What kind of grades would you need if you were a student studying NCEA who is aiming to get accepted by need blind ivy League colleges and what is the typical range of SAT scores required in order to have a good chance of being accepted?
Thankyou!
Hi Joy,
It depends on a lot on your context - if you were at a school that also offers A Levels but you chose to study NCEA, that’d make things more difficult, since admission officers know that you have chosen a less academically rigorous route. This is particularly salient for intl-need-blind colleges, since they have dedicated officers that are very familiar with our region.
If you wanted to get into MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Amherst, you’d probably need near perfect NCEA (all excellence) and some extent of scholarship achievement (if not premier then outstanding).
Since NCEA is not particularly rigorous, it makes sense that students admitted to Harvard would be expected to have mastered the curriculum.
As for SAT, your best bet is to look at the college’s interquartile range and aim for above the middle of that, since international admissions are more competitive than domestic. Again, it all depends on your context.
Best of luck
Thank you!