How to Get Into an Ivy League School

🎓 Get into your dream school: nextadmit.com/roadmap/
Applying to college can be a daunting process. In this video, I break down some of my thoughts on how you can best prepare yourself to get into the school of your dreams.
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WHO AM I:
My name is Gohar Khan, and I'm an MIT grad helping you succeed at school. I make videos about study strategies, college applications, and occasionally, my day-to-day life. I want to equip students with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to realize their academic potential.
CONACT ME:
Feel free to reach me via Instagram DMs or by email at [e-mail]. Unfortunately, I may not get to respond to everyone, but I'll do my best!

[@goharsguide]

This is my first long-form video in a LONG time. Hopefully y'all enjoy!

[@delected]

thank you! so much less painful than scrolling through a bunch of shorts

[@timothychepurny]

Thank you man!

[@geetika8634]

enjoyed it! would love to see more videos like this!! C:

[@masternobody1896]

rip i fail in college

[@thedanman6332]

@@masternobody1896 oof

[@MaxwellChan0]

As a sophomore in high school right now, this was extremely informative. I want to go into marketing or business administration in the future and I'm going to cater my interests and classes toward that. I love these videos! 😁

[@zackcarl7861]

Me too i am also in to marketing , and info-matics (and also i like computer science )

[@Yuzuwuzu]

Personally I want to be a lawyer so probably smth like that

[@the_legendishere5354]

Be some kind of accountant becuase marketing isnt that great but also not bad so choose wisely

[@the_legendishere5354]

@@zackcarl7861 computer science is hard but pays off if you can make it

[@reneli5403]

dude i swear i see u everywhere

[@AseemSingru]

I just committed to one of my dream colleges, and I will say- this admissions year was completely insane! Some of the lowest acceptance rates, and kids were getting rejected from safeties and accepted to reaches. Ultimately, remember, as clichéd as it sounds, to be yourself and truly represent the person who you are in your essays. Because that is what will shine through a sea of similar activities, extracurriculars and grades. All the best to incoming highschool juniors and seniors!

[@crazychimp1039]

Same tho! Got into an ivy league and I'm like wtf !!!

[@moeinhaddadnia1501]

I was rejected from northeastern but got into Brown. It was super random this yr

[@L0veD1ve]

Usually safeties will reject you if you are "too good" because they know that if you get an offer from an ivy league youd choose them!

[@hopsmax2827]

@@moeinhaddadnia1501what was your gpa and ECs? Were they crazy good?

[@silverflash184]

As a senior who just committed to an ivy league, there is a lot of truth that was said in the video. In my college essays, the overwhelming idea behind them was, what is a story that can only be told by me. As a first generation college student, being born from immigrants parents, with little money coming in for us, a lot of people suggested me writing about that as my themes. However, I felt as if that perspective is told to much, and I had no control of being born in poverty, to immigrants, or that I was the first one heading to college in my whole family. I pushed all those ideas aside, and instead wrote about a personal narrative that couldn't be replicated by anybody, a narrative about a pen in second grade that shaped my view on life. Yes, an essay about a pen, but hay got me in some top tier colleges, and trust me you wouldn't believe the amount of unique essays I hear of people getting accepted from. Even had a friend of mine write an essay about SpongeBob, and got into Yale. I feel, if you're capable of creating a unique story about your life that involves whatever field of study that you're interested in, that you'll do fine in the college application process.

[@pyrobadger]

hey, I really wanna ask do extracurriculars matter?

[@kyamurs]

@@pyrobadger Yes they do. It was a main point in this video.

[@diggity977]

@@kyamurs what are extra curriculars??

[@romerorosales9174]

Hi you said you were a senior that was committed I am just a junior and I feel it's to late compared to others what do you think? I am interested to give it a shot

[@anthonyhadsell2673]

Didnt apply to any ivys but i wrote two personal narrative essays for college, one about getting a felony and the other one about shitting my pants.

[@sleepykitten2168]

Please make more videos like this. This was as useful as a month of your other content (not to put those down). This was great, please make more. I'd love to see them and I'll watch them all the way through.

[@goharsguide]

If you're looking for a month-by-month breakdown of what you should be doing to prepare for college, check out the High School Roadmap! 🗺️ nextadmit.com/roadmap/

[@coolala2821]

Thank you so much, Gohar!

[@CNoel]

Can we just thank him for all this free advice! Thanks, Gohar! You always give such great advice!

[@timothychepurny]

Thank you man! This is so helpful.

[@lexa1034]

Please make more videos discussing college admission in a regular video format! I've learned so much from you, things I didn't even know until I came across your content!

