Chance me please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Korean male attending competitive public high school that sends at about 20 kids to ivy caliber schools each year.</p>

<p>Course rigor</p>

<p>Will have finished all these at a local community college by the time I graduate:</p>

<p>Art History
Physics + lab
Astronomy + lab
Microecon
Macroecon
Microbio
Anthropology
Philosophy
Sociology</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Comp Sci
AP English Lit
AP Euro
AP Stats
Honors US Gov
+ 6 community college classes (from the list above) – 3 each semester</p>

<p>Standardized tests</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
Math II: 760
World H: 760
Korean: 780</p>

<p>ACT composite: 34
Math: 36
English: 32
Science: 35
Reading: 31
Essay: 7</p>

<p>SAT - 2160
Math: 780
Writing: 700 (essay 8)
CR: 680</p>

<p>Planning to retake ACT and SAT on December. December scores are accepted by Dartmouth right?</p>

<p>AP tests</p>

<p>World: 5
Calc AB – 5
Biology – 5
US History - 4
Enviro Sci - 4
English Lang (self study) – 3
This year APs: Stats, Comp Sci, English Lit, Euro, and Calc BC (self study)</p>

<p>Academic gpa</p>

<p>Weighted: 4.55 (without PE grades)
Unweighted: 3.85 (without PE grades)
upward trend in grades
Rank: top 8% of graduating class. Is my rank too low? I could have been in top 3% if it wasn't for my PE grades. :( </p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<ul>
<li>Popping/Hip hop dance for 4 years. Performed at kollaboration 2007. (pretty good at this, I dedicate a lot of my time to dancing)</li>
<li>Work at my dad's computer shop. (My dad operates the shop by himself so I have to help out. ~20 hours a week for about two years now)</li>
<li>Peer tutor in school (I use my lunch time to tutor kids in math/science)</li>
<li>Mu Alpha Theta president (national math club organization, will hold my position)</li>
<li>Korean Club VP junior year. President this year.</li>
<li>Teaching and helping "mentally" disabled kids at a local elementary school. (I can do this only during summer/winter/spring breaks since those are the only times where my school time doesn't coincide with the elementary school times)</li>
<li>Tennis (private lessons but not competitive and not that good either) - 3 years</li>
<li>Piano (pretty good) - passed level 9 CM test</li>
<li>I am involved in various other environmental activities (like beach clean ups, planting tress, etc.) during the weekends.</li>
</ul>

<p>Misc</p>

<p>Recs will be stellar</p>

<p>above average essays</p>

<p>First generation to go to college</p>

<p>very tough courseload</p>

<p>Prospective econ major</p>

2

<p>Clearly, you are qualified, but that just means that you have a 15% to 20% chance of admission.</p>

3

<p>Just 15-20%? Wow that makes Dartmouth an extreme reach for me huh?</p>

<p>Also will my December scores arrive in time before the score report deadline? I know Dartmouth said they are accepting December scores but the ACT site says that it will take 5-8 weeks for colleges to receive our scores. So I am confused.</p>

<p>And is my rank too low? I heard Dartmouth emphasizes class rank a lot in admissions.</p>

4

<p>I would say you have as good of a chance as anyone can have when apping to Dartmouth. Your scores, GPA and EC's are very good and if you write good essays i don't see any reason why you couldn't get in.</p>

5

<p>Thanks. Any more insights? Also can someone answer my question about december scores and class rank?</p>

6

<p>bump... i guess my title is not interesting as that of other prospective students :(</p>

7

<p>i guess so. good luck!</p>

8

<p>I'm a little bored in reading this, but you're up there as a candidate based on stats. =]</p>

<p>You class rank isn't low, I don't think -- but I wouldn't know, since my high school didn't rank. How prestigious is your school? Is it up there with Sty, Hunter, and etc.?</p>

9

<p>Not as prestigious as Stuy, but I'd say it is one of the top 5 in Southern Cali.</p>

<p>And what about the Dec ACT and SAT scores? anyone know?</p>

10

<p>Just look it up on the web site. If it isn't there, email admissions or call them. Why take the word of a random person on the internet?</p>

11

<p>pretty solid stats. i think you have the same chance, if not a little better, of most kids applying to ives</p>

12

<p>Your ACT is great.
Your SAT II's are good, but not spectacular.
You have a tough courseload.
Your rank is low, but does your school honestly include PE in class rank?
Your EC's seem strong. Definitely really show how dedicated you are to them.</p>

<p>Overall, you have a very good chance. I'd be surprised if you were waitlisted or deferred.</p>

<p>Also, a side note: his school sends 20 students to ivy-caliber schools a year. Stuyvesant sends 20 students to Dartmouth a year.</p>

