Hi. I am super nervous about having applied to Brown and Dartmouth… I feel like I maybe was too ambitious in applying there after reading about some of the students accepted ED. What do you think? Am I at least average?
I applied Engineering to Dartmouth and biological science to Brown. Thank you so much!
1510 SAT 780 math/730 ELA
33 ACT
Neither are super-scored
9 APs (5 exams so far)
- I only took Calc AB and not BC even though my school offers it. I was in the honors program for 2 years but with my schools covid adjustments (my school goes directly from honors precalc to BC but this year the BC course is taken in 1 semester) and time spent in sports and at work this just wasn’t a good fit for me. This is probably what I am most nervous about as I have always taken the highest level math class available to me until this year.
12 honors classes
National merit semifinalist
Nominated for presidential scholar
AP scholar with distinction
internship
Currently holding 2 jobs (both in STEM companies)
Volunteering (~60-75 hrs)
2 varsity sports
3 yrs state orchestra
2 honors societies
Sorry if I am missing it, but how are your grades?
Sorry that’s my bad.
I think I am ranking top 5% in my 350 person class (I should be ranking about 2% but my school doesn’t not release this information, nor do they have valedictorians).I should be on track to graduate suma cum laude. I have had all A’s, A-‘s, or A+’s except for one B+ in honors precalculus. By the end of the year my F1 average for that class was an A. My GPA is a 4.15/4.3 as of last year, and should be about the same now. I’ve taken 4 English classes (2 AP) 4 math (3 honors 1 AP) 4 SS (1 honors, 3 AP) and 6 science (1 reg (only level available), 3 honors, 2 AP)
You sound like a great applicant for very competitive colleges. Brown and Dartmouth would be reaches IMO. What are the other colleges you applied to/have heard from?
Thanks and yeah I did plan on them being reaches- my test scores were not as strong as I’d have liked (I’ve taken practice tests and my predicted range was much higher but unfortunately I was unable to retake). I’ve been accepted to UVM honors college, Umaine honors college, UMass Amherst (not the honors college), Clemson (waiting on the honors college), and Clarkson (also waiting on the honors college). I am waiting to hear back from more of my match schools like BU and Wake Forest.
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You have a good list - good mix of colleges. I think if your applications are strong you will be admitted to BU and Wake.
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I agree that Dartmouth (why D for engineering?) and Brown are reaches. It sounds like you have some great options, and as long as they are affordable that’s great news. Good luck on the rest of the decisions.
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It’s a related field (biomedical engineering). It’s also pretty close to home for me and I’m not sure exactly whether or not I want to live within a two hour drive or somewhere farther. I’m going pre-med anyway so I just want to major in something that I enjoy for my undergrad.
IMHO Brown and Dartmouth are “reasonable reaches”. Given that you are already accepted at several solid universities (which I would have predicted are safeties, but since you are accepted then of course they really are safeties now) I think that you have a good mix of universities.
If you attend university two hours from home, it will still feel like a different world. However, if something goes wrong or you have a week long break and just want to go home, it will be convenient. Two hours is also nice because if you need something from home it is possible for a parent to get it to you and get back home in the same day.
It looks to me like you are doing well.
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Staying within driving distance of home makes sense. Just a few points (and you might know all of this). BME can be a tough major for premeds because average GPAs tend to be relatively low, and generally med schools don’t give extra points for hard majors. All premeds need a plan B.
Dartmouth’s Biomedical Engineering Sciences AB is not ABET accredited. Their Bachelors of Engineering (BE) is ABET accredited, but the BE generally takes a fifth year (after you have received the AB), at which point you would have two bachelors degrees instead of a bachelors and a masters. Only you can decide if that makes sense based on your career plans.
It’s great that you have other options as well. I encourage you to speak with the pre-health advisers at those schools about their support for premeds, majoring in BME, success rate in med school applications, and whether they support all of their students who wish to go to med school with a committee letter (packet).
Good luck.
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Congrats on Presidential Scholar! My son is in CA with a 36 ACT and didn’t get an invite to that. He had stronger stats than you do and I think his essays were ok. He was deferred in Brown ED, for perspective.