<p>I'll be applying for the 2012-13 school year and am seriously considering Early Decision. I intend to apply for the engineering program.
Here's all my stats and stuff:
[ *] SAT Verbal: 710 (meh, I KNOW I could do better. Worth retaking?)
[ *] SAT Math: 790
[ *] SAT Writing: 780
[ *] SAT Total: 2280
[ *] SAT II: Chem 800, Physics 780, Math II 800, Lit 750
[ *] ACT: 36 (35 in English)
[ *] AP taken/scores: Calc BC (expect 5), Language (expect 4), Physics (expect 5). Will take next year: Chem, Literature, German, Statistics, Psychology
[ *] GPA weighted: 4.62/4.83
[ *] GPA unweighted: 4.0
[ *] Rank or % estimate: 2/450</p>
<p>[ *] Essays: Still thinking of ideas
[ *] Teacher Recs: Should be good
[ *] Counselor Rec: Probably will be generic
[ *] Hook (if any): In my school's 50 year history, nobody has gone to an Ivy League. Neither of my parents have college degrees.</p>
<p>[ *] State or Country: IL
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Legacy Yes/No: No
[ *] Recruited Yes/No: No
[ *] Important ECs: Drum major in the marching band for 2 years, tutor at a tutoring center, 8 years playing the clarinet, 4 years of math team, 4 years of Scholastic Bowl, 1 year of speech team, 2 years of NHS, 2 years of Link Crew (freshman support/leadership group), National Merit Semi-Finalist (hopefully Finalist eventually).</p>
<p>Basically my school sucks at preparing kids for Ivy Leagues, but I've succeeded there well beyond the school's standards. Hopefully I'll be the first to get in to an Ivy League.</p>
<p>I like my test scores, but my lack of awards (and opportunities) sucks.</p>
<p>My thoughts:</p>
<p>1) Don’t retake the SAT (in fact, don’t even send it). Your ACT is awesome.
2) First-generation college student is a nice hook.
3) Just so you know, it doesn’t really matter that you’re applying for engineering. At Dartmouth, expected major is generally given little (if any) weight given that students tend to change their minds.
4) Your ECs strike me as kind of boring. Are you passionate about anything? Have you ever done anything really exciting and awesome?
5) AP German is kind of unique.</p>
<p>Overall: decent chances for ED considering great test scores, rank, and first generation. Make sure your personality/character/SOMETHING jumps out in your application besides those three things.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Tonguelewis is right. You pretty much fit perfectly the description of that kid that everyone hears about who didn’t get into his top choice school even though he had a perfect test score. Dartmouth knows that everyone who is going to apply is smart; that’s a given. What’s going to separate yourself from the masses is a demonstrated interest in something other than academics.</p>
<p>Also, just because nobody in your school’s history has gone to an Ivy League does not mean that your school “sucks at preparing kids for the Ivy Leagues.” The Ivies give virtually no scholarships and it costs serious money to get an education at one of them. Often times it is a financial issue for a student’s family. Also, the term “Ivy League” denotes nothing more than an intercollegiate athletic league; there are many schools out there that are just as good or better than Ivy League schools but, because of their geographic location, they were not considered as members of the league when it was founded. I’m not trying to put down Dartmouth; all I’m saying is that maybe your school can offer you a little more than you think it can.</p>
<p>Last I heard, qcassidy, ivies met all need in the form of big-ass grants…</p>
<p>…Not always grants. Also in the form of loans, which need to be repaid.</p>