It's no secret that the probability of getting into Harvard, Columbia and Yale universities, as well as other Ivy League universities, is extremely small, because these educational institutions are famous for their incredibly low enrollment rates - less than 10% of applicants.

In total, the Ivy League includes 8 universities: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University.

Only those rare students who demonstrate truly extraordinary success in studies and exams, as well as invaluable potential for university social life, are honored with a happy fate.

However, in 2014, authoritative American publications such as The Washington Post and US News & World Report conducted research, which showed that there are universities in the United States that are more difficult to enter than the Ivy League.

9th place. Claremont McKenna College

Incoming applicants: 10.8%

Included in the Top 10 liberal arts universities in the United States (ranks 9th in the US News & World Report 2016 ranking).

8th place. US Military Academy

Incoming applicants: 9.5%

It is also included in the list of the best universities in the country. One of the rare US educational institutions where education is 100% financed from the state budget, i.е. absolutely free for students. However, it is worth considering that immediately after receiving a diploma, graduates of the Academy must join the ranks of the actual military army and repay their debt to the Motherland.

Easier to get into: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

7th place. California Institute of Technology

Incoming applicants: 8.8%

The university specializes in exact sciences and engineering, and is one of the best technical universities in the United States.

Easier to get into: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

6th place. University of Chicago

Incoming applicants: 8.8%

The university with more than a century of history is one of the most prestigious universities in America.

Easier to get into: Pennsylvania University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

5th place. College of the Ozarks

Incoming applicants: 8.3%

This university of the Christian denomination is distinguished by an exceptional selection procedure for applicants: the college accepts only those clever and smart women whose finances do not allow them to enter a higher educational institution. Throughout the entire time of study, students work 15 hours a week on campus, thus returning the costs of the university for their education.

Easier to get into: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

4th place. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Incoming applicants: 7.9%

This university is known around the world for its amazing programs in engineering, mathematics and science. So if you want to become a respected scientist, make a career in robotics or make a splash in the computer technology market, MIT is undoubtedly the best investment in your future.

Easier to get into: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

3rd place. US Naval Academy

Incoming applicants: 7.9%

Like the US Military Academy, the Naval Academy provides free education at the expense of the state budget. True, there is a significant difference: students receive the right to free education after they “serve” a certain number of hours.

Easier to get into: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

2nd place. Alice Lloyd College

Incoming applicants: 7.1%

The college is located in rural Kentucky and is notable for its miniature size: at the moment it has only 619 students.

Easier to get into: Princeton University, Pennsylvania University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University.

1 place. Stanford University (Stanford)

Incoming applicants: 5.1%

Perhaps suffice it to say that Stanford is the most difficult university to enter in all of the United States of America.

Easier to get into: Harvard, Princeton, and any other Ivy League university.

Need help applying to a US university? Contact our consultants!

Team of professionals Education Masters specializes specifically in "difficult cases", and we will be happy to guide you through the thorns to the stars, that is, to enrolling in one of the most prestigious US universities!

The Ivy League is, surprisingly, an eight-university sports league in the Northeastern United States. However, the term is usually used to refer to these universities outside of the sports context. The eight members of the League: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University are distinguished by academic excellence, selective admissions, and social elitism.

Ivy League schools are generally considered to be among the most prestigious, and are ranked among the best universities around the world. All eight universities are in the top 14 national universities in the US and the world in 2018.

Brown University

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Tuition fee: $52,231

One of the most prestigious universities in the United States was opened in 1764 and is the seventh oldest university in the country. It got its name in honor of one of its outstanding graduates, Nicholas Brown. From its inception, Brown University has been distinguished by its progressive admissions policy for applicants regardless of their religious preferences.

The admissions committee is known for its selectivity - only 7.2% of all applicants were accepted into the stream of freshmen in 2018, they submitted their applications. The study program at the university is famous for its unusualness. In the "New Program" freshmen can choose absolutely all the subjects themselves without reference to their specialization and not close the "mandatory" courses. Also at the university there is an opportunity to study according to the pass / fail system, and the ABC grading system involves the rejection of “minuses”, “pluses” and the lowest D grade.

The university's programs include undergraduate, 23 master's and 43 doctoral programs, the Brown School of Medicine, the School of Engineering, the School of Public Health and the School of Professional Studies.

Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tuition: $63,025 (tuition, dorm room, and additional fees)

Harvard was founded in 1636 and is the oldest university in the United States. Named after the English missionary John Harvard, its first benefactor, whose influence and investment made the university one of the most prestigious in the world.

The university's alumni list includes eight American presidents, 62 living billionaires, 48 ​​Nobel laureates, 48 ​​Pulitzer Prize winners, and 32 heads of state. The selectivity is obvious: in 2017, only 5.2% of applicants were admitted to Harvard.

Despite the high cost of education, the university's large fund (the largest in the world) allows it to provide financial support to more than 55% of its students annually. The average grant in 2018 is $50,000.

Harvard also operates several art, cultural and science museums, as well as the Harvard Library, which is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with over 18 million volumes of books.

Dartmouth College

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

Tuition: $72,853 (tuition, dorm room, and additional fees)

The ninth oldest university in the United States was founded in 1769 to educate indigenous peoples in the Christian and English way of life. Subsequently, the university became secularized and gained national prominence at the turn of the 20th century. The university now consists of five schools: the General Baccalaureate, the Geisel School of Medicine, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Tuck School of Business, and the School of Graduate Studies and Advanced Studies.

At one time, 170 members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, three Nobel Prize winners, two judges of the Supreme Court and a US vice president graduated from the university. For the fall semester of 2018, 22,033 applications were accepted, of which only 1,925 applicants received the coveted admission letter.

The academic year at Dartmouth consists of four ten-week terms. All first and fourth year students are required to spend their fall, winter and spring semesters on campus, while second year students are required to spend their summer semester. However, according to the admission committee, training in the summer is subject to adjustment.

Yale university

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Tuition: $69,430 (tuition, dorm room, and additional fees)

Yale was founded in 1701 and is the third oldest university in the United States. Initially, the main focus of the university was theology and the language of worship, but by the beginning of the War of Independence, the program began to include the humanities and exact sciences. In 1861, the first PhD degree in the United States was awarded at Yale. University alumni include five US Presidents, 19 Supreme Court justices and 20 living billionaires.

The university consists of fourteen constituent schools: the undergraduate program, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and twelve professional schools. The university has a large library and even a museum, the collections of which have an international status. The Yale University Art Gallery, the first university art museum in the United States, contains more than 180,000 works from both old masters and important contemporary art collections.

The admission committee of the university is considered one of the most stringent in the selection of students. In 2016, out of 31,455 applications, only 1,972 applicants were selected. According to the university administration, 50% of all university students receive some form of financial support.

Columbia University

Location: New York, New York

Tuition: $30,000 not including accommodation

In 1754, the first educational institution in New York appeared in lower Manhattan - King's College, which 30 years later was renamed Columbia University. From the very beginning, the university was considered the cradle of great minds - five founding fathers of the United States, 29 Oscar winners, 29 heads of state (including 3 presidents of the United States), 94 Nobel Prize winners and more than 100 Pulitzer Prize winners graduated from it.

Joseph Pulitzer bequeathed $2 million to Columbia University. Part of this money was directed to the creation of the School of Journalism (which became the second school of journalism in the whole country), and the rest of the amount went to awards to American journalists. Since 1917, this award has been presented annually in the building of the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Every year, Columbia University employees patent about 175 new medical inventions, and 95% of students find high-paying jobs within 6 months of graduation. Every year over 40,000 students study within the walls, 28% of them are international students. All applicants undergo a very thorough selection process, and only 6.1% of applicants are invited to study.

Princeton University

Location:Princeton, New Jersey

Tuition: $63,600 (including accommodation and student fees)

One of three brothers (Harvard, Yale and Princeton), Princeton University was founded in 1746 under the name of the College of New Jersey. Located in the suburbs, the university campus includes 75 research centers, 6 dormitories, a book depository and over 300 student organizations. Albert Einstein, having left Germany, where Nazi feelings were growing at that moment, taught at Princeton and died there in 1955.

A feature of studying at the university is its strict "Code of Honor", which every student must adhere to. At each exam, the student is required to sign an "oath of honor" stating: "I swear on my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code on this exam." Before submitting each written work, students must also promise the absence of plagiarism. In addition, updated in 1980, the code requires every student not only to complete assignments in good faith, but also to report any instances of academic fraud known to them.

As of 2017, Princeton has 644 international students. The total number of students admitted to Princeton in 2017 is 1,990 (out of 31,056 applicants).

Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, New York

Tuition fees: from $54,734 - $72,754 (including the cost of living and student fees, the amount varies with the specialty)

Cornell University is the only one in the "Ivy League" that is partially public, half of the costs of the educational institution are covered by the state of New York. Cornell has been positioned from the very beginning as a university that admits to education representatives of both sexes, regardless of their race or creed. Another significant difference is the decentralization in curriculum development, each of the university's colleges has wide autonomy in their activities and curriculum development.

On the campus of the university is the 11th largest library in the entire United States in terms of the number of stored volumes of literature. More than 1,000 student organizations are involved in the university. The main campus of Cornell University is located in Ithaca, New York, but there are two additional campuses, one of which is located in New York City, and the second in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tuition: $62,157 - $75,303 (including accommodation, meals, travel, books, and student fees; amounts vary by residence)

In 1740, Benjamin Franklin himself founded the University of Pennsylvania, hoping to create a curriculum of practical training for trade and public service based on a classical education. The University of Pennsylvania has for many years been the leader in the number of billionaire alumni included in the Forbes 400 Richest People in the USA list.

There is a theory that the term "Ivy League" originated precisely thanks to the students of this university. It says that in 1837, the graduating class of Penn University planted ivy on campus and started the annual "Ivy Day." This tradition, according to the theory, was later adopted by other universities in this list.

Some of the most recognizable alumni of this university are: Warren Buffett - an entrepreneur, the richest man in the world and the largest philanthropist in history; Donald Trump - 45th President of the United States; Harry Husky - one of the first computer engineers and designers in the world; Elon Musk is an inventor, engineer and entrepreneur, etc.

Good news!

Daria Baimagambetova, a student of Haileybury Almaty, was admitted to two Ivy League universities at once - Brown and Pennsylvania universities. Daria's academic success was highly appreciated not only in the USA. She has received invitations from top Russell Group universities, including the University of Exeter, the University of Manchester and the University of Warwick in the UK, as well as Yale-NUS University in Singapore.

Another student, the brilliant pianist and composer Aishabibi Ashimbekova, also entered Yale-NUS University on a 100 percent grant and was among the 8% of international applicants who received an invitation from the University of California at Berkeley, the world's best public university. Aishabibi plans to study astrophysics, building on her distinguished academic career, which began in 2012 after receiving a well-deserved scholarship.

The success of the 2018 Haileybury Almaty graduating class can be judged by the number of graduates who have taken places at world-renowned universities, including Imperial College, University College London, King's College, and New York University. You can read about their success on the blog of the leading British school in Kazakhstan.

Ivy League- an association of the eight oldest universities in America: Harvard (Harvard), Princeton (Princeton), Yale (Yale), Brown (Brown), Columbia (Columbia), Cornell (Cornell), Dartmouth (Dartmouth) and Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania).

The Ivy League is considered the benchmark for the prestige of higher education in the United States. The name Ivy League comes from the dense green shoots of ivy that wrap around old university buildings. A large number of American politicians, prominent economists, financiers, doctors and lawyers have been trained at one of the Ivy League universities.

The Ivy League universities are the oldest institutions of higher learning in America. All of them are located in the northeast of the United States and were created during the colonization of the New World by England in the 17th-19th centuries.

What makes Ivy League universities the best? The important components of high-quality education in higher education institutions are, first of all, the level of training of the teaching staff and the volume of scientific research. Among the graduates of the League there are many Nobel laureates, outstanding scientists and laureates of other scientific awards. In addition, all of the League's universities are the richest private institutions in the United States and have the ability to allocate their own money for the implementation of many scientific developments and research.

The universities of the League own vast territories, which they have received for use from the state. Each campus is a city within a city with its own research centers, museums, libraries, theaters, communication and transport infrastructure. Each university publishes periodicals, has television and radio.

Tuition fees at League universities are among the most expensive in the world. For a year of study, students pay more than 30 thousand dollars. But, despite the high cost of education, the competition for admission is incredibly high. After all, a diploma from an Ivy League educational institution is not only a guarantee of a future successful career, but also evidence of belonging to a chosen circle of talents. Acquaintances and connections established within the walls of the university have an impact on the entire subsequent life of a person. Every year, tens of thousands of applicants not only from America, but also from all over the world strive to get into the universities of the League. Foreign students make up 5-9% of the total.

