What is the IVY League?
The “Ivy League” term was introduced in 1954 when eight universities began a group association of highly competitive colleges. These eight colleges are:
- Cornell university
- Dartmouth College
- University of Pennsylvania
- Columbia University
- Brown University
- Princeton University
- Harvard University
- Yale University
With time, their athletic teams started attracting more funds & popularity. Consequently, the students’ performance standards increased & the admission process became more demanding & rigorous.
Since the 1960s, all these Ivy League colleges have been known for producing graduates having high academic abilities, social reputation & promising careers.
Stanford, MIT & Caltech joined the Ivy League schools later. These are technically not Ivy League schools but enjoy the same reputation & stature.
Why should you care about getting admission to Ivy League schools?
The two primary reasons are as follows:
- They provide world-class education. You’ll be taught by the most brilliant minds of this generation in your field.
- These schools share a strong bond with the top players of every industry. With your education from Ivy League colleges, your career is secured.
How to get into IVY schools?
Getting admission to these Ivy League colleges is not at all easy. There’re a lot of things like competition, domain-specific ranking, etc., which make it difficult. But, still, it’s doable, and so, here are the things you need to take care of to get admitted there:
- The Minimum required GPA to impress the Ivy League schools. A GPA of 4.0 is the average GPA needed by all the Ivy League schools.
- Required Test Scores for the Ivy League schools. Whichever tests like AC or SAT (for bachelors) & GMAT or GRE (for masters) you have to appear for, ensure that you know and score the average standardised test scores.
- Get into some advanced courses. Ivies are into those students who want to grow, achieve excellence, and aim for intellectual growth through challenging course load.
- Invest time in other areas of college application requirements. Your academic background is only one part of your college application process. There are requirements like extracurricular activities, LOR, SOP or college essays, etc., which also play a huge role in your acceptance.
- Extracurricular activities: the Ivies are always on the hunt for the “it factor.” So, if you’ve done any extracurricular activities, then you should bring them to the forefront and highlight your achievements.
- Letter of Recommendation (LOR): a good LOR will assure the Ivy League college that adding you to their community will be a valuable addition.
- Statement of Purpose or College Essays: SOP for Ivy League is your opportunity to let the ivies know about you better. And, if you want to add a personal & emotional component in your college application, you can add an essay (personal statement). In this, you write about your passion & resolve to achieve your goals.
What is SOP?
SOP or Statement of Purpose is a formal letter written & submitted by an applicant along with their college application. This essay gives the admission committee (Adcom) an idea about you & your background. So, your Ivy League statement of purpose is where you talk about yourself- who you are, what you want to become & how prepared you’re to pursue a particular course.
It is your opportunity to talk about yourself, your academic background, work experience (if any), your life in general, the struggles you faced, how they have shaped you, etc. You will also tell about your goals and how you plan to achieve them.
Therefore, through this document, the committee tries to understand you, your life and your motivation for opting for a particular course in the particular university, etc.
Importance of SOP
Your Ivy league SOP is your opportunity to prove that you’re unique and have the charisma that sets you apart from the crowd. It is a vital document that significantly affects your chances of getting admission. Through this document, the committee decides whether or not the applicant is worthy of admission over other applicants.
What is an essay?
An essay is also known as Personal Statement in which you describe your passion & goals concerning your field. This is an essay where you get the opportunity to write about “why” you want to pursue this course of your choice. You elaborate on your passion, experience, skills etc., in the field to emphasise why this course is the right choice for you. You show your readiness & preparedness for the chosen field. As personal is attached to the name of this document, you can use this document to add an emotional aspect to your application.
Importance of an essay
Your essay gives additional insight into your personality to the committee. They learn what motivates you and your communication skills. A well-written essay adds some brownie points to your application, but it does not guarantee you a seat. But, if the essay is not written well, it’ll affect your chances of getting admission.
