How can I be admitted on top universities in the US like Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, Stanford or Princeton?

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If you are vying for these particular colleges, know that the competition is very tough. First off, you should come in as an exchange student because most of these schools feel it balances out their reputation as a world class college/university.
Requirements: SAT exam, minimum 700+ on each part of test;
Your school record should show that you are in the top 5-10% of your class;
You have actively participated in a diverse number of civic, sports and academic activities,
Each of these schools will require you to write an essay, either describing why you feel you should be allowed entry or your career intent, or you choose the topic. What they look for is what makes you different than the rest of the applicants, e.g. how can you enrich the school.
I know this because my son managed to get into Boston College ( another top ranked school ) and at his interview, they spent more time discussing his essay than his qualifications! On the way home, my son said he thought he'd be accepted. I asked why, one word - scholarship.
So you see, the essay is probably the key, allother parts being equal. Good Luck!...Show more

There's more to the equation here than some of what you're looking at. First, your HS GPA and SAT scores won't matter in the slightest once you've been in college for 2-years. Nor will your AP classes or anything else you did in HS. The entire decision will revolve around what you've done after HS - ie: your college performance. Understand that a "tier 3" means "in the bottom 50%" - it's pretty hard to convince the top schools that you should be accepted to transfer from the bottom 50%. I don't mean that as a dig at the tier 3 schools, it's simply exactly what "tier 3" means. The get plenty of transfer applicants with a 3.75 GPA from one of the top 50% schools. If you attend a tier 3 AND have a really high GPA AND collect some experiences AND are majoring in something the top school is needing some of AND are an otherwise exceptional student, then you might be able to pull it off. But, financial aid options (talking price) aren't as favorable for transfer students at the top schools as they are for freshmen - you might still run into that money issue. Let's look at another reality: top schools don't cost any more than your state school. They really don't. The reason is because nobody pays "sticker price" at those top schools but everyone pays "sticker price" at the bottoms. So, if your parents don't have $X now, they won't have it in 2 years. That's a really bad basis for decision making. If you can get into one of those top schools now then they'll show you how to pay for it. If you can't get into one of those top schools now - you probably won't in 2 years either. (statistically - your mileage may differ) From a cost standpoint - a free degree from a tier 3 will return far more on your investment than a $100,000 spent at a top school. If you perform exceptionally well getting that free degree than you can use that to get into one of the top schools for a grad degree. If you don't perform exceptionally well at the tier 3 then you'd likely have performed badly at a top school. I'd say that you should consider UGA (it's a really good school too), then one of the tops if you can get in and they'll talk price, then free (free is always a good price) and plan to do the whole degree at the same school. Statistically, transferring around costs more, isn't as successful, and creates its own set of challenges. Now, some people are going to give you the whole feel good "if you try hard enough lalala" - remember, if you try hard enough, you can be President of the United States or CEO of Microsoft too; reality is that we probably won't and should put our eggs in a more realistic basket....Show more

I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to enter one of those colleges with such excellent grades....Show more

Be wealthy, have a prestigious family, or be a minority....Show more