Hey, please chance me for Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University
GPA: weighted 4.15
Classes: AP Bio, AP Calc, 7 Dual Enrollment Classes at local college, 3 years Spanish
ACT: 30 (superscore 32, both schools superscore) (highest scores = math 32, reading 32, english 31, science 31)
EC: Eagle Scout, 200+ hours community service, week long leadership training, National Honor Society, Quiz Bowl 10th grade, Cross Country 10th grade, tennis 9-12, 3 tennis awards in my school, 1 tennis award regionally, started school wide mental health awareness program, Order of the Arrow Member (honor society of scouting), coached 1st grade basketball team through my church 9th grade
I’d love to go to either school, what are my chances???
ACT score is on the low-ish side for JHU and definitely on the low side for Dartmouth. Both of these schools have a strong focus on the sciences (JHU in particular) so I would ask you your major: if it’s something STEM I would suggest you look elsewhere.
Any particularly interesting community service? Any standout awards? What’s your hook?
My major is biology. And for standout awards, I’m an Eagle Scout. Interesting community service, I had a project where I collected 900 cans of food for a local homeless shelter and another where I started a mental health awareness project for my school. I think my hook would be I’m a strong leader. And the score is low even with a superscore?? I thought 32 was about average for both of them?
32 would be on the low end (25%) for accepted applicants. 34 would make Dartmouth/Hopkins a closer reach, but still one nonetheless.
Eagle Scout is fine as a national honor (son is a current WashU freshman who is an Eagle with 3 Palms/OA). He did write his Common App essay about being a camp SPL but tied it in to Lord of the Flies. You could write about Scouting for your essays. Some people on CC think it’s fairly ordinary but there is a major time commitment.
I don’t see any science related ECs, which is fine, although for a potential Biology/BME major, that might be a problem for Hopkins. One of my son’s Troop SPLs graduated from Hopkins last year as a Biology major, but he had a 4.8 WGPA, 2390 SAT, and did lots of research out of high school (was accepted to CalTech for a possible Math/Biology/CompSci major but chose JHU).
And for the service projects. The mental health awareness project sounds interesting. Collecting 900 cans of food sounds like Scouting for Food, so while you collected a lot, it doesn’t seem that extraordinary.
You couldn’t have picked two more vastly different colleges. Are you sure you have researched both in depth and really understand what they are about? If you have, then great but just pointing it out because they are so so different.
@SamLong99 I am the Eagle Advisor for my son’s Troop, so I am aware of what Scouting for Food is. And somehow collecting 900 cans of food sounds more like Scouting for Food than an actual Eagle project, but your Scoutmaster, your Troop Committee Chair, and the District Advancement Chair gave their OK.
I would put more emphasis on the mental health project, if you plan to write on that. That seems more eye catching than collecting food.