<p>EDIT: First gen college student too? I think you're a shoo-in. By the way, I don't think it will help you to put down econ as your intended major.</p>

13

<p>With an ACT of 34 and good SATII scores (Except that isn't taking Korean rather bogus for a Korean? The ease with which native Chinese speakers can get an 800 on the Chinese SATII is notorious.) I don't really see the point in retaking the SATs. I doubt that another 20 points on your CR score is going to make the difference in your acceptance, and you will be in danger of giving people the impression that you are one of those Asian kids who thinks that test scores are everything. Your dancing ECs definitely counteract that, I'd say, which is good. Have you lined up someone to write your peer rec? Someone from your dance group would be great.</p>

<p>I'd concentrate more on writing a great essay, keeping your grades up, and continuing to do something interesting with your extracurriculars. BTW, around here CC classes are pitched at a level below that of good HS courses. How is it where you live? Why are you taking these courses at CC?</p>

14

<p>I agree; you have a good shot at getting accepted.</p>

<p>And, I agree: Contact Admissions to ask them about the Dec SATs.</p>

15

<p>Unfortunately sneamia my school includes every class taken in high school for rank. The only weighted classes are AP classes and those are only augmented .025 per semester. So there are relatively many students who have higher ranking then me who took much easier classes, some even take no AP classes and have top5% status (although none of them actually got into any prestigious universities). Oh and why would putting econ down as my intended major affect me negatively?</p>

<p>I am just retaking both ACT and SAT because I am pretty sure I can do better. Yeah my peer rec will be excellent, considering she and I have known each other since grade school. </p>

<p>I am taking the courses at CC because I may just go to UCLA/Berkeley (I live in Los Angeles) because of tuition factors. If I do go to Berkeley/UCLA, I will be able to graduate early and consequently pay less school tuition due to my cc classes. The cc classes in my area are highly regarded - all of them transfer better than APs and are deemed as just as rigorous, if not more, than AP classes.</p>

<p>Oh and our school sends like 30 to ivy-caliber schools each year, just checked school site. =]</p>

<p>Okay, I will call admissions regarding the Dec SATs</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
Unfortunately sneamia my school includes every class taken in high school for rank. The only weighted classes are AP classes and those are only augmented .025 per semester. So there are relatively many students who have higher ranking then me who took much easier classes, some even take no AP classes and have top5% status (although none of them actually got into any prestigious universities). Oh and why would putting econ down as my intended major affect me negatively?</p>

<p>I am just retaking both ACT and SAT because I am pretty sure I can do better. Yeah my peer rec will be excellent, considering she and I have known each other since grade school. </p>

<p>I am taking the courses at CC because I may just go to UCLA/Berkeley (I live in Los Angeles) because of tuition factors. If I do go to Berkeley/UCLA, I will be able to graduate early and consequently pay less school tuition due to my cc classes. The cc classes in my area are highly regarded - all of them transfer better than APs and are deemed as just as rigorous, if not more, than AP classes.</p>

<p>Oh and our school sends like 30 to ivy-caliber schools each year, just checked school site. =]</p>

<p>Okay, I will call admissions regarding the Dec SATs

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No need to call unless you want to bother them. The last month for SAT's are January, as sybbie pointed out in another thread. Direct</a> Link.</p>

<p>Also, I didn't say putting down econ would hurt you, it just might not help you, because economics is one of the most popular majors here.</p>

<p>About transfer credits, if you haven't already, I suggest you ask about Dartmouth's policy regarding taking credits for courses taken in a community college.</p>

17

<p>Thank you sneamia. Also can I get some chances for UPenn and Cornell as well? =]</p>

18

<p>I didn't apply or get into UPenn or Cornell, but my impression is that, given they are much larger schools than Dartmouth, you should fairly good shot at those schools as well.</p>

19

<p>Thank you. And if there are any criticisms, please do tell. I want to know what I can do to improve my chances.</p>

20

<p>Your school's profile should make the weighting policy clear: your non-AP CC courses are not weighted. The problem is that this may indicate to an adcom that your school doesn't value those courses as highly as APs. If you are concerned about it, I would have a talk with your GC or whomever is going to be writing the school recommendation, and ask them whether this is something they can address in your recommendation, along the lines of: "X took the most rigorous courseload available at our school, and achieved a top 10% class rank. X also showed initiative by taking a number of CC courses, which we consider to be at least as challenging as our AP courses. If those courses had been weighted, X's class rank would have been even higher."</p>

<p>A question to ask your GC is whether this was an issue for applicants to similarly selective schools in previous years, and if so how it was dealt with.</p>