We all know that kid. They were the light of their teachers’ eyes. The overachiever. Maybe even the school valedictorian. And, as is often the case, they probably wound up getting to a top college — perhaps even an Ivy League school. Or did they? Can the average high school valedictorian get into an Ivy League school? The answer is not nearly as straightforward as colloquial knowledge about high achievers being carted off to Harvard in droves would have you believe.

Think about it. There are roughly 30,000 high schools in the United States, meaning approximately 30,000 valedictorians could feasibly vie for their chance for Ivy League admission each year, even though only about 15,000 slots for first-year admission at Ivy League schools open each year. In other words, the Ivy League could announce tomorrow that it’s implementing a new policy in which valedictorians get guaranteed admission, but they wouldn’t even have enough room for all of them!

That’s not to mention that many elite private schools don’t even name a valedictorian and that GPA is just one of many factors that Ivy League admissions officers weigh when deciding between candidates. Once you consider that all of the valedictorians at high schools worldwide are also entitled to apply for a U.S. college education, the problem starts to seem quite absurd. That’s hundreds of thousands of highly qualified students every year!

Even Valedictorians Are More Likely To Be Rejected By Ivy League Schools

The harsh reality is that being your school’s valedictorian does not guarantee you success in the elite college admissions process, especially if you succumb to the many pitfalls that line your way to a top college campus. For example, your good grades won’t do much to save you should you make the mistake of applying as a well-rounded applicant with no singular hook. GPA is certainly important — 94.4% of Harvard applicants in the most recently admitted cohort graduated in the top tenth of their high school — but so is putting together a competitive application that highlights how you will take advantage of the many resources and opportunities the Ivy League offers.

While this might sound like bad news if you are, in fact, a high school valedictorian, you should take this as an opportunity to rejoice at how much control you truly do have over your admissions fate. It’s not just a game of chance or a game of numbers. Rather, it’s about getting admissions officers to want to root for your case. Remember, admissions officers aren’t robots! They’re humans like you and me. They want to root for the underdog, they respond to a powerful narrative, and they don’t think a student is only the sum of their grades.

Ivy Coach’s students understand this well. You are more than just a number to us, and we’ll help you show that to the admissions officers. Our team of former elite college admissions officers understands the power of the singular hook, which is the highly unique, often small, wonderfully weird, and downright compassionate way our students distinguish themselves with a specific pursuit, cause, or passion. We’ll help you develop a hook that works with your grades, test scores, recommendations, essays, and more to make the case that you’re meant to call an Ivy League campus your home.

Ivy Coach Has Mastered the Formula to Ivy League Acceptance

Feeling overwhelmed by all this new information? Don’t worry. The key takeaway is that Ivy League acceptance is achievable, even if you’re not a valedictorian. In fact, most of the students we help earn admission to Ivy League schools year in and year out are not valedictorians.

If you would like to enlist our help in optimizing your child’s odds of admission to an Ivy League school with the direct help of one of our former Ivy League admissions officers, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.