<p>So I've wanted to go to Dartmouth since the 6th grade. Clearly I'd apply ED, but I'm just really worried that my grades don't quite make it. GPA, weighted, will be about 98. Biology is my best subject (pre-med/genetics). I have several awards and such that I've won, and I've done genetics research for three years. So that's my main focus, bio and genetics. However, my standardized test grades so far have been terrible- AP World History-3, SAT II in World History- 560.
That's a huge ouch. It's simply embarassing. I know I may suck at history (hopefully did a lot better on U.S this year!), but since bio is my main goal, how much will that set me back? Also it's quite possible that I may get a 3 or below on tomorrow's AP Chemistry test. I'm just such a bad test-taker and it's going to kill me. I know I rank in the top 30 in my class, but I also go to a really competitive public high school, and I don't think admissions is going to know that. And as far as bio goes, I may not place in Intel or anything, but I have a real passion for science research. Anyway, I know everyone hates answering the "Chance"-type threads, but I'm also wondering what the science program is like at Dartmouth. How much independent research can undergraduates do? Can I still work on genetics if I'm going pre-med?</p>
<p>Well if you really goto a competitive public school why wouldn't Dartmouth know that? And how are your SAT scores? You can probably give SAT II again in October and try and raise that score! And also give SAT II for Biology.</p>
<p>Don't worry too much about 1 bad sat ii score. I had a pretty bad one, but I still managed to get in. As long as you have two decent scores, SAT IIs will not hurt you.</p>
<p>And AP tests generally don't count towards admission</p>
<p>jdub27 : are you serious about the AP tests?! because from what I have read about them in other forums, they contribute a lot. No idea. I maybe wrong :)</p>
<p>keep in mind the school will use your unweignted GPA as many schools have different weighting systems (the school transcript and profile will speak to the difficulty of the courses).</p>
<p>sybbie719 : are you also in Dartmouth?</p>
<p>They will definitely know how competitive your school is and will factor it in an appropriate manner.</p>
<p>the sat, ap, etc section has the sat, act and sat iis as admission factors, ap for placement only.</p>
<p>Usually colleges don't flat out lie. The fact that you dont need to report them also suggests they aren't they don't play a huge role.</p>
<p>i got a 500 on world history sat 2, had fairly strong everything else. im here now...it wont set you back much. plus being science, as opposed to history helps. good luck!</p>
<p>thanks everyone! i do plan to take the bio sat 2 in october, and should get in the 700s on that. if i don't report my ap scores, the college won't be suspicious right? i'm taking the sats for the first time this june, so we'll see how that turns out :)</p>