A parent once came to me with his son's Class 11 results.
“He has around 95%. Can we target the Ivy League?”
It is a question I have heard many times over the years.
My answer is usually:
“Yes, we can explore them. But 95% alone doesn't answer that question.”
This sometimes surprises Indian parents.
We come from an education system where marks often decide the next step. If you score high enough, you expect access to a better college.
US undergraduate admissions, particularly at highly selective universities, work differently.
Strong academics are extremely important. A student applying to universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or MIT will usually need an excellent academic foundation.
But good marks are often the starting point, not the complete application.
An admission officer may also be trying to understand:
What does this student genuinely care about?
How has the student spent time outside the classroom?
Has an interest developed over several years, or were activities added only before applications?
What do teachers say about the student?
What do the essays reveal that marks cannot?
And perhaps most importantly:
What will this student bring to the university community?
This is where many families misunderstand the US system.
They start collecting activities.
An internship.
An NGO certificate.
A research paper.
A competition.
Another online course.
Soon the student has a long CV.
But a long CV does not automatically make a strong application.
I would rather see a student with two or three genuine interests pursued with depth than twenty activities chosen mainly because they may “look good” for admission.
After more than 28 years of advising students, I tell parents:
Don't build a profile for the university.
Help your child discover what genuinely interests them and give them opportunities to explore it seriously.
When application time arrives, the marks, activities, essays and recommendations should ideally tell one believable story about the student.
So, is 95% enough?
It may make a student academically competitive.
But at highly selective US universities, the bigger question is:
Who is the student behind that 95%?
That is the person the application needs to reveal.
BIDYUT | Global Education Advisory
Strategy. Admission. Future.