[@dooky_stain]

THANK YOU GOHAR! ❤

[@nightplays7367]

OMG that’s so helpful have been waiting for these vids

[@CrysCatolf]

Thanks, this is really good advice to help think. I'm not too close to uni yet, but this will help me get ready for it. Really a fan of your work.

[@Rana-wl9dh]

I’m happy to see these great pieces of advice. Keep the good work 👍

[@sarahk.3660]

Thank you for making this video!! And damn you are smart look at the list of colleges you got into!! Great to have an inspiration like you on KZbin! Keep up the amazing work ❤️

[@JusticeShepard]

Love this!

[@soniabear7598]

Thank you this was super helpful!

[@reyhanhaiderusatt]

Very informative video for a freshman in high school. Please keep it up!

[@lucyburke3949]

Thanks for the help :) I love your channel -high school freshman

[@SemiAutomaticTrebuchet]

Thank you this was very helpful. I’m not going to be applying to college for college for a long time but it’s gives a more defined path to follow and I also can relate because I also am extremely interested in machine learning and coding.😀😁

[@unknownman5296]

This video is sooo good. Please make more videos like this !

[@sebastianpalmer9422]

So helpful!

[@hiroyagobanai9826]

Thanks for the advice 🙏

[@marimood]

thank you so much for these videos :')

[@goharsguide]

thank you for the support! :)

[@murk959]

hey gohar! thanks for all your amazing vids. Youre also helllaaaaa cuuute

[@anas4146]

It is a really nice and amazing video thank you Gohar you are an amazing guy 👍

[@ishanvipurwar1171]

Thankyou Gohar this is very helpful. Just one request please upload more long videos

[@CosmicBeams]

Good introduction Gohar!

[@haniaahmed2698]

This was soo helpful

[@noobifest2413]

Thanks for the video Gohar. I have 4 semesters left and I feel like I wasted most of my potential. I have good grades and take the harder APs for my grade level but there is nothing else appealing to admission officers about me.

[@ivydprep]

Awesome advice ^^ Carefully choose activities that have meaning to you. IMPACT over FORMALITY

[@aeframess]

As somebody who’s been dreaming of Princeton and working my heart put this helps, thanks.

[@360_gangsterelite2]

This is really good information, wish I had this when I was younger lol

[@evancubing9730]

Thanks this helped me alot

[@definitelynotmayah]

as a freshman trying to get into princeton- this gave me so many good tips and a good plan for my future.

[@wariomario8913]

Great video!

[@thelofilife3238]

So very helpful, would love to learn at MIT someday this is really good advice. thank you

[@Mr-iw8ps]

6th grade preparing for princeton

[@Hmnm]

@@Mr-iw8ps lmao 6th grade is kinda too early but good luck I guess

[@aur1ne]

@@Mr-iw8ps !!! 6th grade prepping for harvard / yale / princeton or maybe some uni in nova scotia :)

[@somitrasharma3317]

@@Hmnm never too late or early to prepare :)

[@Tommy.28]

@@aur1newhy Nova Scotia lol its the least pleasant place for a uni

[@digantadas4543]

Thank you Big Bro. At present I am a 9th grader in India( same as USA). And I was in a state of confusion before but now you have laid out the path in front of me. Thank you again. BTW coincidentially you took biology as your example and I also want to do major in molecular and celluar bio.

[@6imjustarandomguy9]

Since I'm just fairly decent with a dream of getting into MIT this was helpful thanks, if there's any more things we should focus on maybe another long video might help

[@happy__Mangoz]

I’m gonna be in highschool next year and I really want to lock in. My dream school isn’t really and Ivey but it has a less than 20% acceptance rate. So I’ve been binging this guys’s videos since 7th grade. I got A-honor roll this year because of gohar, thanks dude. I’ve got one more grade to go before high school but you have my thanks for the advice you’ve given. Love you dude. 🙏❤️

[@madi_stellar]

Thank you Gohar, I am a rising sophomore who dreams of going to UPenn for biochemical and biomolecular engineering. This video has been very informative and so have the rest of your videos.

[@education.online_frevryone]

Thanks for sharing

[@x.lenni._.wenni.x]

Tysm! ^^

[@apgeducationwithpratiksharajpu]

Very informative video 👍

[@sheepbeep5247]

This is very helpful

[@goharsguide]

thank you! I'm glad to hear :)

[@zackcarl7861]

Gohar make video on , now to apply for masters , like a master's in economics and data analysis and marketing , how to write the application in , and what to add

[@aryaarora500]

Yo been long since your video, Wsg

[@lattesongs]

as a Junior In highschool, this gave me hope

[@1rios3tudios]

I loved how he sounds just the same as when he’s recording shorts even when he’s talking normally, not like other youtubers

[@wolf-o-rama]

I had gotten accepted into Yale about a year prior to this video. I just want to say thanks for this video. It really is an awesome video and very informative

[@tejasvipakala6180]

Hey can you tell me in detail about how you got into yale?

