Chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>White Female in rural NC
Upper middle class income
I go to one of the top public (charter) schools in the state</p>

<p>GPA unweighted: 3.9947 (a 95 in AP Studio Art!) Weighted:5.0585
Class Rank: 1/71
15 AP Classes (0-2-5-8)
2390 SAT (800-790-800)
Subject Tests: Math II 800, US History 780, Bio-E 760
AP Scores: 4 Calc AB, 5 Euro, 5 Bio, 5 Lang, 5 Calc BC (5 AB subscore), 5 APUSH, 4 Studio Art (2D Design)</p>

<p>Grade 9:
Honors Geometry
Honors Pre-Calc
Honors Biology
Honors Eng I
Honors World History
Latin I</p>

<p>Awards: Latin I Award, Biology Award, History Award, Perfect Attendance</p>

<p>Grade 10:
AP Calc AB
AP Euro
Art History
Honors Chem
Honors Eng II
Latin II</p>

<p>Awards: Latin II Award, History Award, Art History Award, Highest GPA</p>

<p>Grade 11:
AP Bio
AP Calc BC
AP Studio Art
APUSH
AP Lang
Honors Logic II
Honors Latin III
Honors Orchestra III</p>

<p>Awards: AP Bio award, Calc BC award, History Award, Research Paper award, Latin III award, Scholar-Athlete award, Highest GPA, Renssaeler Medal, Junior Honor Marshall, Wofford Scholar, Furman Scholar</p>

<p>Grade 12:
AP Enviro
AP Human Geo
AP Macro
AP Music Theory
AP Stat
AP US Gov
AP Lit
AP Vergil
Honors Rhetoric</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>NHS-10-12
Beta Club- 11 and 12
Student Council- 11 and 12
Soccer- 9 and 10 (Academic All-Conference and scored a goal in our playoff game )
Swimming- 9 and 10 (placed 2nd and 3rd in events in County Championships, qualified for regionals and states)
Cross Country- 11 and 12 (qualified for conference and regionals)
Academic Team- grade 9 (I made the varsity team but didn't have time for it after that year!)
Youth Group (Mission trips after grades 10 and 11 to Charleston and Mobile)
Tutor (Latin, Math, History grades 10-12)</p>

<p>Piano Teacher to Children (Paid) Grades 11 and 12</p>

<p>Head Church Pianist/Organist/Accompanist at my Catholic Church (4 hours a week, every week! Grades 9-12)</p>

<p>Orchestra- Concertmaster/ 2nd Chair First Violin and occasional piano accompanist/ chamber group member</p>

<p>Guest (piano) Performer at Cecilia Music Club</p>

<p>Foothills Music Festival annual Master Class performer (9-12)</p>

<p>Interlochen! - attended before grades 10 and 12 for classical piano, 6 weeks</p>

<p>I'm trying to play up my music because it is such a big part of my life, and my Common App essay will be about my past experience at Interlochen. I'm considering Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Thank you in advance!</p>

2

<p>So…why do you want to go to Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale and Princeton? your stats are fantastic and your music is obviously important to you…so…why not Oberlin? CMU? Indiana? places where you can do a meaningful BFA (with perhaps a dual major) in a great music program? Or why not a conservatory? I look at your stats and see someone who is interested in adding an ivy diploma to her list of accomplishments but because it is an ivy not because she is interested in an education that will help her achieve her dreams as a ??? I have seem kids rejected because they come accross as souless achievement seekers (great stats no soul). I think you know your stats are competitive with any applicant to any university but I would see the emphasis on your music and yet applying to universities with not particularly strong music programs as indicative of someone who is either confused or is using her music as a “hook” to get the prestigious degree rather than music being a big part of her life. How you work your essays is going to be important but before spending scads of money on ivy applications think about whether Dartmouth (or Yale or Harvard) can really offer you the education you want. IF you are sure and can articulate this, you will have a good chance. Just be careful what you wish for and make sure that it is what you really want.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think it’ll make a tremendously great impression for music to be such an important part of your life. Yale, perhaps, offers the most in that regard - it has a brilliant music program. Otherwise with Dartmouth and Harvard to the admissions committees it may seem illogical, and that you are unwilling to follow your true passions, whether or not that is accurate. I’d write about something related to your major and why you love it so much, and address your passion for music in the little sub-essay on the Common App.</p>

<p>Just my opinion, of course. I don’t really know what I’m talking about…</p>

4

<p>Your stats are freakin’ fantastic. Which major do you want to apply in, anyway? If you want to go for Physics then playing up the music part of your life won’t help. If you want to do something music-related then why are you restricting yourself to the Ivies? Avoid the “prestige” issue and focus on the schools which have great programs for the major YOU want. With your profile, you should easily get in.</p>

5

<p>Dartmouth student here. Your qualifications are great, but make sure that your application doesn’t lack some kind of sexiness. You are perfectly competent (academically speaking) to survive DM’s challenging classes, but I don’t see anything in your post that speaks to what you have to offer the college. College admissions is like a deal. In exchange for admission (which makes YOU look good) you need to bring something extraordinary to the table (which makes Dartmouth look good). Merely being capable of surviving the classes isn’t, sadly, enough. Find some venue in which to express creativity, demonstrate humanitarianism or leadership, invent or involve others. Also don’t listen to people who hate on the ivy / prestige thing. Like it or not, present-state America values the ivy status. The opportunities and networking available via the Ivies, MIT, Caltech and Stanford are beyond compare. If you are interested in having some kind of a “career,” (which is not necessarily what everyone needs to be looking for) it is worth investing your time and money in an Ivy education.</p>

6

<p>You have amazing stats. I think you can get in anywhere you choose. As suggested by above posters, pick the school that has the best program for your interests. If it is music that you choose to pursue, Yale has an unbelievable program (and I believe free tuition for all music school because of a grant).</p>

7

<p>Thank you so much for the replies! I turned in my Yale SCEA (I fell in love with Yale) with music performance listed as my second choice for a major, and changed my essays so that it is not the focus of either of them, but only the short answer. I hope that my new essays show more soul :slight_smile: I’m finishing up recording music for each of the school’s supplements (Common App for Dartmouth), so I hope that I will strike the balance between my love for music but how it might be secondary to my academic interests. Thanks for the input!</p>