Chance me please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I would greatly appreciate perspectives on my chances at Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Race: White
Sex: Male</p>

<p>SAT I: 1940 (600 Math 670 Writing 670 Critical Reading)
SAT II: 720 Biology M 650 Math 1 620 Math 2</p>

<p>ACT: 32 Composite (34 English, 30 Math, 36 Reading, 29 Science, 30 Combined English/Writing)</p>

<p>First off, do you guys think I should retake either one or both of the ACT/SAT tests?</p>

<p>AP Scores
World History: 5
US History: 4
Literature: 4
Biology: 5</p>

<p>AP classes I'm taking this year: Physics, Calc, English Language, US Government</p>

<p>Currently ranked 1 out of 300, 4.0 UW GPA, 4.3 W GPA.</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>NHS (11th/12th grade, only years possible), have done more than average member, and one of the advisors was also a core teacher, so although I haven't had an official positions, I have led groups, and so I should get a good recommendation that covers that.</p>

<p>Japanese NHS (10th/11th/12th, only years possible), I am serving as treasurer for this upcoming year.</p>

<p>School business club (10th, 11th, 12th), first as a regular member, then local secretary, and this year as state president as well as local co-president. We encourage learning of business-related skills in HS, do various community service projects, and also have local/state/national competitions in which I've gotten awards.</p>

<p>I live in Alaska, which from what I've heard from college counselors is a good thing, allows you to provide the college a chance to fill a sort of unstated goal of having students from every state.</p>

<p>I am gay, which I do not know if I should touch at all, or just avoid the subject in general.</p>

<p>Also, will be the first member of my family to attend 4 year college, and my family is slightly underprivileged, enough to make it possible for me to apply through QuestBridge, but I don't think I want to apply through QB because I am then competing against people with less money and abusive fathers who have started committees to fund villages in Africa, after having moved to the US and learning English (that is definitely hyperbolic, but I think anyone familiar with QB will know what I mean).</p>

<p>This is all I can think of to post at the moment, looking forward to hearing your responses. Let me know if there's anything I can clarify or need to add.</p>

2

<p>Since you specifically asked, I would recommend you take the SAT I again. Getting those numbers put above 2100 would be a real help. It is true that Alaska is a bump, but it might raise the odds from 10% to20%. You’ll need strong recs and essays.</p>

3

<p>Ok, I probably will retake the SAT then. Does anyone think it’s necessary for me to retake the ACT as well, or just retake the SAT to make that score better?</p>

4

<p>good chances. no need to take the SAT1 again: you clearly do better on the ACT and your score is where it needs to be. just work on getting good recs and writing good essays. im gay and im not sure if im going to mention it either… on one hand its a part of myself i feel i should present but on the other i don’t want it to come off as shameless manipulation of the adcoms/exploitation of my sexuality.</p>

5

<p>Don’t submit the SAT I. Your ACT score is in range. Alaska and first generation are both bumps, each of which will grow larger if you apply ED.</p>

<p>If you want to go to Dartmouth, I’d strongly recommend applying ED. In RD, other applicants from your region will probably outshine you.</p>

6

<p>Shameless bump here, thought I would bring this to the front page again since it seems more people are active than when I first posted the thread.</p>

7

<p>I’d definitely try to retake the SAT if you think you can make impressive improvement, but the ACT is acceptable if not competitive. I second applying ED, and make sure to work on your essay and recs–for Ivy League you’re pretty much standard fodder, so you’ll need something that really stands out if you want to get accepted RD.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

8

<p>Your SAT is too low. Don’t send it. Your ACT is acceptable, although not a plus. You only have one good SAT II. If you are going to do more testing, take another SATII that you can score 750+ on. If you didn’t study much for the ACT or think you can do significantly better, you could retake it. But unless you are going to put up a 34+, it may not be worth it. </p>

<p>Being from Alaska is helpful, but in general I agree with DartmouthForever.</p>

<p>BTW, last time I looked at Questbridge there were some pretty normal-looking white people from working class families in Pennsylvania as well as black kids from elite prep schools in Texas among the finalists. I don’t think that you should necessarily give up on it that easily.</p>