Ah! The Ivy League! There are thousands of colleges and universities in the United States, hundreds of which are highly respected, and dozens of which are completely outstanding. And yet, there are eight schools that capture the imagination more than almost any others - the Ivy League. Just the fact that you can refer them as a singular unit says something. There are children who are raised from birth to go to an Ivy League school, but wanting to get into one of the top (and most popular) schools in the country isn’t enough to get you that acceptance letter. You also actually have to be qualified.

And what does qualified mean when you’re shooting for admission to an Ivy League school? It means top grades, top scores, and being an overall standout.

As a rule, top schools don’t publish ‘minimums’ that applicants need to meet to be considered, but looking at the profiles of their recent classes can give us an idea of where you need to be to make applying to an Ivy League school even worth the effort. Below we’ve broken down the most recent median scores, class rankings, and GPA’s (often as percentiles) for accepted students for each Ivy League school.

A few things to keep in mind before diving in:

Many schools like to use ranges and percentiles rather than giving precise numbers. This is as annoying for us as it is for you, but we still like these numbers better than the sketchily compiled numbers that are too often posted online as if they are strict fact.
We’re all doing our best to estimate something with the information available, and we don’t have all of the answers. In fact, no one does except for the schools and they like to be tight-lipped, so be skeptical of anyone who says “if you hit these numbers, you will get in.” Why? Because they are full of it.
We are in a very annoying transition period with the SAT. Some schools are kind enough to translate old SAT score averages into the new SAT equivalents, but not everywhere is that accommodating.

Most importantly, remember that you aren’t just your grades or your scores. You need to see the numbers to understand the whole picture, but if you’re in the 25th-50th percentile it’ll be your essays that get you in. We’ll get back to this at the end of this post, but you should definitely check out our essay resources.

The Numbers

Brown University

The way Brown lays out their application statistics is a little confusing and dense (something that will be a theme moving forward), but there is some interesting and helpful information.

Acceptance rate: ~9%

Grades of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2020

*of the schools that report class rank

19% of Valedictorians who applied were accepted
14% of Salutatorians who applied were accepted
Only 2% of students in the bottom 90% of their class were accepted.

SAT/ACT Scores of Accepted Students for the Class of 2020

Old SAT

SAT Critical Reading:

Almost half of accepted applicants scored 700 or higher.
38% scored 750-790
23% scored a perfect 800

SAT Math:

41% of accepted applicants scored 700 or higher.
30% scored 750-790
16% scored 800

SAT Writing:

46% of accepted applicants scored 700 or higher.
35% scored 750-790
20% scored 800

ACT

39% of accepted applicants scored 33 or higher.
28% scored a 36.

Note: This shows a focus on writing and critical reading scores. If your math scores are a little lower, you can get by, but your humanities work needs to be really good.

Source: https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/explore/admission-facts

Columbia University

Columbia offers a concise admissions profile with less data to pull from. Their main focus is on where the middle 50% of accepted applicants scored, but don’t let that fool you. You don’t want to be in the middle 50%. You need to be in the top 75%, or the 75th percentile if you want a good chance of getting in.

Acceptance Rate: 6%

Grades of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2020

Over 90% of accepted students were in the top 10% of their graduating class as of May 2016

SAT/ACT Scores of Accepted Students for the Class of 2020

SAT

Old SAT: The middle 50% of admitted applicants score 2180-2340.
New SAT: This is equivalent to 1510-1580 on the new SAT.

ACT

Middle 50% of admitted applicants score 32-35.

Source: http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020

Cornell University

Cornell may have a higher acceptance rate than the other Ivies, but their emphasis on high math scores can trip some people up.

Acceptance Rate: 14%

Grades of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2020

Of the schools that report class rank, 89.9% of admitted students were in the top 10% of their class.

SAT/ACT Scores of Accepted Students for the Class of 2020

Old SAT

SAT Critical Reading:
75th percentile: 750
25th percentile, meaning that 25% scored lower than you: 650

SAT Math:

25th percentile: 680
75th percentile: 780

ACT:

75th percentile: 34
25th percentile: 31

*To fall into the 75th percentile, meaning that you scored higher than 75% of previously accepted applicants who enrolled in the class of 2020, you need a score of 750+ on the old SAT Critical Reading portion.

Source: https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/Class%20Profile%202020.pdf

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth expects high ACT’s and high SAT’s across the board.

Acceptance Rate: 10.6%

Grades of Accepted and Enrolled Applicants for the Class of 2020

93% of enrolled students for the class of 2020 who provided class rank were in the top 10% of their class.

