Ivy League Profile vs Average Profile | What Admissions Want

Elite colleges measure talent, achievement, and potential through entirely different lenses than an average college. This video will reveal exactly what an Ivy League profile is and how it differs from an average profile. We will go through 24 extracurriculars – some that win at ultra-selective colleges, some built for highly-selective schools like Duke and Rice, and some activities perfect for a strong top-40 university.

So when families ask, “How different can these levels really be?”

The answer is: enormously.

Not only in effort — but the results of what you achieve.

I’m Tina Chulet, founder of BlueSkies, where we help students understand how elite admissions really work — from profile building to essays to strategy.

So before we look at real examples, let’s decode what these different groups of colleges actually look for.

What Top U.S. Colleges Look For (Admissions Fit Explained)

We’ll begin with understanding what different tiers of universities value. It may sound a bit theoretical at first, but don’t worry — as soon as we look at actual activity examples for each college grouping, you’ll see the difference instantly.

Top-3 universities – Harvard, Stanford, MIT — are in the business of collecting anomalies. They need ~2,000 students and so they search for students who have achieved something very rare. That could be an international Olympiad medal, a research paper cited by real scholars, or a company that genuinely takes off. SAT scores are sky-high — 1550+ and many students already look like they passed out of college – demonstrating their prowess.

Now for the highly-selective colleges — Top-5 to Top-15 schools, which includes the rest of the Ivy League plus a few others like Duke, Rice, or Northwestern. These schools still value strong achievements — but they’re less obsessed with national-level awards. They still value recognition and they reward students who’ve competed nationally but also regionally. They look equally for leadership, compassion, and community impact. SATs here might range 1480–1540. If you want a deep breakup of each individual Ivy League, check out the video linked in the cards.

Then you reach the Top-40 — places like Boston University, UC San Diego, University of Washington. Remember — the U.S. has over 4,000 universities. Earning a spot at even a Top-40 school still places you among the best of the best. These colleges attract strong, well-rounded students who’ve shown consistent growth and follow-through. They don’t need global awards or perfect grades — but they still fill the class with hardworking, curious, responsible and driven students.

How Admissions Officers Evaluate Extracurricular Activities

Now, let’s decode activities. We’ll review them through different lenses — Computer Science, Economics, Research, Community Impact, and more — to see how similar activities can produce very different levels of value. And we’ll translate that value into what it signals to admissions officers about who you are and how competitive your profile really is.

Computer Science / Artificial Intelligence High School Extracurricular Examples

At the Top-3, we see students whose work borders on university-level research. One student built an AI model to detect diabetic retinopathy and published it in the Journal of Emerging Investigators. Another created an open-source code library later used by hundreds of developers — that’s impact at scale.

At the Top-5-15, the work is still serious, but it’s framed within mentorship or collaboration.A student interned at an AI lab at IIT, contributed to a model used in an actual company’s healthcare analytics, and placed in the Top 15% of a national hackathon. Remember: top 15% is tremendous but it’s not rare enough for the Top 3.

By the Top-40, the story is simpler but students don’t lack motivation.Valuable activities might include completing Harvard’s CS50 course online, building a chatbot for school announcements, or becoming the secretary of the coding club. If you are confused about why a role like secretary doesn’t earn you much power, check out the video 3 things that don’t move the needle.

Economics & Finance High School Extracurricular Examples

At the Top-3, one student co-authored a paper on behavioral finance cited by graduate researchers. Another led a global team to victory in the Wharton High School Investment Competition where over 1,800 teams from 66 countries apply.

For the Top-5-15, the proof lies in disciplined pursuit:an internship with a financial analyst at a local private equity firm, a top regional-level result in the Asian Economics Olympiad, or completing a selective summer program at Yale Young Global Scholars.

At the Top-40, the narrative is interest becoming skill — running a school finance club, managing a small portfolio of your stocks, or creating budgeting workshops for classmates. These students show initiative and readiness to learn from university-level rigor but are operating at a smaller scale.

Research & Innovation High School Extracurricular Examples

Top-3 admits often have originality that stands out immediately. One designed a biodegradable plastic alternative and presented at the International Science and Engineering Fair. They earned the Innovation Award.Another spent over 1,000 hours supporting a faculty mentor on a materials science research thesis. The faculty allowed the student to become co-author, recognizing that the paper could not have been written without the student’s contribution. Less than 0.5% of the high-school population would get an opportunity to co-author a research paper. Remember — rarity wins for Top 3.