Ivy League Universities:

Brown University y) - Providence, Rhode Island.

Founded in 1764 under the name Rhode Island College. It was renamed in 1804 in honor of Nicholas Brown, one of the university's alumni and a member of the Brown family, who played a large role in the organization and management of the university. Motto of a private university In Deo Speramus”"We trust in God"

The symbol (mascot) is a bear.

Brown University is also known for its unusual curriculum, the so-called. new program started in 1969. Under this program, students have a full choice of subjects (no required subjects) and can receive a pass/fail instead of a grade in any subject they prefer. The university is organized into three main academic departments: a college for undergraduate students; postgraduate studies for graduate students - applicants for master's and Ph.D. degrees and a medical department for applicants for the degree of doctor of medicine.

Harvard University– Cambridge, Massachusetts

The oldest of the US universities, was founded in 1636 as a college. Since 1639, it has been named after the English minister, Bachelor of Arts, John Harvard, who emigrated to America and bequeathed half of his property and library to the college.

The motto of the university is “VERITAS” “Truth”

The symbol is purple.

Today, over 18,000 students from all regions of the United States and 100 countries study at Harvard. The university consists of 9 faculties: Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Divinity Institute, Harvard Law Institute, Harvard Business Institute, Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of Educational Sciences, Institute of Public Health, Institute of Administration. John F. Kennedy.

Within the walls of the university, 7 US presidents were brought up, as well as 40 Nobel laureates and a huge list of employees who received the Pulitzer Prize from year to year. At different times, many celebrities studied here. Harvard remains a forge of personnel for the ruling elite, and teachers are the biggest wealth of the university. Harvard University is proud of its scientific achievements - including the developments of the world-famous medical faculty.

Harvard has the most students from its native Massachusetts and New York, 8.3% are foreigners. Nearly all Harvard University and college students live in on-campus residence halls in or near Harvard Yard from their freshman year. Students who have good grades or other achievements live in so-called "houses", which are both a place of residence and an administrative unit of the university, helping students to adapt to the social environment of the educational institution.

Dartmouth College - Hanover, New Hampshire

Founded in 1769 by Rev. Eleazar Wilok and Samson Okkum. Motto: “Vox clamantis in deserto”"Voice in the wilderness"

The symbol is green.

Dartmouth is the smallest member of the Ivy League. Particular attention is paid here to the preparation of bachelors (undergraduate program). In addition to its own college in Dartmouth, there are 21 faculties, which train masters in various fields of "liberal sciences and arts". Dartmouth can rightfully be called the cradle of business education, since it was here that the MBA (Master of Business Administration) degrees were first awarded. The birth of this educational institution is also due to the computer programming language BASIC.

Now students from all over the world study at Dartmouth College, confirming the high authority of this educational institution in the field of research on international and interethnic relations, problems of tolerance. At the same time, Dartmouth has a reputation for being one of the most selective and demanding universities, with only about 17% of applicants who apply for admission getting there every year.

Yale University - New Haven, Connecticut

Founded in 1701 under the name collegiate school.

Motto: Lux and Veritas(Light and Truth)

The symbol is a bulldog.

Yale University consists of 12 departments: Yale College, a four-year education which ends with a bachelor's degree; postgraduate studies in various specialties, as well as 10 professional faculties. The Yale College program is broad and deep. Yale is currently one of the best universities in the world. It has 11 thousand students from 50 states of America and from more than 110 different countries. The 2,000-strong teaching staff is distinguished by the highest qualifications in their fields of expertise. The main part of the university covers an area of ​​170 (69 hectares) acres. The university also owns more than 600 acres (243 hectares) of land, which contains all kinds of sports facilities and forested areas.

The Yale University Library is the third largest library in the United States and the second largest university library in the world. It has 11 million items and owns unique collections, archives, music recordings, maps and other rare exhibits.

Columbia University - New York, New York

Founded under the name King's College in 1754.

Motto: “In lumine tuo videbimus”("In your light we shall see the light")

The symbol is a lion.

