Chances for me to take that 2 hour bus ride every fall to Dartmouth?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>Hey guys,
I've been browsing through these forums for quite awhile already, but
this will be my very first post here in the Dartmouth forum (yay I suppose?). Anyways, jet lag woke me up and I just got my SAT scores. Since I don't really know how to chance myself... I'm hoping to get some objective views from you guys. =)</p>

<p>Now I've seen some of the applications of people here and on the rest of the website and OH MY GOD they're crazy! So... bear with me on mine, haha.</p>

<p>Anyways, we'll start with the school and test scores:
School: Shanghai American School (it's a private international school)
Rank: We don't do actual ranking, but I think we might be put into the
percentiles... In which case I would put myself at 10% for sure, and
maybe 5%. We have about 160 students in our grade. So... 16/160 would
be the minimum.
GPA: 3.83/4.00 UW (I don't know how to figure out weighted scores)
AP Classes:
AP US History (5),
AP Chinese (5),
AP Biology (?),
AP Lang and Comp (?),
AP Statistics (?),
AP Economics, micro and macro (??).
Next year, I'll be taking:
AP Lit
AP Calc BC
AP Chem
AP Euro history</p>

<p>And I take IB A2 Chinese SL.</p>

<p>So that's that for the school stats... Test scores:
SAT: 2210 =( [CR:700/Math:780/Writing:730]
SAT II's:
US History: 730
Biology: 800
Math: 790
Chem: 740</p>

<p>I think I might end up taking Chinese since it might be requisites for
things I might apply to, and I'll probably get an 800 for that since
I'm Asian-American (still an American citizen so I won't be applying internationally). =)</p>

<p>Summer programs/Work:
Summer '07: One month internship doing market research at Danisco
Winter '07: One week internship at a law firm translating legal documents and indexing documents
Summer '07: Harvard Summer School course on International Law (4 credits)
Summer '08: Leadership in the Business World at Wharton</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
High Honor Roll all semesters (3.71 or above)
Academic Disctinction in Intro to Drama
Academic Distinction in AP Biology
School-wide 101 Word Short Story Contest
---1st place, junior/senior division
Certificate of Distinction in Cayley Mathematics Contest (Top 25%)
USA Biology Olympiad Semi-Finalist (Top 10% or Top 500)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Baseball Junior Varsity – 2005-2006
Varsity – 2006-Present
---China Cup 2007 – 2nd Place</p>

<p>Math Contests Participant – 2006-Present, ASMA, Cayley, Pascal, Fermat, AMC 10 & 12 Contests </p>

<p>Habitat for Humanity Volunteer – October 2007 project in Guangzhou </p>

<p>Math Tutoring
Member – 2006-Present
1.5 hours/week after school</p>

<p>SAS Ambassadors
Member – 2006-Present
----Organization in charge of welcoming new students, hosting farewell ceremonies, and touring college representatives.</p>

<p>Model United Nations Delegate – SHAMUN, BEIMUN, THIMUN
Ambassador – THIMUN-Singapore
Judge & Advocate – THIMUN-Singapore International Court of Justice
Advocate – BEIMUN Advisory Panel</p>

<p>National Honor Society Member – 2006-Present
Treasurer – 2007-2008
President – 2008-Present</p>

<p>Student Council
Director of Public Relations – 2005-2006
Treasurer – 2006-2007</p>

<p>Roots & Shoots Member – 2005-Present </p>

<p>Academic Quiz Team Member – 2005-Present
----Placed 7th overall and 1st among international schools</p>

<p>Okaydokes, so that is me in a nut shell.
Assuming the essays and recs are all good to very good/excellent(ish).</p>

<p>At the moment Dartmouth is likely my first choice although I probably won't apply ED as parents want me to consider my options and what not with EA and all. But I've made my visit to Dartmouth and everything about it seems awesome. =) So considering I apply RD, what do you guys think my chances are?</p>

