Because I feel better posting this on the Dartmouth board...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>than on the "what are my chances?" or "college admissions" board.</p>

<p>And I say that because I think current Dartmouth students (or parents) would probably have a better idea of what the admissions committee is looking for than would a prospective applicant on another forum. Anyway, I have a tendency to ramble on. So be forewarned.</p>

<p>Anyway, I will be applying Early Decision to Dartmouth and would like a rough estimate of my chances. But not necessarily in quite the traditional way. After all, admission into college has become so difficult that virtually everyone has the same or similar stats. So I'll list my stats, sure, but what I would like even more is a review of my essays. And it's weird, because I've already written about five or so essays in the past week or two in search of the best topic. But I think I found it. </p>

<p>I'll follow this post with my stats, but just as important, I would ask if anyone who would like to read my essays respond so and I could PM them. I went in a different direction with the short answer and instead of writing about what the club is and why it's important, I wrote about a specific experience that really showed why it's been so important to me. Lame, I know, but ask a trite question, get a trite answer, I guess.</p>

<p>Lastly, I also wrote a letter to the admissions committee explaining some different circumstances, but I went in a bit of a different direction with it than would be expected, and it's not the shortest thing in the world (but not the longest thing, either). Anyway, I'm not even sure if it's entirely appropriate to send, but there were alot of things regarding my educational background and my school that I believe have to be properly addressed in order for my application to be reviewed in context of the school of which it is a product.</p>

<p>So, IN SHORT, if anyone wants to read those three things and give feedback, please do respond. I'd be so very very thankful. And I'm not just asking for simple feedback, but I'd like to know how they fit together as a PACKAGE with the rest of my application, and if all together I stand a chance or not.</p>

<p>Anyway, my education's just taken a very different path than everyone else at my school, just so you know. I'm not gloating, and I won't go into the entire story (that'll be saved for the recc. from our superintendent. Not for a "big name" recc, but there's ALOT of stuff that needs to be explained), but it did involve alot of specialized programs set up and then jumping up into fourth grade during the middle of third grade etc etc etc. So in essence I've always kind of felt out of place. But I'm sure you can tell my typing's getting sloppy and I'll save everything else for the essays. <em>yawn</em></p>

<p>I'd ask all of this to my counselor, but she's not the most experienced in the world, and obviously we've never sent anyone to an Ivy League school or anything like that before, so she just wouldn't know what to look for.</p>

<p>Oh, and, again, I would really really appreciate it if anyone would like to take a look at the essays!</p>

<p>Thanks for reading to the end if you did!</p>

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<p>Yawn. In case you care.</p>

<p>School Type: Rural public (Yes, we're in Illinois and Illinois IS one of the better represented states (thanks alot, New Trier + Glenbard), but we're closer to Iowa than Chicago. We're not in Kansas but we might as well be. I don't know if the whole rural thing would be a factor or not, but there's not much opportunity for stuff like RSI and all that out here. Needless to say, we have an annual "drive your tractor to school" day. )</p>

<p>GPA: 4.17 W (Straight A's, even though there's no official UW GPA)
Class Rank: 1 of 266
ACT: 33 (taking it again in Sept., but I can't absolutely promise an increase)
SAT IIs: Can't take them until December, but I'm applying ED so they're not necessary until Jan. anyway.</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Model UN - President (three years, since inception) and co-founder
School Newspaper - Executive Staff/Editor, Columnist, Opinions/Real World Editor, Copyeditor, Reporter etc
Scholastic Bowl - JV Captain and Potential Varsity Captain.
Oboe Performance: I had to drop band after sophomore year due to some big scheduling conflicts, but I've played seriously for over seven years and do continue to do so.
Math Team
WYSE: Only open to Juniors/Seniors.
Band: Played Marimba, Flute, and Oboe when I was in it (see Oboe perf. above). I'm also proficient in Guitar, Cello, and Violin, for what it's worth.</p>

<p>Note that I DID do everything all four years except for WYSE (only for Jr/SR) and Band (stupid master schedule.)</p>

<p>Volunteer stuff:
Partners in Education (since soph.) - New thing started at the school involving this educational partnership with a school in Romania. It's not an official club and it's still very much volunteerism, so that's why I listed it under volunteering. And a few of us did travel to Romania last year. </p>

<p>TAILS Humane Society - basic volunteer. Since junior year (couldn't do it before because, duh, no car! And it's about 30 minutes away)</p>

<p>Awards:
I'm not going to bore you with a laundry list, but I've won two most outstanding delegate awards and one Gavel award in MUN (we started competing my sophomore year and we've only been to four conferences within those two years, so there's no "opportunity" to have over a dozen awards, so.)</p>

<p>I've also got a few major journalism awards from the regional competition this year, and I've won alot of conference/competition stuff in Math Team/Scholastic Bowl etc. So they're not big major awards, but I try. </p>