The university very early became known as an educational institution that trained the political elite. And although the scientific prestige of Columbia University has always been very high, it is believed that this institution trains not theoretical scientists, but, above all, people of action. Famous alumni and persons associated with the university are: five so-called founding fathers (Founding Fathers - a group of American politicians who played key roles in the founding of the American state, in particular, in gaining independence and creating the principles of a new political system), four presidents United States, including current Barack Obama, 97 Nobel laureates, 101 Pulitzer Prize winners, 25 Academy Award winners (also known as Oscars), 26 foreign heads of state

Cornell University - Ithaca, New York

Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell, a businessman and one of the founders of the telegraph industry, as well as Andrew White, a famous scientist and politician. Motto: “Any person-any study”("To any person - any training")

The symbol is red.

Cornell University is the youngest in the Ivy League. Apparently, the “youth” of the university is due to its reputation as one of the most innovative in America: it was here that an extremely liberal system of free choice of study programs by students was first introduced. Cornell also became the first American university to initially allow men and women to study together. In addition, it was here that the first independent university press in the United States appeared. Finally, it is the first American private university partially funded by the state (four of its faculties are subsidized by the State of New York).

Cornell currently has 7 undergraduate colleges and 6 graduate school departments. In all sorts of rankings, the university, as a rule, occupies very high places.

University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1751 under the name Philadelphia Academy. The University of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest institutions of higher education and the first to be officially named a university.

Motto: “Leges sine Moribus vanae”("Laws without morality are useless")

The symbol is a Quaker.

13% of annually accepted applicants are foreigners. At the same time, the University of Pennsylvania is famous for its very strict requirements for the “quality” of the applicant contingent. So, only about 20% of the applicants who applied here are accepted. Such exactingness fully corresponds to the high reputation of the university. According to annual rankings, the University of Pennsylvania regularly ranks among the top five universities in the United States. In general, the University of Pennsylvania is considered a leader in such areas as the humanities, architecture, engineering and pedagogy. Finally, the university has the largest annual budget of $4.25 billion among Ivy League universities.

Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey

Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey. In 1896, Princeton received university status.

Motto: “Dei subnumine viget”("Prosperous under God's power")

The symbol is a tiger.

Princeton University is made up of Princeton College, graduate schools, and research centers. The great Albert Einstein worked at the university, and among the graduates are 2 US presidents (James Madison and Thomas Woodrow Wilson), over a hundred senators, congressmen and state legislators, 44 governors. The educational process at the university is organized according to individual curricula and is organically linked with research work. The teaching staff of Princeton has the highest qualifications. In the second quarter of the 20th century, 16 Nobel Prize winners worked here.

The Ivy League was originally called sports association 8 private institutes of higher education, which were located in the northeastern United States. The Ivy League was different exclusivity in terms of the quality of education, selective admission and belonging of the applicant to the social elite.

Common term "Ivy League" became in 50s XX century- after the formation of a sports association NCAA Division I, but later the term spread to other aspects of university life.

"Ivy"- Ivy League Universities - constantly maintain their status as leaders in the field of education: educational institutions are represented among the top 15 colleges and universities in the US. In 2010, the top three were represented by the Ivy League universities - Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities. In addition, Ivy is considered one of the richest educational institutions, which allows them to invite the best students and teachers.

League Name came from plants, which wraps around all the buildings of universities, thereby distinguishing them from other educational institutions. But this story is not the only one. A common story in the US is that a sportscaster, considering a football game to be sluggish, lamented that he would have to watch the ivy grow; another commentator misinterpreted the words of his colleague. So the name appeared for the sports team, and then for the most prestigious universities in the United States.

Right now in Ivy League roster Universities include: Brownovsky(1764), Harvard(1636), Yale(1701), Colombian(1754), Cornell (1865), Pennsylvanian(1740), Princeton(1746) and also Dartmouth college(1769).

The Ivy League is famous for its legends and secrets. According to one of the legends, The Ivy League Rules America, since Yale graduates have become presidents of the United States for several decades in a row. The most mysterious link in this legend is Yale's secret student organization Skull and Bones.

The history of the secret brotherhood begins in 1832 year, when the Yale secretary Russell and his associates organized secret society. At first the society was called "Evlogia Club"- in honor of the Greek goddess of eloquence. And only after the brotherhood was renamed the Skull and Bones. Little is generally known about the symbolism and rituals of Skull and Bones; most of the information is either unreliable and even absurd, or polysemantic.

"Skull and Bones" was formed as elite society: only people from the American aristocracy could be its members. These people were considered the color of society and called themselves "center of the universe". In the 19th century, certain religious, gender, social, and racial restrictions were imposed on the members of the fraternity. Only in the XX century reception the brotherhood has become more democratic: gender and skin color have ceased to play a significant role. A woman first became a member of society in 1991.

