Public HS to target Ivy

See: collegeconfidential.com

I think getting into H/S/W is always a tossup. And I don't see anything incredibly far out or special here. I see the smartest and overachieving kid in high school. This kid clearly has a great future, but nothing screams Harvard or Princeton rather than Berkeley, U of T, or Carnegie-Mellon. H/Y/P/S/W certainly could be in the cards, but I'm not calling the odds better than 50%.

If you can get a 2250-2300 on the SATs, you can probably make the cut for the state engineering schools as well as CMU and Caltech. That needs to be on the list of contingencies. State school engineers- at least from the top twenty programs- eventually track asymptotically to ivy league grads anyways.

North African =/ black ;(

Not to be facetious, but if you can put down that you're of African decent( I believe anything more than 1/16 qualifies) and have the grades you do with some solid SAT scores( above 700 in CR and Math) you should be competitive at most of the Ivies. Being an underrepresented minority is huge at most places.

Just to manage your expectations, I would not put too much stake in getting into the schools you outlined based on your profile. Not that you have a bad profile by any means but those schools are the best of the best, and even then its a crap shoot. Those are straight A (as in never got a b, not weighted 4.0 - especially when you are talking public school), 2250+ SAT + tons of extra curricular schools. Frankly that isn't you.

I would focus on expanding your school search to other good institutions within the top 25. At any of those schools you will be well positioned for success. Even schools outside of the top 25 such as University of India with its investment banking work shop places has decent placement into finance jobs. Also, doesn't Ivy in Canada place really well?

Best of luck

If you really are "black" and you have a 3.9 and can get a decent SAT you're GOLDEN. If you're not classifiable as black you've still got a shot with those strong grades but SAT/essays have to be good.

North African is not "black." It's actually usually considered caucasian believe it or not. These are people like Egyptians, not Zaire. The whole thing is fucked up.

I mean, as I said above, on what planet is 3.9 at a public HS Harvard material. Harvard is 4.0 (unweighted ie never got a B period) as a minimum threshold then you need the 2250+ SAT, save the world extra curricular etc. Seems to me like people are totally underestimating how hard it is to get into Harvard.

I mean - I could totally be wrong of course but based on my HS experience this was pretty much the case. More room for error comes from prestigious private feeder schools or even top tier public schools. But I'd bet for the run of the mill public HS I'd be pretty much on point.

Another point to consider, does your HS regularly send graduates to Ivies? I went to an alternative high school in a college town in the Midwest, which would seem like a crapshoot for admission to top schools (no varsity sports, unless you played for a regular public school in your district, no AP classes, but option to take classes at local Uni) but plenty of grads went to Ivies, top state schools, selective private lib arts (most popular). If it's well known as a decent school by the admission departments that will definitely improve your chances. My HS was very well regarded by Brown, Cornell, Yale, and Harvard. Don't remember anyone going to Dartmouth, a couple people went to UPenn. Graduating classes were ~120 kids/year, usually 5 admitted to Cornell, another 5 to Brown, 2 to Yale, once had 2 early decisions to Harvard in the same year. Again, this was not a prep school but a crazy, hippy, alternative school in a super progressive college town (so probably some legacy cases for Ivy-educated faculty members).

All my classmates that went to Ivies had 3.9 to 4.0 GPA, a lot of them played varsity sports for other schools, and generally were eclectic individuals... perfect grades & volunteering is pretty common, so if you can find a way to make it seem more exceptionall i.e. bigger impact on community, more specialized work, awards/recognition etc. that could really help.

You will also need very strong personal recommendations. If you have a compelling life story that is also extremely beneficial. No one gives a shit about second generation college students. Play up the race card for sure, you might be able to get scholarships for that as well.

And you will have to take the SAT/ACT as far as I know...

Hope that helps.

I honestly say you have a good chance to get into an ivy , but not neccessarily the big three of Harvard , Yale and Princeton . Browns , Dartmouth or others are within reach . Target schools definitely like diverse students and Canadians fit the bill .

International admissions to ivies seem pretty tough - I'm an international student at one of HYP, and most of my international friends had basically perfect grades or topped their country academically. A lot also had significant prizes (international olympiads or world debating sort of things) or some other kind of major accomplishment in an extra-curricular. There are definitely exceptions, but I feel like admissions officers are less holistic with international applications because they don't always have an in-depth understanding of different countries' cultures and academic systems. Good luck though, and if you need help, feel free to message me.

Your SAT score will be critical. You'll need a very high score. If you're not coming from a top school where they know your coursework, they'll need to see you dominate all sections of the test. Start studying.