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Key Takeaways: The admissions committee of Ivy League schools look for excellent scores, extra-curricular activities and your child's appetite for success before determining whether she/he deserves a place there. Read on for tips on how to prepare your child for an Ivy League education.
As a parent of an academically gifted child, you may have set your eyes on giving your child an Ivy League education. These schools are typically characterised by their academic excellence and extensive selection processes. A degree from any one of these prestigious schools paves the path for a successful career. However, getting an admission takes years of preparation. Here are some tips to prepare your child early for Ivy League schools.
Hone your child's skills from an early age
If you envision an Ivy League education for your children, you need to ensure that they hone their personal and team-building skills from an early age. Apart from academic excellence, these universities look for passionate, disciplined students with an aptitude for leadership, time-management, teamwork, the ability to face challenges and lateral thinking. For example: Make sure your children enroll in a society or a club of their choice at school, where they can refine their teamwork skills. While participating in debates will help your children develop logical thinking and reasoning skills, if they love numbers, encourage them to participate in mathlete competitions.
Ensure they get excellent grades and test scores
Ivy League institutions have a reputation to uphold, so getting excellent test scores and grades is not optional. To make sure your child's application is accepted, encourage and inspire him/her to get high scores. Your child needs to have consistently high GPA scores in school and the same goes for standardised tests like the ACT or SAT.
Leverage the 'apply early decision or action' to secure your child's position
Begin the application process at the earliest if you want to increase the chances of your child getting into an Ivy League university. In many countries, students are allowed to leverage the 'apply early decision or action' policies. Early decision is great for children who have only one university in their mind whereas early action decisions are not binding, so students can choose which university they want to go ahead with.
Ensure your child's student essay is awe-inspiring
The student essay is one of the primary requirements to get into an Ivy League school. Irrespective of how fantastic your child's grades are, the admissions committee determines whether your child is a worthy candidate by also examining the essay. This is an opportunity for children to impress the committee by talking about themselves and their future plans. They can elaborate on their interests, their accomplishments and how they intend to make the most of their learning during the campus years.
Encourage your child to participate in extra-curricular activities
While being academically brilliant is an essential trait to get into an Ivy League school, it is just as crucial to demonstrate experience in extra-curricular activities. Inspire your child to broaden his/her horizons with hobbies and interests outside the classroom. Developing an interest in sports, music, art and other such fields can give children the much-needed advantage. Additionally, if your child is passionate about giving back to the community, that counts as an attribute too.
Final Note: With consistently low acceptance rates of less than 10%, getting your child into an Ivy League school takes remarkable preparation. But if you and your child are determined to get there, then an early start is ideal.
*Disclaimer: This article has been shared purely from an information perspective and we recommend you conduct extensive research before proceeding.