[@wolf-o-rama]

@@tejasvipakala6180 I have a 4.5 gpa and I have a lifegaurding certificate and have done multiple sports and won multiple awards. My advice is to do many things that you believe you can do and that will get you into any college including Ivy League schools

[@meisteroftrollage9929]

i will try tomorrow thanks

[@lfm4159]

Gohar you're my idol

[@sanjayrajan8756]

Hi Gohar , I'm studying 10th grade in India. You have said that joining a lot of co and extra curricular activities make a lot of difference in our application. But in our school, they only focus on studies this year because unlike other countries, in our place, high school is divided as 9th 10th, and 11th 12th. In 10th and 12th we'll write an exam whose marks will be useful for a resume. So this year in 10th we don't even have a sports period! In the sake of concentrating more in studies. And there is no such thing as clubs in our place. But we choose a 'group' in 11th grade which is like choosing a path from medical, engineering or business management. So I request you to learn the condition of us and tell the hopes for us to join at a top college. P.S. I live in the state of Tamilnadu. My condition is different from students from other states in India.

[@nganthoimaibam5949]

I live in Manipur and I'm giving my 10 th board exams. Your situation is exactly 💯 similar to mine . There's no extra curriculars , club , just studying all day . We don't even do sports either. So there's is a huge difference between our education system and what gohar is talking about. I do want to do all the stuff that he's talking about but its not possible here . So can't relate to all this ap classes, college essays he talking about. I totally feel you

[@inspiringmuslim]

Same brother....I m also from India....currently a 10th grader preparing for boards....then parents say either JEE OR NEET...what to do I m very confused

[@mrinmayisania4106]

hey... even I am from Tamil Nadu...and currently at the edge of completing my 12th... The same thing happened to me when I joined my 9th grade... All the extracurriculars were just removed from the timetable and then going on into 10th grade the physical training period also got stopped. I continued playing outdoor games as much I could but then the so-called boards came which was the end of my extracurriculars. Moreover, i belong to the corona batch and my 70 percent schooling of high school was online which didn't allow me to join any clubs. Since i have chosen the science group, the academics are quite tough and even the government here is making idiotic decisions which is very stressful. At this point, i am thinking of quitting my dream of going into the ivy league. I'm just helpless🥲🥲

[@shriyatripathi9242]

I live in Uttarpradesh and my situation is literally similar to that of yours, i might start taking coaching for SAT exams and go for basketball training if i get good marks in 10th lol

[@shriyatripathi9242]

@@mrinmayisania4106 i have a suggestion which might not interest you but here’s the thing you can take a year of like after passing 12th grade and focus of the exam you wanna give like sat, ielts etc and join some extracurricular activities that interest you (like i love dancing and playing basketball so i might start training in them ) this way you can focus on college admissions for a whole year and also improve or develop activities of your interest that will help you getting into college.

[@quatro4764]

You may never see this, but next year I have to start applying for colleges, and when it comes to my “narrative” I feel very weak, because I’m pretty much a basic white guy and some first generation Asian immigrant from Laos. If anyone had any ideas on how to improve my narrative it would be great.

[@themikeygshow1271]

It doesn’t need to be about your ethnic background or race. A lot of people choose to go down that route because it’s what gives them a unique outlook on life or makes them different. However, you’re saying that your background has not had that effect on you if I’m not mistaken. Literally any experience, aspect about you, personality trait, or whatever can be used as the main topic or “narrative” of your personal essay. I recommend looking at the common app prompts as soon as they’re released just for inspiration. Personally, I was in a very similar situation as you cause I’m a white dude without some “groundbreaking” experience that makes me super unique. I wrote about losing weight in my sophomore year and I got into an elite university which I’ll be attending in the fall. Now, obviously my essay isn’t the only thing that got me in but I made it personal and honest, which is exactly what colleges want. I hope this was helpful and I wish you luck man! I know it’s a very stressful process.

[@quatro4764]

@@themikeygshow1271 Thanks man, I appreciate you taking your time to respond. I will make good use of your advice. Good luck on attending university!

