I know it's hard to get into Harvard, Yale, etc (those are my dream schools). But, I was wondering if there were specific 'better' clubs to join that will look good to them on a college transcript? That'd be wonderful if you could name/list a few. :]
212501
Student government positions tend to be a little more impressive than chess club, athletics, etc.  Basically though, any extra-curricular activity that you are involved with that shows initiative, leadership, creativity will score you huge bonus points.  Spearhead some community service project.  Admissions boards eat b.s. like that up!
468622
Not only are homeschooled students as capable of getting into an Ivy League school as a public schooled student, they are perhaps more apt to get into a Ivy League School as opposed to public school student. \n         A friend of mine who is a college recruiter and admissions coordinator put it this way. "If I had the opportunity to enroll a student who has been homeschooled v. a public school student, I take the homeschooled student." "Why" I exclaimed "Because a homeschooled student reads 2-3 grade levels above his/her chronological age; they have read the harder materialsthat a private university is going to DEMAND. Most have one if not two foreign languages under their belt, they have been active in their community, and they have their head scewed on straight with a great support system @ home - it's a slam dunk win-win situation for school and student." was his reply.\n    Having tutored home school students for many years and seeing some of them going onto Ivy League or near Ivy League universities and lead their classes, I can say without reservation that homeschoolers excell in the environment of the Ivy League university in a way that a public school student are not encouraged to by the public school system.
487192
Well, speaking from my experience, you can get into college with crap math grades.  For instance when I was in 9th and 10th, I screwed around all the time and even though I was able to do well I basically did nothing but skip and sleep, my gpa in 9th was2.1 and 1.8 in 10th.  Then I decided to try to show up more and do some work and got decent gpa's the next two years, a 3.8 and 4.0.  Then I took my ACT's and maxed those and even though I didn't have any extra curriculars I was accepted at alot of decent schools. UCLA, Michigan, Princeton, NYU, to name a few.  Alot depends on what kind of school you are looking for, also.  Be optimistic, but realistic.  Keep up the good work and you will be rewarded.
375537
Demonstrate your passion for something.  Show your dedication to an interest:  this is much more important than joining a bunch of random clubs to pad your resume.  And which qualifications matter the most really depend on the school you're applying to.  Some love their essays, others look more closely at different things.\n\nAnd relax.  Don't forget to enjoy yourself too, because it is actually possible to do well and have fun.
665036
I think all of the years are important.  As a freshman, you should really start distinguishing yourself as an excellent student and candidate for one of these schools.  Think about what you are interested in.  If you go to an interview at Harvard and say, "I want to go to Harvard because of it's Harvard," you will probably not get in.  Start early.  It can't hurt.
539282
Dear luka85,\nasking  this question means nothing.  If we say "yes" and you don't get in, does that mean that we have mislead you? What we say will be only an opinion. Only Harvard can truly give you the answer.\nThe only way to find out is to APPLY to Harvard
573037
I think GWB went to Yale. He is, after all, a Connecticut yankee. Yale is a good school, though, unless you can get into Harvard (Just playing off a rivalry, here)
481010
There's some interesting answers here. I'm a current student at Harvard, so I'll try to elaborate.\n\n1) What about everything else? Scores don't get people into Harvard. Promise, talent, and passions do. I know people with rather low scores that got in because they are the best in what they do, and people with perfect scores that didn't because they had nothing else that was interesting about them.\n\n2) GPA. What's it out of? If it's out of 4.0, is it possible at your high school to get higher than a 4.0 through Honors or AP classes? If it's an unweighted 3.9 / 4.0 (all As = 4.0), then that's a great GPA. If it's a weighted 3.9 / 4.0 (AP and Honors As = 5.0), then it's decent. If it's out of 5.0, I'm not so sure about Harvard...\n\n3) SAT. What's it out of? 2400? 1600? If it's out of 1600, that's great score, well within the average range at Harvard. If it's out of 2400, I'm sorry...unless you have some spectacular extracurricular accomplishments, it will be extremely difficult to get in. \n\nGood luck, and feel free to update the question so I can provide you with a better response.
365742
It seems as though you are an excellent, all around student and individual and would have a good shot of getting into any of these schools.  Therefore, what is the best school for you?  \n\nThere are a many questions that you'll need to ask yourself:\n1.  What subject do you want to major in when in college?  Are there a few? - Make sure that any university that you attend has all of the different majors that you are interested in.  That way, if you try one out and find out that you do not like it, you have the other options.  Also, is the major a good program at the schools that you want to attend?\n\n2.  Do you want a big or small university?  Many times small university are look down upon because they may not have the name of a Harvard or Yale.  However, big and small university are great.  The biggest question is... do you want and/or need attention from your professors?  Bigger university professors may not be able to give students individual attention that so many students need.  Smaller universities are able to give a lot of personal attention, allowing students to contact professors any time with questions and/or advice.\n\n3.  Location, location, location!  Will you like the location that the university is in?  City versus College town?  Weather... do you want warm weather where it never snows or are you okay at a university that it snows much of winter?  \n\n4.  Does the school have the extracurricular activities that you are interested in?  Academics is not all that you are at a university for... college is all about the experience as well.  Will you have the opportunity to get involved and are the activities that you want to participate in available on the campus?\n\n5.  Do you like the campus and university?  This you'll never know until you walk onto that particular campus.  If you can, try to visit any school that you are really interested in.  College admissions representatives are paid to tell you have great the university will be.  In addition, all of the papers and viewbooks that you get from the universities will show nothing but pretty pictures.  However, you'll never know if it is the right place for you until you step on the campus.  You'll probably know within the first 5 minutes of being on the campus if you'll like it or not!  All colleges and universities do campus tours - just call the admissions office and they'll set it up for you.\n\nGood luck!
