text: Have excellent credentials, make sure the application sells brand "you", and when you write open-ended responses (i.e., the essays) be descriptive, original, and purposeful...don't repeat the information they can read elsewhere.\n\nWhen applying to colleges by all means send applications to Ivy League schools, but also have fallbacks.  And the fallback schools aren't necessarily bad.  If you're considering Ivy League to mean "A level," if you get into what you'd deem a "B level" school you can usually transfer after 1 or 2 years.  Also, you might consider staying your entire undergraduate career at a "B level" school and aim to excel.  Chances are, you'll need professional (e.g., law or business school) or graduate training.  This is where you shoot for the Ivy Leagues, and you'll have a collegiate record and more specific tests (GRE, LSAT, etc.) for schools to consider.