[@amaansiddique]

Assalamualaikum Gohar☺️.. Thanks for the video❤️

[@pardhacherukuri2893]

I Love your videos. Do you have any advice for applying to public/moderately selective schools?

[@arnavwavre4741]

This video is really helpful. I'm actually planning to study medicine and get into a very selective school , but I live in India my high school does not have all these clubs we only had sports club till the 10th grade and no universities that carry out biology research. So do you have an idea about students who want to get into competitive schools but do not have the means to do all of these things that you listed?

[@alaa-eldin_hamdan]

This video addressed the essay part of admissions only. No mention of standardized testing. Even if they say “test optional” scores are extremely important.

[@purpathak]

Pls make more long form type videos like this

[@skribby838]

Hello Gohar, thank you for making this amazing videos, they really help me get a different perspective on this topic! Would it be possible to make a video about how to apply to a college (in US) if you are a foreigner/come from a different country, since other countries‘s high schools have a different study programs, and some don’t even have extracurriculars, like clubs. Thank you in advance, keep up the good work!

[@sworn9321]

That is exactly what I want too! Here they don't have any of the extracurricular activities which other schools in more developed countries have.

[@JJustinXu]

Gohar, do more of these videos!

[@landofsweet101]

Omg hi gokhan! It's been so long. We miss you.

[@kimthefish]

hi, what about international students applying for ivys? bc some of us that do like gcses or ib don't have that much time to do loads of extracurricular stuff like american high schoolers might... does this hinder international students' chances or is that taken into account?

[@ethan_cuh991]

I’m not even in high school yet and I’m thinking about college, it’s never too early to think about it as long as you don’t over stress about it (I’m in 8th grade)

[@Lena-tq4yx]

How’s hs?

[@warrenduke6120]

as a 6th grader, can relate

[@belleispopcorn3052]

Same💀

[@eunhe67]

I'm in 8th too

[@jack_Armstrong_2]

I am wondering what it is like to apply to a college and what kind of things you have to do to get there. My goal is to get into MIT . If you have any advice Ty.

[@FEET-BALL]

gohar i am a 5th grader and i watch you videos all the time

[@wondercreations1723]

Thanks Mr. Khan, your advice is very helpful. As a pre-freshman, now I can start planning out my applications early to make it to my dream school.

[@airflaws4707]

My guess is giving cookies with strong sleepiness effects like chemical melatonin which will make them easier to bypass and then just jump over the fence or dig under it to get to thr other side. Easy as that!

[@arjunjayan1236]

Hey Gohar! How did you learn how to code and where? Thanks for info!

[@leapingmillard4339]

Honestly I just got into CSU East Bay and I feel like any college is better than no college

[@Dora_thexplorer764]

If you did some really cool, impactful passion projects during middle school, can you include that in your college applications? Would colleges even care?

[@bharathym]

Cool!

[@-ZubairAli]

Can you go deeper into discovering your passion? Plz!

[@peachycloudz6438]

im not even in highschool (in a few years I will be) and im worrying about college XD || Thanks for the advice I will defiantly use it in the future.

[@gaganaaloka1004]

Great video mate.one thing though work on your outro rather than just stopping out of the blue

[@romulus3529]

Planning on applying to brown university!! Wish me luck

[@itsmebymyself8033]

I'm interested in many subjects especially science, math,computer,history,and English so all of them.

[@rko2946]

I am a sophomore, rising junior. I have had good grades, mostly A’s some A-, but this year my second semester killed me, and I have B+’s and B with some A- and A grades. It isn’t what I want. I have good EC’s so I need a strong junior year.

[@user-xh3gv9zr8d]

Youre so underrated

[@faber5573]

I wish I could watch this in my freshman year but now I'm a junior who did pretty much nothing except for some math competitions 😢

[@nivaan_09]

Hello I loved your video, very helpful But I still have a question, how can an international student get into and ivy league college

[@ibrokhimmirsalikhov9494]

Keep it up.

[@MocksBlock]

My problem, at least at my school and in my area in general, is that there is such little interest in physics in general (which is what I want to study). It doesn’t help that my school doesn’t offer ap classes when in all the school boards surrounding mine do (I’m Canadian so it’s not super common). Physics contests that are within reasonable distance just don’t exist. There is a physics exam/contest in Canada called the CAP exam which is what is used to select the IPhO team but the closest test Center is a two hour drive out. This is making me so frustrated because I have two years of high school left but little to show my interest in physics. The only thing I’m truly passionate about as an extracurricular is just messing around with computers. I’m not athletic at all but my school simply doesn’t offer much choice in terms of non-sports extra-curricular. I hope that I can find some way to show my passions this next school year.

