Hello and welcome to Ivy Journal!  This site has insights from Ivy League Grads for students who are thinking of applying to competitive universities.  My name is Maritess and I am an alum of Harvard University, Class of 2002.  On top of that, I interviewed college applicants for Harvard for 5 years so I have some inside knowledge about the admissions process.

In this blog, we'll provide you with lots of information about how students get accepted to Ivy League colleges and other competitive schools.  This should give you an idea of where you stand in comparison to students who get accepted and what kinds of things you can do to increase your chances of getting in.  We'll also provide you with advice for preparing for the SAT and ACT, a word of the day to strengthen your vocabulary, and study skills tips for getting better grades in school.  Whenever we hear about scholarship and grant opportunities we'll post them here too.  Lastly, financial aid can be a confusing process so we'll try to make it easier for you and your parents to understand.

Check out the menu items on the left to find the different articles, and if you sign up you can leave comments and questions for our Ivy League Grads.  We'll try to respond to you within a day or two and we'll use your suggestions to determine what articles to keep adding to this site.