Chance me please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I just got my SAT score back today, very depressing, but here it goes:</p>

<p>BACKGROUND:
Male, live in NY, born in South Asia, moved to U.S. when almost three yrs old, English was my third language, household income is around 85,000 so about 55,000 net, I have two older siblings, both of whom went to college. Father is a pharmacist. Mother is a housekeeper.</p>

<p>STATS:
GPA: 103 weighted, 95 unweighted (weighting system: honors = +10, AP = +12)
Class Rank: 6/300
SAT Reasoning Test: M: 710 Cr: 670 W: 670 Total: 2050/2400 and 1380/1600
AP: Last year I took 3 APs, and got two 4s and one 3. This year I am taking 5 AP classes (6 if you count economics as macro and micro as separate since tests are separate) + engineering research class + phys ed + a graduation requirement class.
SAT II: Phys: 800 MathIIC: 800 Literature: 700
Essays: Good, meaning not super because I am not an extremely creative writer and I rarely use SAT words, but good in the sense that I feel I successfully expressed my personality
Letters of Recommendation: One of them was really good, and the other two were average good.</p>

<p>AWARDS/EXTRACURRICULARS/WORK EXPERIENCE:
--AP Scholar
--Varsity Tennis Team: 3yrs (I made counties once)
--Varsity Excellence Award (received twice)
--Two-time scholar athlete
--Distinguished High Honor Roll student
--Mathletes: 4yrs (county champion last year, captain this year)
--Science Olympiads: 2yrs, ever since it was offered (I entered all the physics and chemistry competitions)
--SWEEP (an environmental club): 2yrs
--Key Club: 20 hrs community service
--School Radio: 2yrs (journalist)
--Have been working hard at a convenient store 30hrs/week for 3yrs. I have been sales manager for 1.5 years. This is big for me since it took up a lot of my time on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (no dates, but I have a dream…)
--Even though I am an atheist, I have been helping every year, for five years, to help set up the food and dining preparations during the four weekend community feasts in the month of Ramadan. My counselor told me this is community service. So it took at least 3hrs/day<em>2days</em>4weekends<em>4yrs(high school yrs)=96 hours.
--I volunteered to tutor two students, on math and chemistry during junior year, after school every day, 1 hr each session, for 32 weeks. So 1</em>5<em>32 = 160 hours.
--I gave tennis lessons to a couple of persons at my tennis club during sophomore year, once a week, three hours a week, for six months. So 3</em>4*6= 72 hours. Afterwards, she became my girlfriend, which indeed was the ultimate payoff!</p>

<p>RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
--I have completed original research on two projects, one involving chemistry at a state university, the other involving a bit of physics, environmental science, and biology—mixed—at a prominent national lab. I will be sending my abstracts for both research projects. Neither project was published, but I am entering the second one into ISEF. All this research stuff is perhaps my biggest “hook.”</p>

<p>MISCALLENOUS:
--I have been privately tutored for Arabic twice a week, for about 2 years now.
--I speak four languages fluently: Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, English; I know there are some conflicts about whether Urdu and/or Punjabi are languages or dialects, it’s acknowledged.
--I have taken part in civil protests against the war in Iraq as well as against the Patriot Act for twice a month, for two years.
--I trained at an international tennis academy in Texas for 1 month. (But please note, I do NOT wish to play college tennis)
--I regularly play tennis at a local club
--I love to play chess with my friends; I tried to create an official club, but my school’s board failed to pass it in time to make it official this year.
--My favorite album is War by U2
--As subtly mentioned above, I am taking an engineering research class. This year is the first year ever that my school is offering it, and it is very unique. I doubt many other schools have it, so this may catch a second glimpse.</p>

<p>PERSONAL QUALITIES:
--Mathematically and scientifically inclined
--Extremely politically active (I’m somewhere between liberal and libertarian)
--Very outgoing, I love my closest friends with all my heart, and I like most everyone else (except for the cocky jocks, for they are so annoying).
--Theologically open-minded
--I like to get personal with small groups of people, rather than lead a huge pack, as evident in my tutoring and tennis-lessons providing.</p>

<p>ACADEMIC INTERESTS:
--Economics
--Philosophy
--Mathematics
--Physics</p>

<p>Well, I gave it my all; looking back at my past four years, I feel happy, and satisfied—that’s what matters the most.</p>

2

<p>42 replies, and still no help; does that mean a "no" or a "I don't know?" </p>

<p>Oh, and I've read other chance threads of other students, and I understand that you cannot give me an exact answer, and perhaps not even a very accurate one. So even if you can give me percentages using your guesstimating skills, I would be most grateful. Thank you.</p>

