“Find out what you love. It might be physics, or stem cell science, or acting, or finance. But don’t settle for plan B, the safety plan, until you have tried plan A, even if it might require a miracle.”                                                                                     Drew Faust (President of Harvard University)

Colleges are wonderful incubators to future leaders and while many events unfold during the journey to get a diploma, there’s a whole lot that goes to even get started with it.

Ivy League has had a rich history of traditions and ambitions that form an integral core of the personality of its members but with most of them having acceptance rate as low as 4.5%, how do you even think about running in the race let alone winning it.

Parents and students go through everything to brace themselves for the admission season but a major et common pitfall is ‘timing’. While parents are consistently working towards assembling the right tools and building a support system, the dynamic involvement of children comes at the eleventh hour making the outcomes less productive. As parents of high schoolers, the current scenario might be a tough battle for you to fight but some aids can help you get aligned with admissions and expectations of universities.

Summer plans that will take you to the Ivy League:

Go on exploration

“There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.”        Peter Drucker

Peter Drucker’s managing oneself has been proudly sitting in the list of Harvard business reviews, In the book, he lays emphasis on playing on your strengths. In the rat race to achieve the best we often push children into predefined boxes while being completely unaware of the skills they already possess.

Universities don’t look for prototype candidates, your child already is brilliant in their own space the onus of finding that space although universities put on you. Summers are a great time to invest in internships, volunteering for opportunities, tests, and assessments that aid in knowing the atoms of one’s personality.

Build an itinerary for your dream job

Start with a picture of your goal as already achieved in the future, and work back to the present. Imagine the steps that you would have taken to get from where you are now to where you want to be. - Author: Brian Tracy

Life is a journey full of choices and decisions, while the concept of right and wrong is a subjective notion and life is full of chances. Primarily it starts with encouraging practices that make your child more self-aware, the journey to present yourself starts with knowing yourself.

Parents can help in designing a roadmap that syncs with current trends, goals, ambitions, skills, aptitude, and the opportunities that culminate all these in the right amount to gain insights. It includes noting down future aspirations, the field of interests, talent, etc. Once an alignment is figured out between dreams and your skills it gives a boost of working on your strengths which is the best way to succeed.

Bond your relationships

The struggle to make it to the top is a difficult one, to say the least, spend this summer season knowing your child better and helping them know themselves through virtual internships, training programs, volunteering opportunities, personality tests, etc. Many Ivy league colleges themselves provide a chance to intern with them internships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://your.yale.edu/work-yale/careers/internships.

According to Princeton review after your GPA, your interests, hobbies, essays, and internships form a paramount portion of your application. https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/what-looks-good-on-college-applications

Explore your hobbies, skills and put a spin on them. Passion can make anything look beautiful as long as you know how to decorate it well.