<p>And I'm also at least Nat'l Merit Commended.</p>

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<p>your stats seem pretty ordinary. i mean, they're very good, but what i mean is, i don't see any of the "unusual education" stuff you referred to in your first post?</p>

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<p>I meant as far as elementary school went, which I'm sure really doesn't have a bearing on college admissions at all, but it involved going to the library in first grade during lunch to work individually with the librarian and having our (my twin sister and I, though we were in two different classes) teachers give us individual instruction and working ahead and on different projects because there was no gifted program at the time, and then finally getting into the gifted program later but then being put in classes that were a year ahead of us for English and Math instead of doing the whole gifted thing, but then being moved up a grade in the middle of year and then a year later being put back in the gifted (and double gifted) classes because the stuff in the new grade was still too easy and blah blah blah. (BTW, I made that one very long and confusing because the process itself was long and tedious and crazy). I'm not trying to gloat, but I haven't gone the normal route which I think really had an impact in high school. It doesn't make sense, but I'm still always "that girl who skipped a grade" instead of just being another kid in the graduating class. Sure, skipping grades isn't unusual, but before us no one ever did it in our school; today they do.</p>

<p>It's confusing, but the superintendent was with us through the entire ordeal and I'm going to have him explain it, just to put my education in context of where it came from. And I know my stats are normal and "lots of people are president of Model UN" and blah blah blah, but I worked nearly single-handedly to create that club (along with my adviser), and I think you have to realize that we haven't had things like scholastic bowl and math team and AP classes for more than but a few years. It's all a new thing for us. I'm not a "farmer's daughter" and I don't go home after school to milk the cows or whatever, but I do go to a school that's surrounded by cornfields on all four sides, so it's not like as a district we have this ivy league huge track record. I'm not rural but my school is.</p>

<p>If that makes sense. I'm not trying to play up the whole rural thing as some kind of affirmative action ploy, but then I also don't believe my application can be reviewed accurately if certain things are not understood before hand.</p>

<p>And I don't know if ANY of that makes sense, and I'm sorry. But I'm just totally confused as to what these schools want because, honestly, I really haven't had any guidance. There are no Dartmouth admits from last year or the year before to ask or whose stats I can look at. Mainly because we've never sent anyone there before. </p>

<p>But, really, all I want is for someone to read my essays! :)</p>

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<p>oh i see, that makes sense.
and no, none of that elementary school stuff really matters unless you choose to write about it in your essay.
colleges will understand the rural school thing, though.</p>

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<p>i am a dad or an 08 who got in ed
you are making an error in judgement in going back that far to explain a successful gpa...you only explain a dip in grade due to an illness, death in family etc..you are totally perfect with all As and rank...you have leadership roles in several ecs..you are a musician..what you are trying to do is to explain why your As are better than other kids As??...dartmouth students are all brilliant ...they pride themselves at leaving the competiveness behind them
once they are accepted....you can certanily use your essay to convey your upbringing in a small rural town..dont add additional letters for the committee
to say here is an odd duck ..hes explaining why his 4.0 should be judged higher..
now why did someone so organized not take sat2 earlier..though they are not required til later it sure wouldbe nice to show a couple of 770 scores on your application
you have ecs, you have grades, you have rank...write the best essay
get 2 good recs and your job is done..its still a 1/3 chance for ed but i think youll get in..</p>

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<p>I'm truly sorry if I came across in my posts that I was trying to make it sound that I believe my grades are better than those of another student of the same caliber, and I certainly wasn't trying to make it seem that I believe I'm better than anybody or that I'm super competative. I wasn't sure it was even necessary that I include that information, but my mother suggested having our superintendent explain that in an additional letter to "set me apart" from the rest. Not to make me better, but simply set me apart. It was simply her suggestion. </p>

<p>As for the SAT IIs, I would have taken them earlier, but there are relatively few SAT test centers in Illinois and they're all concentrated in the suburbs, and I believe the closest one is probably around a 90 minute drive, so they're not easily accessible, especially with conflicts with saturday scholastic bowl meets (that was the main one last year.) </p>

<p>I think that's it. I'm just generally a bit confused about this entire process (not the bare-bones of it, but about just exactly what it takes to get in), and I need a bit of guidance from those whom have gone through it. </p>

<p>But in reality, all I want is for someone to read my essays :)</p>

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<p>send it to me <a href="mailto:isacc@aol.com">isacc@aol.com</a></p>

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<p>hair, be careful about sending your essays to too many people. No offense, isacc, you're probably really great. It's just that it's not wise to put personal information of any kind on the web. If you must send your essay to someone, why not ask longtime poster soozviet--she's really nice and is an admissions counselor so she might be willing to help, and I think so is the poster named carolyn.</p>

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<p>I have known isaac since our kids started freshman year (even though he lurks more than he posts), and I would totally trust his judgement to read your essay and give you feedback. </p>

