Chances for 2011

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I just wanted to know what some current Dartmouth undergrads thought my chances were on getting in:</p>

<p>General info:
White male. Middle Class from New Jersey.</p>

<p>Extremely Competetive Public Magnet High School. Actually just named a "Public Elite" by Newsweek (only like 20 schools got that award).</p>

<p>Freshman year:
GPA 3.779
Honors Biology
Honors Intro Chem
Honors Alg II & Trig
Honors Amer. History
Honors Amer. Lit I
Honors Spanish II
Geometry
Medical Science Seminar
Nutrition</p>

<p>Sophomor Year (no AP's offered):
GPA 3.801
Honors Chemistry
Honors Intro Physics
Honors Adv. Analysis I (Pre-Calc)
Honors World History I
Honors Amer. Lit II
Honors Spanish III
Molecular Biology I & II
Organic Chem I</p>

<p>Junior Year:
Should finish with another 3.8_ GPA
Honors Anatomy and Physiology
Honors Inter. Physics
Honors World Literature I
Honors Spanish IV
Honors Latin I
Honors Adv. Analysis II (Pre-Calc II)
IB History
Zoology</p>

<p>Senior Year:
Courses I will be taking:
AP Bio
AP Calculus AB
AP Chem
IB History (2 Year course)
IB Enviromental Living Systems
Honors World Lit II
Honors Spanish V
Honors Latin II
Molecular Biology IV & V
Bioethics</p>

<p>Overall GPA ~3.8
Class Rank: School does NOT rank.</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT V: 670
SAT M: 760
SAT W: 660
I am retaking them. My PSAT Writing was a 760, and I should be able to get at least a 760 in writing on the SAT.</p>

<p>SAT II:
Am taking SAT IIC Math
SAT II Bio/M</p>

<p>EC's:
Model United Nations 9-12 (possible Sec-Gen of next year's conference (will find out soon))
Debate Team 10-JV, 11 & 12 Varsity (possible Captain (will find out soon)
National History Day 10, 11, 12
Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) 11, 12
400 Hours of Volunteer work at Local Boy's and Girl's Club
National Honors Society 11-12
Volleyball 9 & 10 JV, 11 & 12 Varsity (Captain Next Year)
2 Medical Summer Programs
Senior Year Internship (most likely at Plastic Surgeon's office)</p>

<p>Awards and Recognition:
Various Model UN Awards at Conferences (e.g. MIT, GWU)
5th Place JV Debate Team in County
National Merit Commended Student (possible Semi-Finalist)
Local Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year
Possible NJ Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year
2nd place Senior Group Documentary at NJ History Day
Top 14 in Nation Senior Group Documentary at National History Day
3rd Place Biomedical Debate at NJ HOSA competition
Dean's List every trimester in school</p>

<p>I just want to know if I have a decent chance of getting in?
Also, what do you think I need to improve upon?</p>

2

<p>if your not a legacy, urm or varsity athlete...then the majority of applicants have about 4.0 unweighted and 700 plus in all sat and sat2
you have very good ec..list less as long as there is leadership and
continuity such as your volleyball with being captain. dont list vague
awards..5th place leave out..deans list everyone applying is on deans
list..if you get nj youth list it ..county not so impressive..national
merit commended would be run of the mill..expand on the summer medical programs..
visit the school...visit the local speech by area rep and introduce yourself...this person needs a face and personality behind the resume
if dartmouth is number one and your sure go ed</p>

3

<p>Just as a little point: No one in my school has a 4.0 GPA. The highest GPA I know of is a 3.92 and this person is pretty much the creme of the crop (perfect SAT, etc). My school is absurdly competetitve and rigorous, and almost all of the college reps I speak to know this. So how much do you think that factors into their decisions because I have a 3.8 GPA, when if I went to my town's public high school I would surely have a 4.0? I just wanted to know because I always hear how colleges know how rigorous certain high schools are and I always wonder if they really care what school you come from.</p>

4

<p>Anyone have any thoughts?</p>

5

<p>I think you have good chances at getting in. The SAT's are not phenomenal, but if you're re-taking them you should be fine.</p>

<p>I disagree with the poster above, if you were 5th at JV nationals in debate I think that's pretty important. (By 5th place, do you mean quarterfinalist? And by JV nationals, do you mean that tournament held at Woodward every year?)</p>

<p>You have a great list of EC's and it's good to see that you have leadership (or potential leadership) in every one of those. It's also good that your EC's fall into groups - public speaking (debate/MUN), community service (NHS/Boys and Girls Club -- although, NHS is NOT a big deal at all unless you're in some top leadership role -- <em>everyone</em> is in NHS), sports (volleyball), medical (HOSA/summer programs). Just make sure in your essay, or in the section of the common app where you discuss extracurriculars, to make very clear why you have a specifiic passion for those EC's - otherwise, even with all the leadership/achievements, the list can seem overwhelming or laundry-list-y. It's great that you're well-rounded, though.</p>

