List Article

Written on 9th November, 2019, by Daniel C. (G12)

1. Harvard

One of the brilliant words that you ever heard. Getting into Harvard is like winning a prize in the lottery. With the most selective acceptance rate of less than 5%, many students get rejections from their dream schools. Harvard University is the oldest school in U.S established in 1636 by John Harvard. Most likely, their teaching, learning, experimenting, and researching skills are superior to any other university. The most easier way to get in without perfect academics is ‘recruited-athlete.’ It is definitely going to be hard since it is division 1 school and many people get accepted to Harvard as recruited-athletes are elite swimmers. According to their Harvard Crimson website, even though they do not meet the standard, if they have potential to express, then they are able to get recruited. In general, it is not only hard to manage just the academic but also it would be harder if people both study and play. Another good choice might be getting a noticeable prize from national or regional that is meaningful. Throughout an interview with the current Harvard student class of 2023, he actually got over 1500 but less than 1550. The one big ‘spike’ he had was ‘Cyclo’--the business project. He met with South Korea president, Moon, and discussed about their meaningful project. Harvard is hard, but getting an acceptance letter is harder.

2. Yale

One of the biggest environmental locations in Connecticut, Yale has been called as ‘knowledge.’ Personally, Yale does not look at extracurriculars that much since it is the most prestigious Ivy League school with strong academics. Yale just needs great academic-related extracurricular with perfect GPA and SAT scores. Yale University is also called as ‘Entering without breathing’ due to intense academics. Yale’s symbol represents the symbol of bulldog which indicates strong and powerful. Student in Yale always study like Harvard student and Yale need lots of potential in academic rather than athletic. Despite they are NCAA Division III, it is still hard to get accepted to Yale. Yale’s acceptance rate is approximately below 6 percent.

3. Stanford

Everyone’s first choice will be Stanford University. The acceptance rate for Stanford was below 5% for continuous 3 years. It means it requires a lot of things and extremely competitive. Stanford ranks top 2 on US ranking and it is greatly known as a great diversity university. To get accepted to Stanford University, either you have to spike on academics or athletics. Since Stanford has never missed NCAA I champion, it kept growing like bacteria. Many people at Stanford University are most likely American and they are willing to commit 4 years in California. Since Stanford University is one of the biggest dream college for everyone, people might have to balance study and sports really well. Without playing sports and getting medals/awards, it might be hard to get accepted at Stanford.

4. University of Chicago

One of the greatest schools in the not only in the US but also in the world. UChicago actually had roughly 5.9% in 2019. This school is not IVY league school but have to meet the requirement that goes beyond with IVY league. The logo ‘Crescat Scientia: Vita Excolatur” means “Let your knowledge grow”. This school requires lots of creative and critical thinking rather than straight answers. Throughout Common app supplementary question, it asks more of an opinion rather than a clear answer. University of Chicago is NCAA III and student-athlete can study and exercise with balance. They do not give any scholarship and usually girls who play sports have abundant advantages for recruited athletes.