<p>Yeah, I'm only applying to 5 schools (rpi, wpi, duke, dartmouth, Uconn)</p>
<p>2060 SAT I (700 math, 620 Cr, 740 Writing)
29 ACT (33 math, 26 reading, 30 english, 28 science)--retaking (31-33?)
uw GPA=3.98/4.00
w GPA=6.09/8.00</p>
<p>790 math iic
680 sat2 chem
660 sat2 bio might retake
AP chem-3
Currently taking honors brit lit, honors civics+gov., ap physics B, ap biology, ap calculus AB (hardest classes school offers..self study for enviro?)
ranked 1/190 competitive public school white male MA
average Old SAT score around 1040</p>
<p>ECs:
boy scout, patrol leader
school band, jazz band, marching band (1st chair alto for all)
NE district festival adjudication (60/80...didn't make the cut-off)
music program @ Umass lowell
Interact Club
Math league (scored ~95 on AMC 12 junior year)
NHS, member
Hospital Volunteer (125 hours)
ACADEC (team medal winner...few honorable mentions)
X-country 3 varsity letters, runner in MA eastern state race
outdoor track varsity letter
Local Journalist for x-country team</p>
<p>RECs:
Good Guidance Recommendation letter
AMAZING Teacher Letter (went to Duke)
Decent Rec. from physics teacher</p>
<p>Essays:
Excellent...I scored a 12 both times I took the new SAT and a 12 on the ACT essay, so maybe that will help a little.</p>
<p>parents went to state schools so alumni won't help...
BE HONEST!</p>
<p>I think you are making a BIG mistake. Dartmouth and Duke are reaches, especially with your SAT. You have no matches, the rest are safeties. There are plenty of similar schools (WashU, Northwestern, Emory, Rice, Middlebury) where you might have a better shot. You are applying to way too few schools.</p>
<p>rice is great! dartmouth is better, you should be mentally prepared for rejection, through my own inductive reasoning, i am thinking you won't get in, however, luckily for you, the world doesn't really function on inductive reasoning, so you might still have a chance :), i hope you are a great student and you get in :)</p>
<p>a 29 ACT is absolutely awful. I don't care what anyone says about the importance of "other factors" SAT/ACT is the most important aspect of college admissions.</p>
<p>bull sat are not everything, hence more schools are going sat optional. Most ivies and prestigous schools reject perfect scores because the individual is lacking. So an applicant that all around good, with solid ec, grade with and upward trend, that challenges themselve has a good chance anywhere.</p>
<p>ok, schools tell you that SAT's aren't everything because they don't wanna make themselves appear impersonal, when, in actuality, they use SAT's to distinguish all applicants.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Duke aren't safe for anyone. I hope you like your safeties, because there is a 66% chance you'll end up at one. I think you needed at least one match!!</p>
<p>The thing is I absolutely love Uconn and it has a strong bio program for a public school. I also love that WPI and RPI have high job placement rates and are in tune to the technological demands of today's workforce. MY SAT is not superior by any means, so I believe they will look at me as a match.
I realize that I have a poor shot at Dartmouth and Duke, but I'm hoping that my new ACT score will be at least a 31.
--btw slipper I've talked to doctors in the hospital I volunteer at and many of them went to Dartmouth Medical. One said he also received his undergrad degree at Dartmouth and absolutely loved every minute he spent in Hanover. He did say it got a little boring at times, but the intellectual challenge kept him working hard through his four years.
*I know I am a poor test taker, and if colleges choose to reject me on that basis, so be it. I don't want to end up at a college which overstresses the SAT, a test which has been shown to descriminate and favor people with access to private tutoring and classes (even though I have the means of accessing these classes, my parents believe it is a waste of time and money. I also think going to a tutor for a standardized test is a bit ridiculous and demonstrates intellectual insecurity. I don't mean to incite a riot, but I have much more respect for people capable of self-prepping for a test or not prepping at all)</p>
<p>I have high aspirations, but unfortunately a not so high board score. Life has an interesting twist every so often. Perhaps divine intervention will allow those thick envelopes to arrive in my mail by March.</p>
<p>Honestly I think you need to rethink your thinking. While WPI and RPI have decent placement rates, they are worse than those others listed. I am going to talk from a personal point of view, because I feel this might move you more than anything else. I attended Dartmouth, and honestly it was magical. I love what Dartmouth is, what it stands for, and what it has given me and my friends. I think a great majority of alumni share my views. I transferred there, which only added to how much I loved it, because I had been elsewhere and I knew what I had.</p>
<p>I also go to a top MBA and have been exposed to grad students and recent graduates in the workforce in droves. I have also been to many many other schools (part of the Dartmouth deal - road trips happen often). Some schools share the magic of Dartmouth, others are very different. WPI and RPI won't provide nearly the experience Dartmouth will. But there are other top schools, easier to get into than Dartmouth, that are much closer to it than the schools you are applying to. Places like Middlebury, WashU, Emory, Vassar, Rice all fit the bill. WPI and RPI are safeties, like it or not, and they will not offer the college experience these other schools will. So much of going to a top college is being around brilliant people in the classroom, at the bar, and in the library while cramming for finals. </p>
<p>Your parents are wrong about the SAT. I personally boosted my score from a 1370 to a 1490 and I believe this helped me get into multiple Ivies. You might not like the game, but sometimes you have to play it. If giving myself a leg up by taking classes for an unfair and useless test was the ticket into an experience that will last a lifetime, so be it. I'd make the same decision a million times over.</p>
<p>I think the fact that you label WPI and RPI as safeties which "like it or not...will not offer the college experience these other schools will" is quite funny. I don't mean to enter a debate, but these are amongst the top 100 schools in the nation. There are many ho-hum colleges out there and not so many ( in the big picture) that can brag to have an average SAT score above a 1300. I know many brilliant people who attended WPI and did not regret their decision (great careers,$$$,friends,memories). I look at college as a time to be free, meet new people, pursue my academic studies, and eventually earn a degree so I can continue to grad. or professional school.</p>
<p>Although the SAT may have served to your personal advantage, I think it is assanine to believe that a multiple choice test with a 25 minute essay can summarize a person's reasoning skills. Some people mature at different ages. Some people would much rather write a symphony than give a damn about filling in bubbles. Lastly, some people are just not good test takers. I become mad at myself because I am unable to do well on these exams. I suppose it is pointless to be crying now that my applications have been sent or to try to evoke symphathy from others, but I guess I am doing so.
----(Praying for Duke/Dartmouth)______</p>
<p>My best friend took the SAT out of the blue the first time and got a 1220, second time he got a 1470 after Princeton Review. He ended up at Harvard.</p>
<p>RPI and WPI are not bad schools, they are top 100 and that is fine. But had you studied for the SAT, taken a course, and applied to a good selection of schools you would be pretty much a lock for somewhere in the top 15. Also, WPI and RPI are far from Dartmouth/ Duke and the gap you between those sets of schools is WAY too big. At columbia MBA we have 43 Dartmouth alums (I just looked it up) and there are 3 from RPI and 2 from WPI. Conversely there are 37 from Northwestern. What chances do you like?</p>
<p>Also I think almost everone at Dartmouth or Duke would rather write a symphony or be in a play or win a state championship than study for the SAT. But they knew what the system is and they sucked it up. Think I wanted to study for the GMAT for two months? Well I did, and now I am getting opportunities I never dreamed of. When students graduate from an awesome school they love like no other 4 years later the last thing on their minds was the hours they spent studying for the SAT. </p>
<p>If you ask me, a 6/8 on weighted GPA doesn't sound very impressive. If your rank is in line with that assumption, then I would say you have almost no shot.</p>