<p>Also, if you have time, could you give me some examples of what sort of school would be my reach, ballpark, and safety? I'm not really sure what my schools for those are like, so any help would be much appreciated!</p>

<p>Alrighty, I'd appreciate any thoughts on this, and no need to sugar coat stuff. Ultimately that just harms more than it does any good.</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch!</p>

2

<p>You will be competitive anywhere you apply but D, like all top ~10 schools, is a reach for everyone. If you look at the schools in the #50 range (Tulane, Miami), you will find near auto-acceptances, and with likely merit money. Your matches will be somewhere between those extremes. If you are NMSF, schools like USC become a low match/safety (bcos they love high test scores). </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Agree with BlueBayou, but it would also help to know what kind of place you're looking for. Dartmouth is in the NorthEast (translation: COLD weather in winter), is relatively small (~1000 kids per class), is generally athletic, and has fraternities and sororities. USC, which BlueBayou mentions, is in Southern California (translation: WARM weather all year), is relatively big (~4,000 students per class), and I'm sure there are other differences I don't know about. </p>

<p>So -- what kind of place?? What did you like about Dartmouth?</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
At the moment Dartmouth is likely my first choice although I probably won't apply ED as parents want me to consider my options and what not with EA and all.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What about you? Do you want to apply ED? :)</p>

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<p>ajayc- although it should be his decision if he wants to apply ED or not...more than likely, the parents are paying some of the tuition, so it still remains their decision.</p>

<p>Glydan- you're definitely qualified. Your GPA and SAT scores are all in the ballpark. So that leaves your ECs and essays. Make sure you get a great peer essay from someone who knows you very well and can speak to your strengths. Your ECs, although good, don't reveal anything about your personality. Your grades and test scores are not good enough to get you in on their own. Make sure you really highlight your interests and how your ECs really connect.</p>

<p>Good shot tho and good luck.</p>

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<p>Alrighty, thanks for all the responses so far guys! They're very much appreciated. :)</p>

<p>Bluebayou: I agree, all the highly selective schools are going to be reaches for anyone, regardless. (After all, none of us can predict how the admissions office is going to act from year to year. They're so weird with their acceptances sometimes.) So I suppose the 40s to 30s will be the matches, and the rest will be low-to-high reaches. =)</p>

<p>VeryHappy: Weather wise, I'm okay with anything. I've lived in Syracuse and stayed in Cali for long periods of time, so the seasons won't be a shocker (though I suppose Dartmouth may be EXTRA cold, haha). It's fine though. =) I live in Shanghai and the weather is as random as it gets in the world. =P</p>

<p>What I'm looking for in a college is:
-More of a liberal arts education
-Smaller classes (more professors than TAs, nothing against TAs, but it just seems nicer to have the prof lecturing each class)
-Preferably undergrad focus or at least undergrads aren't secondary to the grads
-School size I'm fine with as long as the class sizes tend to remain small
-Athletic would be nice, but not to the point where it's just jocks. I can play baseball in Shanghai, but Division I baseball in the states? Unfortunately, no way. :( Maybe DIII is a possibility, hehe. But I definitely plan on playing IM sports. Frats and sororities... I don't really know where I stand on it.</p>

<p>What I love about Dartmouth comes a lot from the site and the opinions of a student in the admissions office I spoke to two days ago:
-Small classes, all taught by professors
-Undergrad focused, so we get research opportunities as undergrads more than we would at most schools
-Competitive aspect is present, but it doesn't stop cooperation
-School spirit is good
-Nature oriented, quiet, but still possible to go into the city like Boston (just 2 hours, a nap and it all flies by :P)
-And I think I'm actually going to enjoy the isolation of Dartmouth. Gives me 4 years to think about my life, see what I want to do with it.
-The fact that I can go snowboarding on a whim in the winter? What's not to love about that. =D
-And when I speak to students who attend Dartmouth or have graduated (so far only spoke to 2), they all love their school, which I guess will be the response you get most of the time from most students.</p>

