> Baseline requirements: near 1600 SAT and near 4.0 unweighted GPA taking the hardest classes. To the school, this proves you'll be able to survive at a top 10.

> Baseline requirements: near 1600 SAT and near 4.0 unweighted GPA taking the hardest classes. To the school, this proves you'll be able to survive at a top 10. Again, this is a requirement for consideration not admission. As I have said elsewhere, this is more like a typical (but not universal) requirement for a specific group of people -- specifically, Caucasian and Asain non-athletes non-diversity candidates (including and especially geographical diversity) who live in the NE corridor on on the west coast. There are lots of kids who get into Ivies who do not have near 1600 and/or a near 4.0 unweighted GPA. That said, they are usually bringing something else significant to the table. > What gets you in: curiosity, creativity, and passion. I think this is the key. There is a ton of forgiveness for things like less than ideal grades or SAT scores, the characteristics mentioned above can go a long way towards ameliorating any perceived deficiencies. As a simple example, I know one student who was admitted to an elite school with an SAT score in the 1400s, quite a few Bs, quiet student... who also happened to be a self-taught EDM musician who was highly popular and in high demand on the EDM circuit. His experiences developing music and navigating the EDM scene while also being a pretty darn good student showed that he is one of those people who can get cool shit done.