Tips for writing a winning SOP for Ivy League
Your SOP for Ivy League should include all the required details appropriately. Given the importance of SOP in your admission, it has to be foolproof, and so, you should not hesitate in consulting some SOP writing services in India. They would help you tremendously in creating a quality SOP. Meanwhile, following are a few tips to write a winning SOP:
- Don’t repeat your CV & accomplishmentsSOP is written to show your competence and calibre. But you also need to be humble about it and not boast about your previous achievements. Otherwise, it can end up as a lengthy CV instead of an SOP. Usually, SOPs like these become mere artifacts that make zero impact on your application. It’ll just be like every other SOP & will not help you stand out.
- Tell the purpose of choosing a course and university
Many applicants either forget about this point or add just a few lines in the conclusion. But, your SOP should have a detailed discussion on why you chose this course and why you wish to pursue it from this university. It will help in proving your worthiness better. You can add your innovative ideas to some long-term project(s) & easily catch the reader’s attention. Or you can present some new research idea on which you’ve been working or would like to work will get them more interested in admitting you. - Make it conversational & engagingYour
Ivy League SOP needs to be read by the admission committee. So, besides the content, the tone, though formal, should be engaging so that they don’t lose interest while reading it. - Be introspective & talk in detail
Whatever you claim in your Ivy League Statement of Purpose, you need to get into the details. The panel wants to know why you’re choosing a particular field, what you’re taking this life-changing step, why you think this is the best option, why you believe you truly need to succeed in life and other such questions. So, you need to be introspective about all your claims. - Research on course, faculty members & the university
Many applicants use the same SOP for all their applications. But, you need to show that you’re really interested in getting into the university and you’ve done all the relevant research before you made your choice. So, do your homework and learn about the course, how they match your skills, the faculty members and the university, and how they can help hone your skills. - Clarity in short-term & long-term goals
Once you get into the university, what’re your goals then? What are your goals after graduating from the university? You need to mention all your relevant short-term & long-term goals clearly. - Connect your extracurriculars with the university’s community
Convince the Adcom that you’ll fit right with the student community. Show through your extracurricular activities & skills that you can fit in the cultural environment of the college. - Address problems, failures
Sure, you should highlight your top scores & achievements. But at the same time, if you’ve had any irregularities or bad scores, you need to address them too. Give valid reasons for why it happened and how you’ll prevent this from happening again. - Proofread
You must revise and review your SOP once you’ve written to assure its quality. Do it yourself and then show it to experienced acquaintances to get an objective review. You can also consult professional SOP writers in India to confirm its quality. - Start early
Writing the first draft takes a lot of time. You need to start early to ensure that you’ve followed the proper structure, and then the content is relevant & of premium quality.
Tips for writing a winning essay
Writing your essay can give you an extra edge and help ensure a seat in an Ivy League college. A few tips to ensure its quality are as follows:
- Reveal something new about yourself
Do not repeat what is already there in your application documents. Add some new information about yourself to give them a better insight into your personality. - Spend time on brainstorming topics
To reveal something new about yourself, you need to brainstorm topics that you can include in your essay. Give yourself enough time to find out some good topics. - Be mindful of word choice & tone
The essay should look like you wrote it (as you have). Do not overload it with complex words, structure or sentences. Choose the words and tone so that your essay can better convey your story & voice. Also, refrain from adding redundant or filler words. - Practice makes perfect
Practice writing the essay multiple times. Give yourself time to improve your writing skills, and then write your first draft. Once it’s done, make sure you review, edit and proofread it multiple times. - Don’t procrastinate
Doing all the above-mentioned tips will require time. Do not take your essay lightly, and start preparing it ASAP. Your procrastination could lead to a substandard essay, which can affect your admission chances.
Conclusion
Academic excellence, exclusivity and elitism are a few of the many things attached to an Ivy League college. Numerous factors like academic skills, aptitude, intellectual depth, leadership qualities, etc., play a considerable role in your admission. The two documents that depict these factors are SOP & college essays.
Therefore, these two documents need to be crafted with utmost care for their supreme quality. You need to make sure that they don’t become a verbose copy of your CV and reflect your personality at its best. The more you seem unique and competent, the more are your chances of getting accepted.
Contentholic is one of the leading academic writing agencies in India. We have helped thousands of students with their SOPs and Essays. Some also went for IVY league universities and secured admission with the help of our Winning Essays and SOPs. Therefore, if you feel at any point of time that you need assistance of Professional SOP writers, get in touch with us.
