<p>I am a rising senior, (finished junior year)- planning to major in econ/business. </p>
<p>GPA Cumulative (Unweighted): 3.8
SAT I: 2350, SAT II (History)- 760, SAT II (Math)- 780, SAT II (Chemistry)- 750</p>
<p>Will graduate with 14 IB courses, and the IB Diploma- along with a few APs. </p>
<p>I have pretty good EC's- Presidential Award for Volunteer Service, Leadership position in 7 clubs, 3 of which I started and registered as not-for-profits (most are business/econ related), very accomplished in DECA (on my chapter's board, won numerous awards), decently accomplished in Model UN- (chaired a chapter event, won a few awards), started a community outreach program, President of a business/politics magazine for teens-started it on my own, i do business research at my school, and have two internships (one at Merrill Lynch, along with an after school job, editor for school newspaper. </p>
<p>I go to a nationally acclaimed public magnet high school, and I am a white male. </p>
<p>My only major setback was that I got a 3.4 GPA freshman year, and a 4.0 for sophomore and junior year. </p>
<p>Thanks in Advance!</p>
<p>I also am willing to apply ED to any of these schools, although I know the acceptance rate does not change for Georgetown. </p>
<p>Duke- Slight match
Dartmouth- Low Reach (It is a reach for most obviously, but I’d say you are in the top group of applicants)
Northwestern- Match
Georgetown- match
UPenn- Match
NYU Stern- Match with good rec. letters
Boston College- Match
WashU- Match
Vandy- Match</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers everybody! Do you think my imbalanced GPA (3.4 freshman year-4.0’s sophomore and junior year) poses any disadvantage for admissions? </p>
<p>@Misanthrope1, Darthmouth is far more selective than Duke, and even Penn. Dartmouth has a 10% acceptance rate, while Duke is 17% and Penn is 12%. Dartmouth’s reputation as one of the more selective Ivy’s is becoming more prominent. I would advise you to research acceptance rates before you make such claims about top tier schools to people who are seeking helpful opinions, and not false information.</p>
<p>@gtho1108 to answer your question about your GPA trends, it definitely won’t hurt at all and could even help considering colleges love to see an upward trend. Good luck!</p>
<p>@Ravenclawrose55 Next time be sure to do an internet search before you say a less selective school is ‘far more selective’ than a more selective one. </p>
<p>@Misanthrope1 @Ravenclawrose55 - Shame on both of you for cherry picking one year of data that fit your claim and making it sound like it is one way or the other. In the 2012-2013 CDS Dartmouth was around 10% and Duke was about 13.5%. This year, apparently if the Washington Post has it right (I prefer to wait for the CDS but let’s assume it is right), Dartmouth is at 11.5% (WP rounded up) and Duke is at 10.8%. Come on, that is a tie overall. Next year they could easily be switched around again. Stop the nonsense.</p>
With all due respect, that is exactly what you did. You cherry picked the latest year. That is ridiculous to say that is the only data set that should merit consideration when talking about selectivity. There are, for the most part, 4 years of admissions cycles at the school at any one time. Don’t the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students still count? I am sorry, but that statement is absurd. I hardly see how you are being remotely scrupulous in this case. Reputations for selectivity are built up over many years. One school that is almost 250 years old and the other that is almost 200 years old, and you want to claim that their selectivity should be based on just the most recent year. Nope. At the very least, if you want to just talk about the current situation, one would have to add up all the numbers for the last 4 entering classes and see which one was most selective for that time period, because the overwhelming population of the undergraduate school is made up of these students come September. So yes, you cherry picked.</p>
<p>And no matter the exact result, the whole thing is silly. It is unlikely these schools will be separated by more than a percentage point or 2. In no rational person’s mind does that make one school more selective than the other on anything but the most literal basis.</p>
<p>So what the hell, I did the math.</p>
<p>For the last 4 reports from Duke: 116,487 applications; 15,710 accepted for a 13.5% overall rate.</p>
<p>For the last 4 reports from Dartmouth: 83,569 applications; 8,943 accepted for a 10.7% rate.</p>
<p>So oops, they are actually separated by almost 3%.</p>
<p>I will let each of you put your spin on that. I suspect Misanthrope1 will say this year’s number is the start of a trend, while Ravenclawrose55 will say this year is an outlier. Time will tell, but certainly both schools are extremely difficult to get into.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist @Misanthrope1 My intention was not to pick and choose data to my advantage- that being said, I apologize to anyone who I tried to correct unjustified. Thank you for providing the most accurate set of data you could find. </p>