<p>I really think Dartmouth is into the "whole applicant" thing and weighs EC's and leadership and community service very heavily, which is awesome for you.</p>

<p>So, that's all good news. A couple of comments/suggestions:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>why are you taking AB Calc instead of BC? (This isn't like, a dealbreaker or anything - I'm just curious.)</p></li>
<li><p>your class load, while large and diverse, really doesn't have that many AP's and IB's. If your school simply doesn't offer the ones you can take that are challenging and educational, that's totally fine. If, on the other hand, you had the chance to, say, take AP Spanish Lang over Honors Spanish, that's not so great. If you're not taking advantage of the really challenging courses at your school, you might want to look into changing your senior classload a little.</p></li>
<li><p>Just... make it really clear about your level of committment/involvement with your EC's.</p></li>
<li><p>National Merit Commended is not a big deal.</p></li>
<li><p>make sure that your counselor and teacher recs are awesome. Letters that mention your involvment with things that are on your resume are really good - for example, my counselor rec talked about how much I love competing on our speech team. If you can get recs from teachers that have seen your involvement or interest in your important EC's, that's great.</p></li>
<li><p>peer rec! Make sure your pick somebody who knows you really well and writes not just about what a great friend you are, but what qualities will make you a great student for Dartmouth.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Disclaimer: I'm not an admissions counselor or an experienced veteran of college apps or anything; I'm just a senior who was admitted. </p>

<p>Good luck! Have fun your senior year!</p>

6

<p>Hey xine,</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the detailed thoughts. Just to answer a few questions:</p>

<p>I am assuming I am taking AP Calc AB because I don't think I can place into AP Calc BC. As I said in earlier posts, my school is extremely competetive especially in math. Getting into AP Calc BC at my school is very hard (they don't just let anyone take it). There are probably only 20 spots available, and when you go to school with people who are obsessed with math (I am not) and 3 people who got 2400's on their SAT's, it makes it pretty hard to get into it. If I do get into AP Calc BC, I will surely take it. But I did not want to overestimate my senior schedule.</p>

<p>As to why I haven't taken many AP's so far, it's mainly because my school reserves almost every AP to seniors only (I don't know why). As a Junior the only AP's you can take are AP Chem, AP Micro and Macro, AP Music Theory and AP Calc if you came into the school at a high enough math class. Quite frankly, I don't have interest in Economics or Music Theory, so those were eliminated. And sadly AP Chem would not fit into my schedule (I would have had to drop IB History which I really wanted: I wish colleges could see that some things do not fit in your schedule). But as I said, next year I plan on taking AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Calc AB/BC (w.e. I get), IB History, IB Enviromental living systems.</p>

<p>Oh. And by the way: My school does not offer any AP humanities (Lit, Spanish, History, etc.) So that is pretty much the reason I have been confined to Honors humanities.</p>

<p>Oh, and the debate award was 5th place in Bergen County.</p>

7

<p>my mistake - i misread "5th place JV debate in county" as "5th place JV in <em>country</em>".</p>

<p>One tip - when you list EC's on the Common App that Dartmouth uses, you're supposed to rank them in order of importance to you. So, I'd suggest you list as top priorities the EC's where you have significant achievements and leadership - such as MUN and Boys and Girls Club and HOSA. Judging from what you've listed as your awards, I'd put debate pretty low on the list. It just seems like you have different priorities :).</p>

<p>If your school doesn't offer any AP humanities, then that's totally fine. On transcripts, schools put down the courses offered at their school for each grade level, so Dartmouth will recognize that your school simply doesn't offer those classes.</p>

<p>And considering there are no AP humanities... wow, your senior year schedule looks TOUGH (not to mention all the courses you've been taking the past four years!) . Chem and bio are two of the hardest AP's around.</p>

<p>AB Calc is fine, especially considering the rest of your senior schedule, and considering that you don't seem to be especially a math character.</p>

8

<p>Thank you xine, for all of your input. Dartmouth will most likely be my first choice, after I visit in late June, so all of your input is really helping me in applying.</p>

<p>One last thing. I was wondering how much applying ED really affects your chances of getting in. I know there is a higher acceptance rate of ED applicants then RD applicants, but my guidance counselor and I seem to both agree that is because more qualified applicants apply ED. What do you think? By the way, I am trying to avoid any ED applications so that I can look at all the financial aid offers I get.</p>

9

<p>Your achilles heel right now is your SAT, hopefully boost that 50-100 points and you have a decent shot ED. Study for the SAT and give it a shot!</p>

10

<p>Thanks slipper,</p>

<p>Hopefully I will get an amazing score. As I said, my PSAT writing was a 760 and my SAT writing was a 660 (I messed up the essay), so hopefully I can bring my Writing up to at least a 700. I also plan on getting a 700 in verbal and maybe even a 780-800 in math.</p>