<p>While I have the utmost respect for both Soozie & Carolyn and have known both of them for a long time however, Soozie is now a paid consultant who works for CC and probably won't be able to do it and Carolyn now only posts sporadically because she has also shifted to other ventures.</p>

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<p>plus im much less verbose than soozie</p>

<p>thanks sybbie...and gfg is right be careful and hide all personal info</p>

<p>sybbie, gfg whats your opinion on hairdresseronfire urge to put more in her
application than required</p>

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<p>Isacc, You really put me on the spot because I hate chances and try to avoid them if at all possible.</p>

<p>All testing must be done by january if you are applying RD. ED decisions come out mid december. IF you are applying ED, you should really sit in on either the october or the november test. Taking the SAT IIs in December means that you application may be considered incomplete as even with rush scores, they will not get there in time for a decision. You should definitely confirm with admissions to see if they will take december scores for ED.</p>

<p>Your unweighted GPA is going to be used as there is already an expectation that you are taking the most rigerous courses that your school offers. You will be evaluated in context of the opportunities that you have. This is why your school's profile is important; if your school does not offer AP courses, it is not going to hurt you. However, if there are ap classes given at your school there is an expectation that you have taken the courses.</p>

<p>They really are not going to care about what happened to you in elementary school. If it has any bearing on what you have done in high school, you said you were going to have your superintendent write a letter for you, it can be addressed there. I would refrain from making it the crux of your essays. However, if you chose to write about it, you need to write about it in a way that does not sound like whinning and directly correlate it to how it has shaped you in the here and now.</p>

<p>Overall you are a BWRK (bright well rounded student) who may have a minor geographical tip. What you have to do is make your self stand out from the literally thousands of students who are presenting profiles that are similar to yours.</p>

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<p>My bad:</p>

<p>I found the link about the SAT IIs and January</p>

<p>*You may apply for Early Decision even if you have not yet taken two SAT II: Subject Tests. You must, however, take two SAT II's no later than January of your senior year. These test results will be used in further evaluating the applications of deferred Early Decision applicants and for academic placement of accepted candidates.</p>

<p>November 1 is the application deadline for Early Decision candidates. By mid-December, you will be notified that they have been accepted, denied, or that a final decision has been deferred until mid-April. If your application has been deferred or denied, you are no longer bound by Dartmouth's Early Decision agreement and are advised to continue with your applications at other colleges and universities.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/admissions/firstyear/early.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/admissions/firstyear/early.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I would still recommend having the SAT II to give them a fuller picture of you.</p>

<p>How do your ACT scores break out?</p>

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<p>I've taken the ACT twice, and my highest composite is the 33, so obviously that's what they will look at it. But my highest subscores are:</p>

<p>English: 35 Math: 33 Reading: 34 Science: 34
Which comes out as a 34, but I'm 99.9% sure that Dartmouth doesn't mix-match the subscores. (I can't remember my english/writing subscore off hand)</p>

<p>And for the record, I wasn't trying to make this a chances post, but rather what I really wanted was some feedback on my essays while being looked at within context of my overall profile, if that makes sense. I definately realize that my quantitative statistics alone will not get me into Dartmouth, and if I want to have any chance of getting accepted, I'm going to have to rely on my essays and perhaps teacher recs. </p>

<p>And, btw, my essay doesn't have anything to do with the whole elementary school thing. And if I sounded in any way in my previous posts that I was whining, I'm truly sorry! It certainly wasn't my intention! What I have done though is written a small "what else would you like us to know etc etc" letter that regards some of the scheduling stuff that I'm sure my counselor won't be addressing in her school report, simply because she wasn't my counselor for the majority of my high school career and simply wasn't there to know about it. Regardless, I have taken the most AP classes out of anyone in my graduating class, and I know this simply because I started taking them in sophomore year which, while common place at many other schools, doesn't happen at my school. </p>

<p>And, finally, I'm having my superintendent write me an extra rec because, not only could he explain the not-so-important elementary stuff, but I think he could also really describe our school itself and the opportunities available to students etc etc, especially since he's known me for ten years, really. </p>

<p>I'm just trying to figure out "how much is too much." Rather than coming across as whiny or condescending or snobbish or anything else, I just want to come across as someone who truly honestly, truly wants to go to Dartmouth. I hope that makes sense.</p>

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<p>Your at the top of the mid-50 range for Dartmouth, you have straigh A's and are your valedictorian, and you don't think those stats are good enough?</p>

<p>I'm afraid you're wrong, your stats are definitely good enough. But you do need more than that to get in of course. And you really don't need to explain the fact that you skipped around as a younger student, your stats by themselves are good enough. </p>

<p>Also, guess what state I'm from? Illinois? Correct. I'm applying next year, and if you need any help/advice just PM me.</p>

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<p>Illinois? Really! I couldn't tell that from your name (my own lame attempt at sarcasm.) Could I ask what school you go to? That is, if you'd feel comfortable answering. We travel around alot for Scholastic Bowl and Model UN and stuff, so I know/remember alot of the schools.</p>