I will be applying early decision to Dartmouth as an economics major and regular decision to the listed schools, along with some safeties not mentioned below.
Race/Gender: White male
School Type: Public
GPA: weighted 4.28/4.0
Class Rank: 3/~150
Testing:
1530 SAT (780 Math, 750 English)
SAT Subject Tests- 770 Math 2, second test TBD in November test date
AP Scores: AP US-5 AP Lang-5 AP Calc AB-5 AP Chem-5 AP Psych- 5. AP Bio-4
Course load: All aforementioned APs along with AP Stat, AP Lit, and AP Comp Sci senior year
Extracurriculars:
Varsity Football (captain) (3 year varsity. Captain on league championship winning team. Major time commitment (25+ hours a week)
Varsity Baseball (2 years varsity) (maybe captain?)
NHS member
Spanish NHS member
Church-community service group member
Honors (potentially weakest category):
Brown Book Award
AP Scholar with Distinction
3.-5. Several school-wide and football regional honors
Hooks: Potential hook for unique mix of football leadership and academic commitment
*Recommendation letter from math teacher who is Dartmouth alum.
I feel that my application is strong overall, yet lacking that X-Factor to separate me from the rest. Let me know what you think my chances of admission are to these schools. thank you!
Strong app, I think you have a good shot. But I don’t see a clear connection to why Dartmouth. You need to make this crystal clear in the app why Dartmouth needs you.
Thanks for the reply, after visiting Dartmouth I completely fell in love with the school and I feel I picked up on some talking points to connect myself to the school. Appreciate the feedback, hope your right about my chances!
I agree that you are a strong candidate. Make your essays and supplements memorable and specific to Dartmouth, and I definitely think you have a shot. Best of luck!
Just something to think about. Other than sports, you note only church. (NHS is not a tip, varies too widely among high schools.) Are there other clubs or actitvities you omitted, thinking they’re not important? Other than those, what shows them your engagement with peers?
And what major? What involvement in that, outside classes?
Appreciate it, I’ll definitely make sure to make a strong connection to the college in my supplements as this seems to be the theme in the replies. Thank you!
I do the majority of my community service between NHS and my church. Are you suggesting that I do not include NHS under EC’s and instead include something else?
Note: I do not have a notable individual project or anything of that nature, comm. service is likely one of my weaker areas as much as I hate to admit it.
Make it clear why Dartmouth NEEDS someone like you. Not why you are a good fit for Dartmouth. Don’t deliver a laundry list of reasons why you fell in love with the college.
The best reasons are often academic: a major, professor, line of research, or other activity that is uniquely at Dartmouth which you intend will pursue in college. Other reasons include: personal connection to the area (family).