Chance me for Dartmouth? will chance back

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>4.0 unweighted gpa
33 ACT
2220 SAT
97 NYS Trig Regents
97 NYS Bio Regents
98 NYS Earth Science Regents
95 NYS Geometry Regents
rank 1 (but only out of 35)
I'm graduating high school in three years instead of 4</p>

<p>Senior band flutist
Jazz band saxophonist
varsity ski team (since 7th grade)
varsity tennis team (since 8th grade)
treasurer of science club
national honor society
event coordinator for my class
student council representative
vice president of local interact rotary club
Junior Olympian and nationally ranked for freestyle mogul skiing singles and duels</p>

<p>Family severely affected by Hurricane Irene, my town was absolutely destroyed, over 250 volunteer activities cleaning up the town after the storm.
Math and science tutoring.</p>

<p>Kopernik astronomy camp on string theory.</p>

<p>I co-own a business which involves many hours of making the product (fudge), selling it and traveling to fairs. I also work on weekends at a small gourmet store/cafe.</p>

<p>Will have AP US History, AP English Lit, AP Calc, AP Physics (that is all my school offers)
college course in government (freshman year), college course in economics (freshman year), 5 years of Spanish (2 years college level), college course in statistics</p>

<p>I live in an incredibly rural part of New York in the Catskills, I don't think anyone form my school has gone to Dartmouth or any ivy except Cornell (and that only happens once ever 8 years or so).</p>

2

<p>You have great stats! Amazing GPA, great ACT, great SAT, and it’s important that you rank at the top of your class since it is such a small class. You’re ECs are good, and I’m assuming your main focus is on either science or business, based on your involvement in both of those career paths respectively. I think you have a good chance at Dartmouth; that said, Dartmouth has a 10% acceptance rate and is one of the top schools in the world, so it is quite unpredictable as far as chances of acceptance goes. I’d suggest applying to numerous safety/reach schools as well, of course, and I wish you the best of luck in getting into Dartmouth!</p>

3

<p>Thanks, my interest is in science (specifically astronomy and string theory). I would love to be involved in some research, but it just doesn’t exist in my area. I’m hoping that being nationally ranked in skiing acts as a hook.</p>

4

<p>Have you contacted the ski team coach? By FAR your best chance of admission is as a recruited athlete. Have you take any AP exams already, and if so, what did you get on them?</p>

<p>Why are you choosing to graduate in 3 years? (BTW, pet peeve of mine, one does not “graduate HS,” one graduates FROM HS. To “graduate HS” is to make measured marks on the outside of the building. As in a “graduated cylinder.” :D)</p>

5

<p>Unfortunately @Consolation, the skiing that is my true strong point is freestyle mogul skiing (that’s what I got into Junior Olympics for), Dartmouth does not have a freestyle skiing team (actually I don’t know of any college that does, its a quasi-new sport that’s very individual). I have not taken any AP exams yet because my school doesn’t let you take them until junior year. </p>

<p>I am choosing to graduate FROM high school in three years because I have very limited options at my school. We are a K-12 school with only 400 kids, and on my current track I would have no math course, no history course, no foreign language course, no science course and very limited electives in my senior year. It simply makes more sense to squeeze a few more classes in and graduate from HS early than to stick around for a pointless year.</p>

6

<p>I think you should contact the skiing coach anyway. You never know, s/he might be interested in expanding into that area and could put in a good word for you even if there isn’t an actual slot to be recruited for. An associated question: is there some way for you to keep up your mogul skiing at D? (Please pardon my almost total ignorance of the subject, but I’m aware that you have to have a specially constructed course, right?)</p>

<p><em>I</em> find your background and accomplishments interesting, but one never knows how colleges will perceive them. If I were an adcom at an elite school like D, I would be concerned about whether your preparation was strong enough for you to succeed at my school. For that reason, AP exam results, SATII results, and SATs or ACTs would be important. Any outside validation would help. I don’t know enough about the NY Regents Exam to say if your results there are in line with what they see in D applicants. Your ACT is in range, as are your SATs (assuming even breakdown between sections). Have you taken SATIIs?</p>

<p>Have you considered graduating one semester early, and doing something interesting the second semester? I know several kids who have done so, and it enabled them to put forth a strong application and graduate with their class. There can be certain advantages: in your case, the opportunity to put up a handful of 4/5s on AP exams. And possibly to take SATIIs if you haven’t done so.</p>

<p>BTW, if you were thinking that your AP exam results won’t matter to you, bear in mind that if you don’t like your application results this spring you can always choose to stay in school for at least a semester and apply again in the fall, in which case they WILL matter. (This is leaving aside any issues around credits and placement.)</p>

<p>I don’t know what you have in the way of recommendations, but I think that you should definitely include one from your skiing world and one from either your volunteer work or your paid work. And I would consider a resume. I’m concerned that the little slots on the common app are not going to present a sufficient picture of you.</p>

<p>Edit: I saw on a another forum that you said you wer planing to take about 5 SATIIs, including both Math 1 and Math II. Don’t do it. Take Math II, Physics (if you think you will do well, otherwise pick another), and maybe one other for insurance.</p>

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<p>Thank you Consolation for your well constructed and insightful responses. I would suggest googling freestyle mogul skiing, because its just so awesome (watch hannah kearneys Olympic gold run). I am also thinking about continuing to compete while in Dartmouth ( if I got in) because almost all mountains that host competitions are within 2 hours of the school. Taking to the coach is probably a good idea.</p>

<p>I will likely get letters of rec from my ski coach, my chemistry/earth and space science/physics teacher ( same guy, told you, small school), my english teacher and my amazing counselor who I am very close to. I also have this letter and from my state’ s senator thanking me for my help in rebuilding my town.</p>

<p>About graduating early, I’m very limited with what my school offers. I will end up taking every AP my school offers and I am currently discussing self-studying one or two other APs for this year with my counselor. Also, nearly every class my school offers is full year ( many are every other day) which makes it nearly impossible to graduate from school a semester early.</p>

<p>On the side of SAT II, I will most likely end up taking Math 2 ( you don’t suggest taking Math 1 also, my counselor thinks I should) and Chem in June. World history was simply on my list because I know I can ace it, but the more I think about it, it has no relevance.</p>

<p>Thank you again, I really appreciate your responses. You seem very knowledgeable, perhaps we could keep talking over pm?</p>

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<p>@withoutausername:</p>

<p>I’m interested in astronomy, too, though there are no adequate research opportunities in my area as well! It’s quite frustrating that most of the research opportunities are so far away. But I think your skiing passion is unique and will serve well on your college application.</p>

9

<p>There really is no point at all in taking two math SATIIs, and MathII is the standard. In addition, Math I is reputed to have a very bad curve. There is nothing wrong with showing breadth by presenting a social science as well as a math/science. (Schools like D like to see kids who have taken APs across the board, not just in one area.) Technically, they are only going to look at your top two scores, but taking a third one for insurance is never a bad idea as long as you have time. Some programs require specific tests, so you should look through the requirements for programs that you may possibly be interested in before deciding. I would suggest getting the prep book and reviewing the material covered by the test. It often does not comport with an honors or AP class.</p>