you want out of this application process and put forth a full strategy to achieve it. (companies are making millions just creating strategies for kids to get in).
I'm happy to respond if you have any further questions, I've tried to be concise but this application process is quite overwhelming at first glance.
Good luck in all of your applications.

I’m currently in year 13 and have the following grades:
All 9s in GCSEs, and predicted 3 A stars in Mathematics, Economics, and English Literature (highest mark in the school), with AS levels in German and Further Maths.
In terms of my ECs and other achievements, I’ve done DofE bronze and on the Gold rn, I got Gold in the UKMT senior maths challenge, played A team rugby for my school since year 7, won bronze in county swimming, work experiences for tech in Bank of America + JP Morgan, House Captain prefect + computer science prefect in my school, and did a research project (5k words) on security risks and applications of quantum cryptography solutions. In terms of volunteering, I mentored KS4 students in maths, and mentored kids in a programme for 11+ plus prep from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, took part in swimming charity events and helped cofound a non profit organisation.
My question is would I be a genuinely and realistically competitive candidate for ivy leagues in the US like MIT. I’m planning on doing my SAT soon.

Hi everyone,
I am from the UK, I attend a grammar school and am in year 10. Ive been thinking of applying to an Ivy League school, but I just don't believe I will have as strong an application as other people. I know I know, its really early for me to be thinking about this -for context, Americans im in 9th grade!!- but I feel that If I can get a good grip on what I need to add to my application. For example, when it comes to extra curriculars (as you guys were saying) and grades. As of now, I would like to qualify in Aeronautical engineering, because I LOVE space (and have done so since I was 6!) and engineering. I am very aware this degree is a very complicated one to do and to apply for - especially at Ivy League schools. So far, ive made myself an imaginary application that's still to be improved. Ill talk about the qualifications and extras since I havent sat my GCSE's or my A level yet. So, I have a certificate for participating in a Engineering summer school, where I won 2 of the competitions. It was at a top university in London called Imperial College London. I will be getting my DOFE bronze award, hoping to do my silver by the time im in year 12. I have a recently acquired bronze industrial cadets award.A bit of information, these are all STEM related awards. I was commended in the UK Biology challenge a couple of months ago as well. I love teaching others what I love, and learnt. My current grades in school for sciences and maths is all 95% and above and hopefully it continues like that!I love speaking, and leading school assemblies, or even taking the role as presenter or reader in class. I have a tutoring business where I tutor children for the UK 11+ exams and 13+ exams, already some good results -with hopefully many more successes to come. I used to do swimming at a club as an extracurricular as well as basketball. I also love dancing, and attend a dance school outside of educational school. It has been 2+ years now. I love reading and am thinking of writing a book. (Should I? Will it help my application?) That's it so far, I think ive summed it up. Please give me some pointers, and I am willing to to as much as I can to have at least a chance at Ivy League schools.
Thank you so much for reading all of this!!
I would reaalllly appreciate it If anyone could reply with advice
Good luck with your amazing applications!!