Chance? ED? RD? Help? :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>First of all I would like to thank you in advance for coming to my thread and taking time to read and provide advice. This is beyond helpful and I am very grateful for this community.</p>

<p>In short, I am a rising high school senior, beginning to look into colleges. I am interested in majoring in most definitely sciences. Most likely biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, psychology, or the like. As of now, like many other young inexperienced people, I see medical school in my future, so I would like to keep that in mind during my college search. However, it is also very important for me to go to an university with a wide variety of colleges, just in case I discover my passion for another subject. However, I am focusing on sciences because I am almost 100% sure that I will NOT major in literature, history, agriculture, etc etc.</p>

<hr>

<p>My Stats:</p>

<p>GPA Weighted: 3.94 (around this, calculation method may be off)
GPA Unweighted: not sure, will update later</p>

<p>SAT I (Super Score)- 2020
780 Math
640 Reading
600 Writing
8 Essay</p>

<p>ACT- 33
32 Writing
33 Math
33 Reading
34 Science
7 Essay</p>

<p>SAT II-
740 Math 2
740 Biology E
750 Chinese</p>

<p>Course Schedule-</p>

<p>Middle School
Honors Algebra I
Honors Geometry
Honors Spanish I</p>

<p>Freshman
Honors Algebra II
Honors Biology
Honors Language Arts
Honors Spanish II
American Gov/Health
Band</p>

<p>Sophomore
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors Chemistry
Honors Language Arts
Honors Spanish III
AP World History (5)
Band</p>

<p>Junior
AP Calculus AB (first semester had a 79 unweighted and 86 weighted, worried about this)
AP Biology
AP Lang
On-level Physics
On-level US History
Band</p>

<p>Senior
AP Stat
AP Chemistry
AP Lit
AP Micro/Macro
PE/Internship
Band</p>

<p>ECs-</p>

<p>Club (# of years in by graduation)</p>

<p>Student Council Representative (4)
Beta Club (4)
Marching Band (received varsity letter) (4)
Tutors in Action (2)
Winterguard (1)
Science Olympiad (1)
Pep Band (1)
Medical Society (1)</p>

<p>-regular volunteer at local library
-peer education at a local AIDs center
-part time job as of summer 2011</p>

<hr>

<ol>
<li>Which other colleges would be matches for my stats?</li>
<li>Reaches?</li>
<li>Advice on early decision if it increased my chances?</li>
<li>Is financial aid generous for low income families?</li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you so so so much once again for your help and feel free to ask for clarification on anything!</p>

2

<p>If you are Asian, do not submit that SAT Reasoning score. Adcoms will see “Asian-good at math-bad at humanities” and one read reject you. Your ACT score is far more palatable.

  1. Which other colleges would be matches for my stats?
    Any college where your stats are in the 75% percentile of admitted students.
  2. Reaches?
    Dartmouth is a far reach assuming you are unhooked and that your test scores do not go up substantially.
    Duke, Colgate, and Wash U are all reaches
  3. Advice on early decision if it increased my chances?
    Some Duke adcom once compared ED to 50 extra points on the SAT when compared to a RD student. In a world where colleges are fighting even harder to increase their yields, ED definitely does help.
  4. Is financial aid generous for low income families?
    Very. Especially at the top-tier privates</p>
3

<p>Oh dear… I am in fact Asian. :frowning: I’ve heard that some school favor the SAT over ACT though, is that true with Dartmouth?</p>

4

<p>Also could the fact that I skipped a grade because of academic maturity and graduated a year early be a possible hook?</p>

5

<p>As far as i know, graduating early from hs is not a hook. Id try your best to bring up your sat score a bit since its below the 25th percentile. Right now I would put dartmouth as a reach for you but if you bring your scores up, its a possibility.</p>

6

<p>What about my ACT score? I got a 33 which is significantly higher and I think should be enough?</p>

7

<p>Only use your ACT – don’t submit your SAT unless you see significant improvement, in my opinion. The ACT seems good enough, however. Dartmouth accepts either.</p>

8

<p>Thank you! I’m thinking about sending in my ACT and SAT II scores, good plan? :)</p>

9

<p>I don’t think Colgate is a reach; I’d say a match. The other three, though, I wouldn’t expect an acceptance (maybe 5% chance or less).</p>

10

<p>I mean a 33 isn’t by any means bad, but you’re competing against thousands of other students with similar or higher test scores (2250 sat equivalent) and test scores alone are not going to be the decidong admissions factor.</p>

11

<p>WedgeDawg a 2250 is like a 34 on the ACT, not a 33. Little difference, but it matters.</p>

12

<p>My apologies. My unfamiliarity with the ACT and its conversion scales is showing.</p>