Now the members of the brotherhood are successful and famous people who hold high positions in politics, the media, financial, educational fields, etc.

The fraternity performs its "kindred" functions "excellently": graduates of the lodge who leave the university continue to communicate with their "comrades-in-arms" throughout their lives.

Officially, there is only a student sports league with that name. But in the 1930s, this phrase began to designate the most prestigious universities in the country. The name of the association goes back to the green ivy that covers the ancient buildings of these educational institutions. "Ancient Eight" is the standard of higher education. Within these walls, the American and world elite are being grown, whose representatives occupy the highest positions in government, business, art and science.

Features of studying at Ivy League universities

Ivy League students receive the best fundamental education. Each of the eight universities has full-fledged laboratories, excellent libraries, archives, museums and a huge research base. Classes are taught by world-class professors. Often additional courses and open seminars are held by politicians at the federal level, owners of transnational corporations and the best scientists of their time. For the honorary right to lecture in Preston or Harvard teachers may even fight among themselves.

All eight universities have large financial resources. Thanks to this, the staff of the departments can purchase any equipment necessary for scientific development. And since the research conducted within these walls is of high importance for the state, grants are willingly offered to students with high scientific potential. Students can also qualify for scholarships.

During their studies, students undergo internships and internships in the best companies in America or gain experience in the offices of senators and congressmen.

Having a diploma of any of the universities of the "ancient eight" in your hands, you can be sure that all doors will open before you. Ivy League graduates are presidents, businessmen, famous artists, Nobel laureates. In addition, they form an elite, closed society from mere mortals. During his studies, the student has a lot of useful connections that will help him build a successful career in the future.

Admission

Becoming an Ivy League student is extremely difficult. Depending on the university, faculty and specialty, the competition can vary from 5 to 50 people per place. During the admission of applicants, the selection committee approves no more than 10-15% of all applications submitted. The cost of education is also quite consistent with the prestigious status of the "ancient eight" and is about 40,000 - 60,000 dollars per year.

For a long time, only white-skinned Protestants from aristocratic families were accepted here. Now the composition of the students of the "Ivy League" has become more diverse, and education - more accessible.

In order to start studying at one of the universities of the "League", the future student will have to work hard. Usually, preparation for admission begins already in secondary, and even in elementary school.

The applicant must submit to the admission committee:

• school certificate with perfect grades.
• certificates with the results of SAT and ACT - standardized tests for admission to an American university.
• results of additional Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and SATII tests. Despite the fact that they are taken by schoolchildren, the complexity of these tests corresponds to the university curriculum.
• Essay. Usually it tells about what prompted the applicant to apply to a particular university. Often an essay should contain answers to unusual questions: what inspires you? In the body of which person would you like to spend one day? The answers to them should reflect the life position, views and flexibility of thinking of the future student.
• Documents evidencing extracurricular activities. The admission committee also shows great interest in the extra-curricular activity of applicants. Preference is given to members of various circles, clubs and communities. An additional plus will be the leadership qualities of yesterday's student.
• Letters of recommendation from teachers. Preferably, at least two: from teachers leading the exact and humanities.
• Interview. If the presented documents are of interest to the university management, the applicant is invited to a personal conversation. This is a great chance to demonstrate eloquence and the ability to defend your point of view.

Depending on the direction of training and the educational institution itself, the leadership may give preference to some personal qualities of students. For example, the ability to think creatively, technical mindset, diligence, motivation, etc. Also, members of the admissions committee favor young athletes who are ready to represent the university team in competitions.

The Dark Side of the Ivy League

Despite the stiffness and pretentiousness of the "ancient eight", many look at the pathos of the "Ivy League" with skepticism. The admission committee gives the greatest preference to the children of former graduates, as well as people from rich and famous families. Most of the students here are representatives of the "golden youth", whose admission was paid in advance. Young people from the poor strata of the population, who made their way into Plyushchi with their own work and knowledge, are often subjected to the most severe pressure and discrimination. There are also rumors that university authorities often cover up the immoral and outright criminal antics of some of their students.

But, despite all this, for many millions of schoolchildren and their parents, the Ivy League remains a magical medieval fraternity of students and teachers, where knightly traditions reign and from where the path to the world of wealth and prestige opens.