So you want to attend Harvard? or maybe its Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Upenn or Brown. Or maybe its the prestigious 'ivy leaguish' MIT or Stanford.

You don't have to be rich to go to most Ivy league schools, (there are fellowships, scholarships and loans to help you get started, however this varies from school to school).No matter your financial status its possible, here is a little guide to get you started.

(1)Hopefully you have a good CGPA, if your CGPA isn't too fantastic, all hope is not lost you still have a chance.

(2) Research the school and program you want to apply to, note what is outstanding about the program/school, you may even start to reach out to potential supervisors or current students via email.

(3)Register for the GRE and ace it, try to get a high GRE score especially if your GPA is low, if you are going for an MBA, the GMAT may be your best bet although most B-schools now accept the GRE in lieu of the GMAT.

(4) Write up a professional resume, don't just knock something together, if possible have someone else look at it and critic it (preferably a professional, 2 or 3 of your former lecturers in school will also do)

(5) Write your statement of purpose (SOP) or school application essay, let it flow, connecting your past to what you are now aspiring to study and why did this makes sense. Most school websites ask for specific information in the SOP, make sure you incorporate them into your SOP. Edit your SOP, correct typos and grammatical errors and edit again and again and again until it inspires even you. Have someone else look at it and polish it for you.

(6) Remember the lecturers I mentioned in no (4) above?, you had better cozy up to them and request that they write you recommendations. Most applications require some sort of academic recommendations (except for B-schools that require professional recommendations). Select only people that you are probably sure will write you good reference letters, the person's title is not what matters, its what they say and how they say it. Give them copies of your School application essay, resumes and provide guidance as to what you want them to emphasize if they are open to coaching from you (most people are if you ask nicely)

(7) Most Ivy league graduate schools (except B-schools)request that international students have their transcripts evaluated by WES (an international transcript evaluation service), a month to the submission deadline is not the time to start chasing after your transcript in school, do this very early. Infact as soon as you decide you want to apply, start processing your transcript.

Follow up with your recommenders to make sure they submit on time, (this is very important), submit your application together with any financial aid applications and hope for the best.

Good luck

Disclaimer: I am not an admissions expert, the information above is a general guide only.

Its a nice piece.. But it excludes how to shuffle through the universities' high fees.

@braine you might want to check the first 3 sentences of my post

OP, did you gain admission yourself?
Have you completed your studies?
What were you studying?
What sort of funding did you get?
What did your funding cover?