How To Get Into an Ivy League School | What NOBODY Is Saying (2020)

It's time for me to share with you the #1 secret on how to get into an Ivy League school! Thanks to this advice, I got into Princeton, UPenn, Georgetown, and several other top-25 universities. This college admissions life hack will teach you how to get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, or pretty much any other top school. Watch the whole video to find out how to get into an Ivy League college.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

My Recording Equipment:

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

♫Music By♫

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Video Sparknotes:
- I discovered this crucial information halfway through sophomore year. And without it, I don't think I would've been accepted to my dream school, Princeton.
- Now, if you're at all like me, you've spent hours on the College Confidential forum, watching YouTube videos like this one, and spamming your college guidance counselors, teachers, and parents with questions about college admissions and things like that.
-This year, there were 31,056 people who applied to Princeton. Of those, 12,435 had a perfect GPA, and 13,800 of them had a 1400 or above on the SAT. That means that roughly 45% of Princeton's applicant pool was completely qualified to get in. Yet, only 6.1% got the golden ticket. So how do admissions officers determine which 14% of awesome applicants to let in, and which 86% to reject?
- You're probably thinking "Do as many extracurriculars as you can, sign up for all of that volunteer work, you know you can do it." And honestly, I can't blame you. I'm sure that's the advice your guidance counselors, parents, younger sisters, and goldfish have been telling you all this time.
- Well... colleges don't care how many random activities you can slap on your application. When going through their applicant pools, admissions officers at top colleges don't really look for well-rounded students; they look more for a well-rounded class. That means x-many jazz musicians, x-many lacrosse players, x-many public speakers, you get it.
- How do you develop a passion? Let me take you back to sophomore year. I was involved in theatre, my school's a capella group, mock trial, track, I was volunteering in a soup kitchen, I was part of China club, and I was studying both Spanish and Chinese. I wrote down all of my extracurriculars on a piece of paper and tried to divide them into two distinct passions. The two that I came up with were performance and study of Chinese culture.
- I completely dropped track and I stopped volunteering at the soup kitchen. I dropped track junior year and instead became more heavily involved in theatre, and I even joined the school's theater board. Instead of volunteering at the soup kitchen, I actually started my own community service club at my school, where student musicians could go out to our local city and perform on the street to raise awareness and funds for a local charity. I dropped Spanish and focused fully on my study of Mandarin Chinese. With the help of my Mandarin teacher, I was able to study abroad in China for a month. In the summer after junior year, I got an internship at a translation and globalization company with a lot of clients in China, and I was able to talk about that in my essays as well.
- You have to take an honest look at what you're doing and how you're spending your time, and then cut down certain things, so you're only focusing on one or two specific areas.
- Because I took the time to do that, the admissions officer who was reading my application didn't just see a kid with great scores that was signing up for a bunch of clubs simply to get into x, y, or z school. What they saw was a student who had multiple interests and was willing to pursue them at a very deep level.
- Come up with one or two things that you actually really do enjoy. And brainstorm extracurricular activities based on those interests. Literally anything can be a passion-- you just have to be creative.

[tjordan]

Why am I watching this when I graduated from UCLA 15 years ago? *shrugs*

Also, this kid is 100% right with his advice.

[abrahamlincoln]

Honestly, “colleges don't care how many random activities you can slap on your application” was the advice my guidance counselor, teachers, parents, younger siblings, and goldfish have been telling me.

[Carlos-lnfd]

All these videos are like "Hi! I'm a super articulate/super smart person who's able to explain complicated topics with ease. You know, just a regular guy like you!".

[jetjock]

Be really good at Photoshop and you can excel at any sport

[undead-predator]

Now it's time to find a passion 😑

[thegameoflife]

just ask Olivia Jade she is the best at college tips.

[MaxwellCrawford_]

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10, 000 kicks once, But I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10, 000 times”- Bruce Lee

[sdm]

I’m not sure how I ended up here as I’m already a PhD student.
To all of you high schoolers who don’t get into the school of your dreams, remember that school name is only a small fraction of what you get out of your university years.
I went to a mid-tier undergrad university where tuition was cheaper and I didn’t have to fight off a bunch of absurdly ambitious classmates to get research experience. I also don’t have student debt because of that choice. Remember, if you have great scores you can get generous scholarships at just a little bit less prestigious schools!

[nabeelahmed]

Does my addiction to heroin count as a passion?

[seanhughes]

What you're saying is 100% correct. I did this exact same strategy with the French language when applying to UPenn. I was recently admitted ED.

[waedjradi]

"Literally, anything can be a passion. You just have to be creative."
―Greg Smith

[pepeverse]

Video published: 2 years ago
Title: 2020
Me: *_Visible Confusion_*

[jayrenstokes]

I got into Harvard and Princeton with a 4.3 GPA and 1450 SAT Score and scored 3’s on all AP Exams

[atticusjones]

When you come from small town Africa and the only extra murals offered were rugby[football] and cricket. Be greatful America, I'd be honored to get into UC Davis atp.

[davidsawyer]

This is by far the best tip for anyone wanting to get into a ivy league school. I only had three cords and yet was the only one in my school who got into an ivy league school. Mean while others in my class who applied had over 30 cords, the same GPA and ACT and didn't even get wait listed!

[campbellmason]

That was really awesome advice, dude. As a college freshman, the application process was kind of a nightmare, but I think the fact that I narrowed down my passions a bit made it easier to present myself. Sometimes, closing the door on a few activities can really open the door for others. You’re able to invest more time and dedication into the passions you choose.

[narasimhakamath]

College admissions can be extremely daunting, specifically at top 10-15. These universities would want it's applicants, to potentially stand out, amongst the copious amounts of equally qualified applications they receive each academic year. Thanks a lot Gregory, for an awesome peice of information. Keep posting amazing videos like this :)

[audreyhretz]

I’m only in eighth grade but my biggest dream is to go to MIT. I was getting prepared to do a lot of random extra curricular activities in high school, but now I’m instead looking forward to my years in high school and building off of the activities I love.
thanks so much!

[amandapaule]

0:58 is the most relatable statement I have ever heard on one of these videos this is amazing

[jeanandrews]

Excellent advice, Greg! I have interviewed high school applicants to Princeton since I graduated from Princeton in 1975, and the students who have successfully gotten into Princeton (a handful of people in 45 years) have all done what you are recommending--that is, focus on one or two things they are passionate about.