At the beginning of the post, I have to put a disclaimer…we ourselves had not done enough homework about Ivy League schools before applying for it… 😉
Since the beginning of October/November 2023, my son started applying for Master’s degree programs since he knew that he had more studying in him! 😉 He applied to numerous Universities in the US and wanted to do Master’s in Computer Science or its related subjects only! 🙂
After applying to a lot of Universities, we thought he should apply to an Ivy League University because why not apply to the best, right?(though none of us had any great knowledge of an Ivy League school – we gained more knowledge only after watching the Netflix series ‘Never have I ever’ :))
He just applied by fluke to Columbia University and hardly thought any more about it and we were focusing on the other Universities…
So, what are Ivy Leagues anyway?
Ivy Leagues are premium educational institutions in the US. There are eight legacy Ivy League schools and all eight legacy Ivy League Universities are based in North-Eastern US. They are Brown University, Yale University, Cornell University(New York), Columbia University(New York), Harvard University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College and University of Pennsylvania.
Ivy Leagues are known for their rigorous screening process and acceptance rates. Unlike Indian college entrance exams(which IMHO is a very simple and less abstract way of selecting candidates), US Universities admit students on multiple criteria. The factors they select students are based on are the statement of purpose(SOP), recommendation letters from college Professors, GRE, TOEFL, CGPA amongst a variety of factors.
It is very hard to be selected to an Ivy League school and there are many coaching places to help you get into an Ivy! We hardly knew of all these factors and just applied to get admitted to one of the best educational institutions in the world and wonder of wonders, my son got into Columbia University in New York(for M.S. in Data Science) for Fall 2024, without any coaching and just by applying with extraordinary academic credentials! (remember the CGPA of 9.331/10 he got in his B.Tech degree?….that should have helped! 🙂 ) Notable alumni of Columbia University include Barack Obama(can you imagine?) and George Stephanopoulos!
Post Ivy League education, students are supposed to land plum jobs with much more handsome jobs than non-Ivy League schools. Ivy Leagues are noteworthy for churning out future Presidents and even possible Noble Prize winners! (Ahem, Bala! :))
So, how did my son get into an Ivy League?
Frankly, I don’t think he knows how he did it… 😉 He just applied as he applied to any other college and it just clicked and we are just so happy for him!! 🙂
The important factors going for him is his diligent and sincere nature which would have been observed by his Professors(to write apt recommendations) as well. He is also an extremely smart and intelligent student who can study most things on his own.
Congrats to you my dear son for being puzzled on how you got into an Ivy! (ha, ha) and even beating Sundar Pichai on your new academic conquests!