Has the bar risen?
I’ve been trying to figure out how competitive Ivy League admissions are these days, but it’s hard to find clear benchmarks beyond random stats online.
For context, I attend a state-supported boarding school for “highly gifted individuals” (though I’m not sure how much weight that holds). I’ve also completed two semesters of higher mathematics at TU Dresden while still in high school. My goal is to break into IB, PE, or VC, and I figure an Ivy League degree could be a big advantage (let me know if I’m off base here).
My questions:
What does a typical Ivy League student’s profile look like achievement-wise? Are there differences between e.g. Harvard and Upenn?
Has the admissions bar risen in the past couple of years?
What would I need to focus on to be a competitive applicant? (specific experiences, extracurriculars)
Are Ivy League schools the best path for breaking into IB, PE, or VC?
Any advice, insights, or experiences would be much appreciated!
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Alternatively, apply to Cambridge or Oxford and stay in Europe. It‘s a lot more about academics (school grades, maths competitions, books you read, demonstrated interest in the subject) vs extracurriculars (sports, music, charity, etc) which are key for ivy league admissions.
Great academics alone will generally not be enough for ivy admissions (even with strong essays), unless you get something like a medal at IMO / comparable competition.
Regarding your question on rankings, there is a ranking even within ivy league unis. My perception is that the most prestigious (and most selective) unis are Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale. It will be significantly easier to get into Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth vs Harvard.
Lastly, do consider the cost. Studying in the US is very expensive. So it may make more sense to study at a more affordable very good European uni unless you are either very rich or quite poor (in which case there is generous financial aid / scholarship)
If you can pay for it, attending any target schools in the US and starting your career in any major cities like NY or SF is a lot better than going to oxbridge and starting your career in london IMHO
Nah - I think the view across a lot of banking institutions (certainly mine! and even more so in PE is that we will hit peak US in about two years and the opportunity will be around the Europe catch up and Asia growth and in that circumstance, I’d build my career in London over NY
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