<p>Honestly, for ED, I'm very tempted to apply ED. I dunno if it'll give me a boost in my app, but when I think about Dartmouth and ED, I don't get any regret, and for me, that's always a good sign.</p>

<p>jkterrapin: You are right though... My dad seemed to dismiss the notion of applying ED as soon as I brought it up, even restrictive EA he's pretty much against. :S I dunno, I can probably convince them in time, but it's not like their reasons are supportless. EA does provide more options to consider in the end. But yeah, the tuition part comes into play here. :S <em>Sigh</em> Asian parents, haha.</p>

<p>I'm hopefully going to start drafting or outlining or at least lots of brainstorming for the essays when the common app comes out, so we'll see. =)</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch guys!</p>

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<p>one more thing i would like to point out...</p>

<p>I visited dartmouth and looked at their ED and RD acceptance rates and was astonished at the disparity (~33 compared with ~18). Dartmouth is currently my #2 school and was kind of concerned b/c I knew that it isn't my top choice, but it is up there. I asked why there was a disparity. I was told that a lot of those are recruited athletes (the disparity shows up a little more at smaller schools). Also, kids who apply ED are the perfect fit for a school like dartmouth (personality-wise, activities, ect.) and dartmouth picks kids who will benefit most from their college. For example a kid who mountain bikes and hikes every day will likely apply ED to dartmouth over a kid who is just as smart, but w/o the outdoorsy interests. Dartmouth would rather take the outdoorsy kid b/c they know that dartmouth would be a great fit.</p>

<p>The final thing they said was that if it came down to it, ED may give the bump to students of the exact same record (GPA, SAT, ECs, etc.) just b/c they know that the kid definitely wants to go there.</p>

<p>So, in short, don't be worried about applying ED or RD b/c most likely, you would be accepted by both policies or rejected by both.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I think in the end, if you belong in that college, you'll get in some way or another. I think one of the reasons the ED acceptance rate might be higher is because with the introduction of EA, less people will be applying ED to Dartmouth unless, like you said, they are the "perfect fit." Dartmouth seems to be a pretty close to perfect fit for me, hehe.</p>

<p>But yeah, in the end I suppose ED gives a good boost to someone like me. My theory is that it'll help me make up slightly for my GPA and SAT numbers, which may not be as high as some of the applicants out there. I dunno, guess I'll have to see. Dartmouth's ED isn't like Columbia's right? As in if you apply ED, it's either an acceptance or rejection with no chance of a deferral?</p>

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<p>No, Dartmouth can defer you if you apply ED. This year there were a few kids who were deferred ED who wound up being accepted RD.</p>

10

<p>Ah, okay. That's always good to know. =)</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
ajayc- although it should be his decision if he wants to apply ED or not...more than likely, the parents are paying some of the tuition, so it still remains their decision.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Agreed but I don't see why his parents won't support him if he really wanted to attend Dartmouth and apply ED.</p>

<p>Glydan : FRom the factors you have stated I would suggest you look at Colgate, Vassar and Occidental - other similar LACs.</p>

<p>Frankly, I don't know much about the American awards so as to chance you. All I can say is Good Luck! :)</p>

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<p>ajayc, as i said earlier ED and RD at Dartmouth aren't very different. If he would get in ED, he'll get in RD. If he would get rejected ED, he won't get in RD.</p>

<p>So, in that case, now the family can compare financial aid packages from all the schools who accepted the student. In the end, if the student needs to go to Dartmouth, he probably will. Because of Dartmouth's new initiative, it shouldn't be a problem with finances. But it allows more time for the student and parents to choose a best fit, with the best aid.</p>

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<p>Yeah, applying ED really cuts down on your financial options, which is pretty important I guess with the recent difficulty for college students and applying for loans these days. :(</p>