Hi I’m a junior this year and I’m interested in Dartmouth!
I’m a white female.
GPA: 3.76/4.0 (I know- not that great. Trying to improve this year).
Class load this year: AP Chem, AP Euro, Advanced Spanish, Advanced English, Honors treble choir (highest choir class offered), Math Honors (this is middle level math- hoping to be able to take the advanced math next year, to show I can handle the AP math courses. Also I think it’s too easy for me).
Haven’t taken SAT/ACT yet.
Extracurriculars:
I’ve been in a choir for 10 years (won’t say which one because it would reveal where I live)- Performed locally, nationally, and internationally. People respect me and view me as a leader. Would say about 10-12 hours/week
Piano for 7 years at a conservatory. Since the conservatory has “high expectations”, I would say it’s about 6-7 hours/week of practicing
Girl Scouts for 11 years- Do activities once a month
Treble choir for 4 years- Served as section leader and librarian
Women’s Ensemble for 3 years- Competitive (20 people try out and only 5-7 get in). It’s another choir. It’s about 2 hours/week
Project Support for 2 years- Participate in activities for people with disabilities.
WHAT I HOPE TO HAVE BY THE END OF THE YEAR:
I want to form an autism awareness club, where I go to different schools and talk about autism (I have a severely autistic sister)
My friend is forming a health club and wants to make me VP
Volunteering:
Volunteer at a hospice 2 hours/week. Although I might change that to 4 hours/week.
Volunteer as a facilitator for an assembly at my school- about twice a month, I visit freshmen classrooms and talk about abuse/bullying
And I volunteer at church occasionally.
So far, I have around 100+ hours. My goal is to have 250+ by the end of this summer.
Awards:
None 
Summer activities:
Participated in the IYLEP Program- Only two other people from my school were chosen to go with me. Iraqi teens came to the USA over the summer and we learned about social entreprenureship with them.
Shadowed a few doctors- A dermatologist, internal medicine doctor, and an infectious disease doctor
WHAT I PLAN ON APPLYING TO:
I’m applying for a few internships (one at a hospital and two at NASA) and a summer teaching job, where I possibly teach kids from disadvantaged backrounds. Might try and get a summer job too, if I have time this summer.
Hooks: Legacy (dad went to Dartmouth), visited the campus when I was 13.
So, do my chances look OK?
I’m also thinking about Cornell, Wellesley, Smith, Colgate, Vassar, Williams, and Amherst.
Oh and I also did a summer volunteering program at a hospital.
I would go a little lighter on the volunteering if I were you. It sounds like it takes up a lot of effort and colleges aren’t really going to care all that much especially if the hours aren’t that connected (hospice, talk about bullying, church). Instead, I would focus on your grades and SAT or ACT. Also without an ACT or SAT score it’s impossible to chance you. Study for the test of your choice by taking practice tests and learning from your mistakes, then come back when you have a score. Best of luck.
OK thank you!
Agreed with the above poster. Colleges won’t care too much whether you did 100 hours of volunteer work or 250, they’re both good. It’s hard to tell your chances without actual test scotes. Aim for atleast a 34 on the ACT. Your ECs are great but rather…generic. By that I mean they’re somewhat ordinary and won’t set you apart exceptionally. Your GPA isn’t looking too good either. Do you have any hooks? Like first generation college student, legacy, minority, etc?
Yeah I’m a legacy my dad attended Dartmouth
I think you have a really good chance of getting accepted to Wellesley and Smith! You also have a good chance of getting into Dartmouth because you are a legacy (I recommend applying E.D), and your stats are acceptable enough. However, I think your chances aren’t as high at the other colleges on your list. If you can get your GPA to a 3.8 (that might be impossible so a 3.75?) and at least a 30 (32 would be better) then I think you would increase your chances a lot! Most people applying to these schools have stelar stats and ECs and so it will be harder to get into them. Don’t get me wrong, you have awesome grades compared to the fast majority of students, but competition is tough in top tier college admissions. Also, you don’t want to at the last minute join a bunch of clubs and start random organizations because colleges will undoubtedly interpret that as trying to pad your resume. If you haven’t been doing volunteer work for the past few years, starting now would look suspicious.
Hope this helps and good luck with everything!
Your ECs are decent, but just by looking at the list I can’t really see a clear focus for your passion. It looks like you’re interested in music and helping people…but not much specifically. What will be important for your ECs is connecting all of them to show how they indicate your strong passion for a particular subject.
Legacy definitely does help for Dartmouth.I would say take the SAT/ACT first, see how you do, and then start to consider college chances. Because even though ECs are the things that set you apart, SAT/ACT/APs/GPA (i.e. stats) are undoubtedly the first thing the colleges look at to determine worthy applicants, and I’m fairly sure stats are used for an initial “filtering” process before ECs are even considered. So like slights32 said, it’s very hard to chance you without test scores.
OK thanks I didn’t know about that! I’ll try and find some way to connect them. Though you got the music and helping people right!
Yeah I’m going to hopefully take a Princeton review course and definetely start studying really hard.
OK yeah thanks! Haha yeah my dad’s making me apply ED 
But I like Dartmouth so it’s not a problem. Yeah I’m really trying to get me grades up this year/not slack off like I did sophomore year.
Unfortunately your gpa really limits your chances. Maybe if you can get a 2300+ on sat or 34+ on act. Your ecs are rather ordinary, you should try to do something to set you apart. As of now dartmouth would be a very high reach but you can still change that.