<p>All I want is to go to an Ivy League school, and both Cornell and Dartmouth have the highest early decision acceptance rates, at about 30% each. I have a 2000 on my SATs, 3.6 unweighted, 4.1 weighted GPA, and am in youth and government, volunteer for the YMCA, am the varsity tennis team captain, and main copy editor of my school newspaper. Should I apply to Dartmouth or Cornell for early decision? All I want is to go to an Ivy League school and I love both of the two. I would hate to be rejected at one if only I had applied to the other I would have gotten accepted… which one do you think would accept me? Should I apply to cornell simply because the bigger the school the more people they let in?</p>
<p>Cornell. I don’t think have much of a chance at all at Dartmouth unless there is some major hook in addition to your attributes. </p>
<p>You should spend your time learning what these colleges like and expect in applicants. They’ll judge your entire app, including what you write, your ability to fit an thrive there- not just your stats or the repeat, “All I want is to go to an Ivy League school.”<br>
New poster, possibly not serious-?</p>
<p>I have no reason not to be serious… the only reason I signed up for this site was so I could ask this question. I’d love to hear other people’s input, too </p>
<p>“All I want is to go to an Ivy League school.”
If that is your attitude, you probably won’t get in to one. You can’t simply give that response when asked to write about why you want to attend. Visit both schools, visit other top colleges, visit middle-range colleges, visit safety schools, and THEN decide where to apply based on which one is your favorite. Maybe you can’t pick a favorite, in which case just do all regular decision or early action. But don’t apply somewhere just because all you want is to go to an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>An average looking guy goes up to your mother’s door and knocks. “Hello, Mrs, eeg? Is your daughter Katie in? I’d like to meet her for the purposes of matrimony. I know you don’t know me. I’m not bad, better than average – what you see is what you get. But what I bring is that I’m available and eligible. Why do I want to meet Katie? Well I did some quick research around town and I found only eight girls who were somewhat pretty enough for my standards and that would look nice standing next to me. I calculated it and I’m sure Katie is either no. 7 or 8. I really don’t need to get to know her or her personality – it’s not that important, you know. Others have said she’s one of the top eight most pretty girls and that’s what’s important to me. I know we’d look great in wedding photos. My next stop will be to the other 7th or 8th place girl’s house – gotta keep my options open. The other six most pretty girls – are way out of my league. As for the other girls in town, they aren’t pretty enough so all I want is a pretty girl, and your daughter and the other girl are 7 and 8th most pretty have the highest likelihood of accepting me. Whaddya say? Can I come in? I’d like some coffee and biscuits please.”</p>
<p>Sounds awful, right?</p>
<p>OP. I think what people are trying to say is that you need to be realistic. For Ivies, your scores are good, not great. For ‘normal’ people you did well and should be proud.</p>
<p>If you go into it with an an attitude like ‘All I want…’ you are most likely to be disappointed. None of the Ivies have great admission rates. Highly qualified student are declined annually. As long as you understand that your best chances are somewhere else and this is just a shot you feel you should take, you will be happier. Kids who get too attached to a school or two often end up overly disappointed when they do not get in.</p>
<p>The above satire is actually pretty good. How would you feel about a boy who asked you out because he always wanted to date someone on the tennis team, and he figured he’d have the best shot with you? Oh, and he is very average compared to all the boys in whom you are interested otherwise.</p>
<p>Wow, sorry, but your attitude sucks. If you’re only applying to a school just to be able to say you go there, then you’re not going to get very far. Are you just picking these schools because they’re statistically easier to get into and sound cool or something? </p>
<p>@T26E4, I always found your comments insightful. This one is funny too.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I don’t really see an issue in OP’s mindset. Actually your example is very interesting. It seems reasonble for one to pursue a group of “girls” because many others think they are nice. In essence, other people have vetted for you. That’s least likely to end up with a bad one. Besides what’s wrong with prestige if you can swing it, don’t the top soccer players on world cup all have “trophy girls”? :)</p>
<p>Of course, no one is going to say that a particular “girl” is 7th/8th choice, but the other 6 are out of league as in your example. 
Even for people applying to multiple Ivys, don’t they typically say “you are the best, and I will be your soul mate if you accept me”, even though they turn around and say the same thing to a different “girl”?</p>
<p>Of course for seaoned “girls” which those adcoms are, they of course take what you say with grains of salt and look at what you bring to the table instead. It may be your current production, or your future potential, or even who you may be able to bring to the table, just like in real life.</p>
<p>So I found your example very analogous, but I envision the interaction will mirror more what happens in real life. :)</p>