450527
Most of these are top-tier schools (check out http://www.PrincetonReview.com and see the Admission Selectivity rating, free registration is required).  Among them, Tufts, Boston U, Washington U in St. Louis, and UMaryland are somewhat easier to get into than Northwestern, UChicago, Stanford (which is the most difficult of all of them).\n\nGenerally speaking, both groups pull a majority of their students from the top 10% of any class, the more difficult ones look for more extracurriculars and somewhat higher test scores.  Of course, this isn't an absolute cutoff line and you still have a very good shot at getting in even if you're not in the top 10% (although you need to be close) as long as you have a great essay, great test scores, a good GPA (still), and meaningful extracurriculars.  Your parents could also get a building named at the school (and thus guarantee you admission) but that's rather expensive.\n\nAlso, if you choose to major in a less popular field at a particular college (say computer science at UChicago) , you will slightly increase your chances of acceptance since that department will want to ensure it has enough students enrolled for the following year.  \n\nMake sure you get an interview if this is a realistic possibility; it shows you care about the school and gives them a chance to gauge your personality and address any concerns they may have about you as a person or student.
500477
Hi, I'm a student at Harvard, so DEFINITELY HARVARD!\n\nBut really, they're both great schools, which will support your studies in any field. I believe that Harvard and Yale are pretty comparable in the humanities and liberal arts, especially at the undergraduate level. Other aspects, such as the previously mentioned law school, won't affect you at all as an undergrad, unless you decide to take advantage of the other resources in the area. For this reason, you might choose Harvard, because Boston is a much more developed city, with a great number of resources.\n\nI chose Harvard over Yale despite a research stipend offer from Yale because Yale is located in New Haven, known to be a rather unsafe location once you're a few blocks away from the campus. Cambridge, on the other hand, is rather safe (and has places to go to.)\n\nAlso, if you are truly interested in the humanities and liberal arts, you would want to apply to a liberal arts college, and not a research university like Harvard and Yale.\n\nSide note: the Harvard-Yale football game is November 18. Maybe you can base your decision on whoever wins! (I'll be there.)\n\nAnd one more thing....if your family qualifies for financial aid, I believe both schools will give you a decent amount. Harvard fully subsidizes families with income below $60k, and nearly covers everything for families with income below $80k.
170918
Like anything else, high school will be what you make of it. Do your best academically and don't sweat it - either way, it'll be over in four years. Also, joining clubs is a good way to make friends AND get college app brownie points.
130593
I thought it was great. I went to a large university, and most freshman-level classes were large lectures. My honors courses were very small and intimate, and I saw the same students in several, so we became friends. We also had a special honors residence hall, so it was easy to make friends with like-minded students. Lastly, I got to put it on my resume, which certainly helped after university was done.
392662
In my opinion, the best way to get into a big name school/ivy is to convince the admissions staff that your interests/professional needs fit perfectly with their programs. They want to see kids that know what they want to do and will utilize their resources immediately (and then become super sucessful and make big time money). You need to convince Yale that their grad program is the only one for you. Research Yale's classes, professors, programs, etc. In addition to getting great grades adn doing all the things you listed, focus your undergrad studies and extracurriculars on a field that will set you up perfectly for a program that you are interested in and that is uniquely Yale.  \n\nThis process worked for both me and a close friend of mine. I will be attending Cornell next semester. My friend is enrolled at Columbia as a grad student.\n\nGood luck.
75173
All those things are important: grades, standing, SAT scores, extracurricular activities. But there are a lot of students who do outstanding in all those areas and are not accepted to Ivy League schools. I've been told by someone who reviews applications at a well-known Ivy that what they look for is something really unique in addition to those qualificaitons -- They look for students who are passionate about something.
277700
My senior year. I had the most fun because I joined a few clubs and was more active in chorus. I was in a trio that won first in state and a triple trio that won second in state. I also had lots of friends and fun. Unfortunately, I had a little too much fun and my grades fell so badly that I almost didn't graduate. I barely made it, but at the last exam, I gave it my all and passed. If I would have only done that throughout all of high school, I would have been an honor student, along with winning lots of scholarships and going on to college. But, alas, I didn't. Don't mean to bum you out, but it's true. I had more freedom as a senior, turning 18 in the middle of the year. I didn't handle 18 too well. I hope you do better than I did. Study hard. Get the best grades you can. Join a couple of clubs. Have fun. You'll only do this once, then it's gone. Learn from one who's been there, done that. Be careful. Be safe. <*)))><
256585
Cambridge is a highly competitive university. In general, they look for students with strong academics, good communication skills, extracurriculars of depth and breadth, and a true desire to attend Cambridge. \n\nEven if you are weak in one area, though, you may still get in if something else about you is strong. So, perhaps your academics are good, but you...are an excellent rower? Whatever is special about you, try to highlight that in the admissions process, and you'll stand a better chance. \n\nGood luck!