3

<p>Oh and I forgot to write about my peer recommendation. My girlfriend is doing it, and she's really smart and hopefully likes me a lot, and so she should do a good job. She said with a huge smile that she already knows what she is going to write about when I asked her to write one for me, so I guess that's good.</p>

4

<p>Dartmouth is a HUGE reach for you. You just don't have the SAT scores. Since your Asian, you are expected to have the highest possible scores. It is unfortunate, but the reality.</p>

<p>Also, you say you might want to major in economics, math, or physics; all these areas require mathematical brilliance, and your getting a 710 obviously shows that you don't have that.</p>

<p>If you want to apply, go for it, but I would say that you have less than or equal to a 10% chance.</p>

5

<p>yeah definately a reach, although with your other stuff about languages and such, you might have a good chance.</p>

6

<p>OP : Just apply mate. We all have stayed in this CC land far too much. There are people who get in with those scores too, so you never know!</p>

<p>Good Luck to you!</p>

7

<p>^Thanks ajay, good luck to you as well. I'm just really nervous, I really can't help it, sometimes I have these scary dreams, but the scariest dreams are in which I get into the school, and then I wake up to reality. I've really been feeling pretty sick today too, I mean my SAT score just sucked! I feel if I had a better score, I would have been a super candidate. I almost didn't go to school today either, because after I saw my score at around 6am in the morning today, I just felt so sick, and a part of me died. Stupid, I know, but I put so much effort, I just suppose I didn't have much time to study with my job and the AP classes, and everything.</p>

8

<p>i know Asian guys whose SATs were in the same level, if not worse than, yours, got accepted last year.
so just keep on working, even you fail in ED, you will still have the RD round</p>

9

<p>Well, I think you're very impressive. I think working all the hours you have every week and having all your activities and your grades makes you a unique individual. Yeah, your SATs could have been better, but scores aren't everything, and I do believe Dartmouth looks at candidates "holistically." </p>

<p>Obviously no one on CC can say for sure whether you're in at Dartmouth. Nevertheless, you clearly feel good about yourself: "Well, I gave it my all; looking back at my past four years, I feel happy, and satisfied—that’s what matters the most." I seriouly mean it: With that attitude, you will get into a great school and you will be very successful.</p>

10

<p>Thank you all; I understand none of you can really tell me for sure if I can be accepted or not, but your opinions mean a lot to be anyways. Again, thank you all very much for sharing your opinions. And if you live in the U.S., have a wonderful Thanksgiving.</p>

11

<p>I have another question: Is Dartmouth conservative, or at least towards the conservative end of the spectrum? If so, then should I include my political work?</p>

12

<p>? /<em>fasfsdafasdfasdfdsa</em>/</p>

13

<p>You actually have a pretty good shot with two 800s for satIIs and a ranking of 6/300. That is 2/3s of your AI ranking, which can make up for your subpar SATI scores. If the admissions office decides that your extracurricular stuff with language and politics is interesting then they would certainly admit you.</p>

14

<p>I hate when people say that because you're Asian, you're "expected" to have higher SAT scores. That is completely wrong and unsupported. If you show that you are different from a majority of other Asian applicants, you won't be competing against them to get in, but instead with people who are similar to you. The problem arises when too many Asians have identical interests that colleges have no choice but to admit the highest scoring applicants of that pool, which happen to be the individuals with near perfect scores. Set yourself apart and I don't think being Asian will hinder your chances.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
Is Dartmouth conservative, or at least towards the conservative end of the spectrum? If so, then should I include my political work?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Dartmouth is generally liberal but it also has many students who are very politically active, including some who are conservative. Yes, by all means, include mention of your political activites, especially if they are significant and meaningful to you. Dartmouth won't accept or reject you because you have certain views; they'll consider whether your activites reflect a passion.</p>

16

<p>oook you're a libertarian you're in. :D</p>

<p>ron paul 08</p>

17

<p>I think that I definitely can do a legit job making myself different from most of the other South Asians, hopefully. On all my apps, I'm putting that my major preferences are economics and philosophy, not mathematics and physics. And I truly am much more well-rounded, with a genuine interest in political activism as well as with philosophy. One of my essays is on philosophy. And in another essay, I describe why I am interested in economics, and how I feel economics and philosophy go hand-in-hand, and that kind of stuff.</p>

<p>All-in-all, I know statistically I am probably not going to get in, but you all definitely made me feel better about my self, and I am going to work hard on perfecting my essays, making them as personal as possible to give me a better edge. </p>

<p>Currently I'm working on an essay describing my work experience, since I feel it was such a big part of my life outside of the classroom.</p>