Ivy League Schools-Getting Accepted

When I thought about writing an article about Ivy League schools, I almost felt out of my league. After reading up on these schools, I realized that I am out of my league. Ivy League schools are elite. They are the best of the best in America and have been that way since the American Revolution or earlier. With this article, I would like to share a few things that stood out about the amazing seven universities and one college, which make up the Ivy League, that are known for their academic excellence.

Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, and Cornell University comprise the Ivy League. The oldest university is Harvard University founded in 1636 and Cornell was founded last of the eight schools in 1865. The name Ivy League is said to come from the ivy that grows on the outside of these old buildings that make up the campuses.

The league has been competing against each other in sports as long as there have been sports in college. The first event held in the United States was between Harvard and Yale's boating team in 1852. Since then, they have added every sport from baseball to water polo with fencing, football, lacrosse, rowing, and squash in between, just to name a few. They officially became the Ivy League in 1954 even though they had been unofficially referred to by that name long before.

The Ivy League came to an agreement in 1954 to extend their already established agreement for football to all their intercollegiate sports. The agreement states that applicant's to the universities or college cannot be give aid because of athletic ability. Essentially, they do not award athletic scholarships. Scholarship money is given to students for their academic excellence instead. In most other colleges and universities across the nation, students can be admitted with less than standard performances in academics as long as they can perform on the court, field or whatever arena they compete in. I find it fascinating that this is not the case with Ivy League schools.

The Ivy League schools are committed to excellence in the classroom. The acceptance rates each year range from about 9% to 20% and that is the best of the best. The college admissions process can be a hard battle at any university or college across the country, but here it is downright brutal. At times, students with very high test scores are rejected from their first Ivy League school of choice for no apparent reason. These schools have such a high number of applicants that the process is never a sure thing.

I was also surprised to find out that even students with better than average test scores are sometimes not admitted to Ivy League schools. The college admissions office looks at the students as a total package. They look at grades and test scores, but also they also weigh in the extracurricular activities, leadership positions, memberships in clubs/societies, and the ever elusive "X" factor.

I have come to the conclusion that they are an excellent place to get an excellent education, but the key is getting accepted. The best way to do that is to know how to present yourself in a way that will catch the eye of the college admissions offices. Not something like Elle did on the movie Legally Blonde, but something more along the lines of putting all your information in one place where any of the universities could go to see everything about you in one quick stop.

Of course, you still have to have those good test scores and grades to even be given a chance even if you are the world's best squash player because Ivy League schools do not give out college scholarships based on athletic ability.