[@chappo4709]

Any tips for people outside of the USA, about how they could apply for a american college, is it harder ect

[@interestsyoutube7568]

Gohar i am in 10th standard now because I didn't join in any clubs or discovered something new what should I do ? Please help 🙏

[@annabellebeloiu9691]

Does owning a business help? I am in ninth grade and own and operate my own business. Will this help if I continue the business through my senior year?

[@BradleyFish-ln4vl]

Thanks

[@4keepzz]

Now I feel stressed. What should I do in middle school to help my high school application and my college application?

[@vedpatil2353]

enjoy your middle school while it lasts, don't worry about college apps it's literally 5-6 years down the line, I'd honestly argue that you don't even have to worry about college freshman year as you can cruise through without any real struggle. I'd spend freshman year trying out all the clubs and seeing what sticks. Do you like Science Olympiad? FBLA? (I especially recommend SciOly to prospective STEM majors because that can really help you determine what kind of science you want to do.) I'd spend the rest of my high school thinking about a possible passion project related to either one of your hobbies or what you want to do as a career (these two are not mutually exclusive).

[@KarateLauren]

I agree with the reply above me. Middle school is really just elementary part two, with some adjustments to get ready for high school. don't stress, it's an easy cruise right now. the most you should realistically be doing is thinking about the general career path you aspire to go down rather than the specifics discussed in this video.

[@stanloona67]

You don’t have to do any thing in middle school but enjoy it while you still can. To quote my teachers “school doesn’t matter until 10th grade”.

[@im_not.dk-_-]

Can you please give tips for middle school too

[@legoman2624]

well time to look at this video until i could get into college

[@boba_dino3]

I am about to go to high school and I still have many interests. I don’t know which to choose but I do know i want to pursue business and maybe computer science.

[@VENUEATHENS]

Something special

[@ariahiruistheheroofteyvat3303]

i have to disagree with the ninth grade one. Or maybe that it is different between countries as ninth grade in my asia (my country atleast) is the year where you have to focus on that one specific thing you are good at (and master academical subjects you are not good at). You won't even have time to explore throughly what you may be interested in because you'll only have a semester to do so anyway as the other semester will be used to focus on graduation exams. The one I can reccommend is 7th and 10th grade which are known to be "resting years" after graduation exams and entry exams. I can't say about first year of university though as I haven't experienced that yet. I am a ninth grader, so I can say this loud and clear that you won't have enough time to explore what you want to experienced in your 3rd year of junior high. If you really want to explore the stuffs you want, I'd more suggest of 8th grade and 11th grade as you would be more familiar with your surroundings and maybe even the teachers of the club you want to explore in.

[@CCOT_GD_]

Since I am a powerlifting lover and most Ivies have them, would it be good to mention this in my essay?

[@tsa88830]

I'm in 8th grade rn and I want to go to MIT. I feel like I'm behind because I want to major in CS but I haven't coded a bunch of websites like he had in middle school. I only took python for a trimester this school year and I had a lot of fun in it but I don't know a lot about coding. Do you think I still have a chance

[@isabellalora6533]

You still have Time don’t worry ☺️🤗 you’re so young

[@xxspacekidxx8235]

Dunno if your still checking the replies on this, but- there are a TON of coding resources online. My favorite is freeCodeCamp, but there is also Codecademy (like freeCodeCamp, but from a company instead of a non-profit and has some paid options), picoCTF for cybersecurity/hacking, and tons more just from googling "how to do x", looking on youtube, and surprisingly Reddit. (I say Reddit because the wikis for forums are usually shockingly good resources, better than most searchable lists, just look for r/(insert something you want to know more about) and see if they have a wiki or pinned post) Anyways, I don't know if this is helpful at all, but this is what I've found after ~6 months of very casual interest in comp science. Best wishes to you!

[@beansforlief5703]

There are tons of summer programs for coding you can take the next 4 years

[@owethuxhakaza7681]

Gohar I am currently a 11th grade student from South Africa and I am plead you on your guidance to ensure my chances into getting admitted to an Ivy league .

[@varaanawaz2282]

Hi pleaseee help me with this What's tha difference between computer science, software engineering and engineering and how do I know which one is better for me??

[@the_legendishere5354]

I wish i can go back .. ive done nothing but only get good grades in honor classes and thats it. Im a junior and school ends in less than a month. I hate myself

[@varunahlawat9013]

Where's the video about recs and interviews? Please upload them!

[@twintek1099]

We don't have much of that EC stuff in the UK... so idk what to do.

[@underratedgaming5627]

Thx.