Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Dartmouth is a really great school I would love to go there but Im not sure if i should apply...I know some people that have gotten into Dartmouth with worse GPAs than mine but im still not sure if I should apply...</p>

<p>GPA: 3.2
SAT: 1700 (Math-510, CR-570, Writing-620..Essay-10)
*First time taking it...will take again in October(expect to bring it up into 2000's and above)
Rank: School doesn't rank
Schedule: Taking almost every AP I possibly can
*I go to one of the hardest high schools in the nation...Ranked 26 in Newsweeks Top High Schools and Ranked 3rd in the state.
-Essay:Excellent
-Recs: Should be excellent as well</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
-AP Gov't
-AP Econ
-AP English Langauge
-AP Spanish
-Adv. Dance
-Pre-Calc
-Health Ed(Grad. req)</p>

<p>ECs
*La Raza Unida Club (4 yrs- community liason and sec.)
*Spirit Committee(Skit Leader for three years)
*Mock Trial (2 yrs)
*Red Cross Volunteer (since 9th grade, actively engaged with summer camp program-staff for 2 years, Serving on Board of Directors as Youth Representative)
* Internship summer before Senior Year at San Francisco International Airport</p>

<p>Race/Ethnicity-Hispanic
Location-California
*First to go to college, Parents are immigrants to the US and never attended college.
* Would need as much financial aid as is possible</p>

2

<p>I'm not that up on Dartmouth's admission's but based on your grades and test scores I'd say you don't have much of a shot, even being an URM.</p>

3

<p>Does Anybody have actual advice?</p>

4

<p>Alex, Dartmouth might be a bit of a reach based on your scores, but I encourage you to apply anyway. </p>

<p>While your low gpa can be explained by a rigorous high school, low SAT scores cannot. So study for those SATs! If you can break a 2000 that will definitely help. Also, you made a good decision by taking as many APs as you could. Even if you don't get straight As, taking as many APs as possible is the best choice. </p>

<p>You don't have a ton of ECs, but it seems like you are heavily involved in the ones you do have. Your internship at SFO sounds pretty unique (I was there yesterday lol). I recommend staying involved in all your activities. Perhaps you can run for president for La Raza Unida Club? </p>

<p>Anyway, stay involved and study hard for your SATs! Good luck!</p>

5

<p>if I get all A's in senior year and get a 2100+ on the SATs and maybe apply ED, do i have a chance then?</p>

6

<p>alexc:</p>

<p>Senior transcripts will not be considered for ED since they come out after the ED decisions are made. ED is a better option for students with strong Soph & Jr year grades who do not need to show further upward trend.</p>

<p>ED is also not recommended for applicants who need "maximum" finanicial aid. Unless your parents make less than $45k/yr, the finaid package for ED applicants will most likely consist of work study and a stafford loan. Thus, at a minimum, you'll have at least ~$6k of self help in the first year, which will increase every year after (assuming no change in financial situation). Applying RD will allow you to compare finaid packages across colleges.</p>

<p>IMO, Lowell is the most competitive non-magnet, public school in the State (3,000+ high schools); the regional rep will know how difficult it is.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

7

<p>thanks bluebayou, i think i'll apply RD.</p>

8

<p>bump bump bump</p>

9

<p>im kind of in a similar situation. i dont have very good grades and my test scores aren't very good (2110) the only realy way to compensate for that is through extensive EC participation. the only reason why i have a chance at dartmouth and other top tier schools is because i have above average ec's. the trick for you to crack dartmouth would be to considerable raise your gpa [straight a's in the fall] and mack the act/sat (32 or 2100+) and try to win an outstanding award for one of your ec's to set yourself apart from the pack. remember adcoms see many many robots with 4.0 2250+ be unique, play an angle and you could win yourself a seat.</p>

10

<p>Actually, the poster who said those with low family incomes should not apply early is incorrect. Dartmouth meets the full demonstrated need of each student, regardless of whether or not they apply ED. Your financial aid package will be the same regardless of when you apply. We have enough money for financial aid that we don't have to give students less generous packages simply because they are in a binding agreement.
If you're really worried about finances, though, you could apply RD and compare packages with other schools. The admissions office reads applications the same way whether or not they're ED... so if you would get in ED, you would also get in RD.</p>

11

<p>Yeah the reason to apply RD instead of ED is that you can compare aid packages for the schools you get in. Even though Dartmouth's offer might be the same regardless, you could possibly make them give you more if you are offered more generous packages from other schools.</p>

12

<p>It's really not a very good GPA. Even from a harder high school. ECs are about average for Dartmouth and similar schools...</p>

<p>If you get your SAT up as you promise, you do have a chance. To be honest, if you had to apply without taking the SAT again, you wouldn't have any chance, 1080 M+CR is not even close, not even in the same ballpark as the score you need for Dartmouth.</p>

13

<p>Just addressing the SAT, I have seen many well imformed posters (like NorthStarMom) cite a M+V minimum of about 1200 as the lowest score that Ivies (and other top schools) will accept. And this mainly applies to URM's or low SES students that have not had the advantages that money or a good HS provide. The basis for this lower cutoff is that the colleges feel that below this level the student has little chance of succeeding in a very demanding academic atomosphere. Last year I went through the results threads of several schools and recorded the SAT scores of the (non-International) URM's that applied, here are the results:</p>

<p>Harvard
Accepted: 1510, 1580, 1520, 1470 (1st gen), 1520, 1440, 1440, 1570, 1580, 1550, 1470, 1480,
D/WL: 1150, 1390, 1270, 1280
Rejected: 1340, 1300</p>

<p>Yale
Accepted: 1450, 1570, 1370, 1590, 1340, 1500, 1340 (1st gen), 1600, 1580, 1520, 1300, 1380, 1400, 1530, 1300
D/WL: 1400, 1390, 1470
Rejected: 1550 (accepted to Harvard & Columbia)</p>

<p>Princeton
Accepted: 1530, 1540, 1470, 1340, 1490, 1490, 1500, 1510, 1350, 1440, 1440, 1490, 1390, 1300, 1450</p>

<p>Brown
Accepted: 1460, 1470, 1330, 1400, 1400, 1270, 1450, 1280, 1420
D/WL: 1360, 1220</p>

<p>Dartmouth
Accepted: 1420, 1330, 1280</p>

<p>Rice
Accepted: 1390, 1430, 1410, 1450, 1430
Rejected: 1150</p>

<p>Cornell
Accepted: 1160, 1430, 1340, 1300, 1440, 1530, 1450, 1280, 1210
Rejected: 1420</p>

<p>WUSTL
Accepted: 1470, 1580, 1390, 1420, 1470, 1430, 1310, 1280, about 1430</p>

<p>Again, SAT's are only part of the picture, but this is the pool of applicants that alexc will be compared to.</p>

14

<p>alexc- what have you been getting on practice sat's... hopefully you are studying</p>

15

<p>On my last practice SAT I got a 2110 (670 math, 720 cr and 720 writing).</p>

16

<p>good job, keep climbing.</p>