SAT/ACT Scores of Accepted and Enrolled Students for the Class of 2020

SAT

SAT Critical Reading: Mean 717, Mid 50% range: 670-780
SAT Math: Mean 723, Mid 50% range: 680-780

ACT

Mean 32, Mid 50% range: 30-34

Source: https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/facts-advice/facts/admissions-statistics

Harvard University

Harvard has a notoriously low admissions rate and is kind enough to not share very much about the grades of their incoming classes.

Acceptance Rate: 5.2% for class of 2021

Grades: Not shared by Harvard

SAT/ACT Scores of Accepted and Enrolled Students for the Class of 2020

SAT

75th percentile: 2350
25th percentile: 2100

ACT

Scores of accepted students are estimated to range from 32 to 35

The University of Pennsylvania

Like Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania doesn’t share much as far as grades are concerned, but they do emphasize that stellar grades are the most important factor in an application. They do not require the writing portion of the ACT or the essay portion of the new SAT, but they have very high median scores for the ACT.

Acceptance Rate: 9%

Grades: “Performance in high school is the single most important factor in the student selection process at Penn. However, because grading and ranking policies are different around the country and the globe, it is difficult to pinpoint one metric for a student's success in the classroom. The most competitive applicants have pursued a rigorous program of study and achieved top grades in the context of their school.”

Scores of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2020

Old SAT (2016)

SAT Critical Reading: The middle 50% of admitted students scored: 690-790.
SAT Math: The middle 50% of admitted students scored: 710-800
SAT Writing: The middle 50% of admitted students scored: 700-790

ACT

The middle 50% of admitted students scored: 32-35

Source: http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/whatpennlooksfor/incoming-class-profile

Princeton University

Princeton is nice to us who like numbers. We like how they break it down because it shows how the likelihood of acceptance drops in relationship to grades and scores.

Acceptance Rate: 6.4% for Class of 2021

Grades of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2021

9.4% of applicants with a GPA of 4.0 or higher were accepted
7.5% of applicants with a GPA of 3.90-3.99 were accepted
Only 4.6% of applicants with a GPA of 3.80-3.89 were accepted
After 3.80, you’re below a 3% acceptance rate. You better be the most magical and unexpected applicant of all time to get into that 3%.

Scores of Accepted Applicants for the Class of 2021

New SAT

8.2% of applicants with a 1500-1600 were accepted
5.0% of applicants with a 1380-1490 were accepted

ACT

7.8% of applicants with a 32-36 were accepted
5.3% of applicants with a 27-31 were accepted

Source: https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/admission-statistics

Yale University

Unsurprisingly, Yale and Harvard are in lockstep when it comes to sharing the grades of their accepted applicants.

Acceptance Rate: about 7%

Grades: “The single most important document in your application is your high school transcript...While there is no hard and fast rule, it is safe to say that performance in school is more important than testing. A very strong performance in a demanding college preparatory program may compensate for modest standardized test scores, but it is unlikely that high standardized test scores will persuade the admissions committee to disregard an undistinguished secondary-school record.”

95% of enrolled students for the class of 2020 whose schools report class rank were in the top 10% of their class.

Scores of Accepted and Enrolled Students for the Class of 2020

Old SAT

48% of enrolled freshmen scored 760-800 in Critical Reading
55% of enrolled freshmen scored 760-800 in Math
53% of enrolled freshmen scored 760-800 in Writing

ACT

78% of enrolled freshmen scored a 32-36

Sources: https://admissions.yale.edu/what-yale-looks-for, https://admissions.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/class_profile_2020_8-29.pdf

What To Do Now

Now you know the grades and scores to aim for, or what you hopefully have been aiming for over the past three years, there are a few things you can do. If you’re dead set on an Ivy League school but you’ve had trouble with either the math or reading/writing sections of the SAT (but not both), it may be a good idea to focus on the schools where what you are good at is valued highest. For example, you may be able to get into Cornell with scores that you wouldn’t be able to get into Brown with just because Cornell has a track record of prioritizing math scores over reading/writing scores.

If you’re falling into the 25th-50th percentile for the school of your dreams, there is honestly no reason that you should be applying to an Ivy League school. But, if you have a seed of hope, you’re really going to have to nail the essay and supplements. Recently, we had a student who, statistically, wasn’t a super strong candidate for Harvard, but it’s her essay that got her in (and you can read it here).

If you’re in a position where your essay is going to make or break your application, you should consider working with a pro. Essays are what we do, so get in touch.