At the Top-5-15, research tends to come through structured programs like Pioneer or Lumiere, with well-written abstracts, strong analysis. Students extend the value of their research paper by presenting at regional symposiums and competitions.

By Top-40, research may be teacher-guided through school fairs, data collection projects, or experiments documented on GitHub or a blog. They demonstrate intellectual initiative and academic rigor but stop short of 3rd-party validation through a publication. By the way, if you want the names of actual activities you can apply to, consider checking out the linked video above — I will give you a framework to help you understand how to evaluate activities.

Community Impact High School Activities for STEM

For Top-3 schools, scale and sustainability are everything. One student built a sanitation-tracking app that’s now used in five villages. The local government MLA came to the launch and the project was recognized in three newspapers.

At Top-5-15 universities, community impact means consistent local leadership: running an education drive for two years, or launching a mental-health curriculum adopted by schools across two states.

At Top-40, it’s personal service done well — weekly tutoring, volunteering at hospitals, or fundraising drives. These are the most well-represented community service activities among high-schoolers.

Writing / Journalism Extracurriculars to Prepare for College

A Top-3 writer is a published student journalist for highly selective publications — their achievement is not one-off but repetitive. One student won the John Locke Essay Competition, another published opinion pieces in The Hindu.

At the Top-5-15 level, you’ll find editors of school magazines, writers for smaller circulations like Polyphony Lit or Teen Ink, or creators of regional or local editions of online newsletters. The outcome stops short of being extremely rare.

At the Top-40, the applicant might have a blog or small column — reflective, consistent, and promising, which they share with friends and family. The scale of their activity is limited.

Robotics & Engineering Extracurriculars to Prepare for College

At the Top-3, innovation stands out:a student represented India at the FIRST Global international robotics competition; another patented a low-cost prosthetic hand later featured in four tech media publications.

At the Top-5-15, leadership and technical depth matter: leading a robotics team to nationals, winning regional design awards, or creating considerable impact during an internship at a local engineering startup. These show achievement and great initiative but are still common — remember, with 50,000 applicants at an Ivy, thousands of students will have earned regional-level awards in areas like engineering or music.

At the Top-40, the story centers on learning and teamwork — visiting the school’s maker’s lab regularly, joining tech clubs, experimenting with Arduino kits — showing technical curiosity that can be cultivated further.

Arts / Music Activities for High School Students

Top-3 schools look for artistic identity — not just talent. A student released an album on Spotify with 200k streams; another was invited to perform an original piece nationally.

At Top-5-15, recognition is often regional — winning youth competitions or performing for public events. Perhaps the student builds up music capabilities by pairing these wins with a leadership role as the bandmaster to show depth in his field of interest.

At the Top-40, it’s steady growth — annual school concerts, ensemble leadership, creative portfolios that show dedication even without wide reach.

Leadership & Entrepreneurship Profile Building Activities

At the Top-3, leadership equates to visible outcomes with great scale.A student built a social-learning app connecting rural tutors and was selected for the Rise Global Fellowship. Another scaled a nonprofit to five cities with corporate partners, with a legacy that remains after he leaves for college.

At the Top-5-15, it’s about a city-wide initiative or a profitable small startup. It’s local and small but demonstrates tremendous difficulty. Few leaders can handle the difficulty of running their own company.

Takeaways: What Gets You Admitted Into Elite U.S. Colleges

So here’s the pattern again:

• Top-3 universities look for signals that you’re already performing at a college or pre-professional level. They look for national or international indicators that show you’re capable of achieving something that rarely high-schoolers can achieve.

• Top-5-15 universities look for mastery within structure — proof that you can thrive when given resources. They appreciate regional recognition and a drive to reach the national stage. They want to see a theme within your activities.

• Top-40 universities look for growth — consistency, curiosity, and the capacity to rise once those opportunities appear.

You don’t need to be a prodigy to reach a great university. You just need to make sure your work matches the level of proof each tier of college expects.

But here’s the challenge — most activities are highly subjective. It’s hard to know whether something counts as “Top-3 material” or is more appropriate for a Top-15 university. That’s why we created the BlueSkies framework — to show you exactly how to rank your activities from Tier 1–4 based on real admissions value. Check out the linked video.

And don’t forget — if you liked what you heard, follow me.

See you in the next one!