<p>I am a highschool sophomore but have already, sadly, started to stress about getting into college. Freshman year i got a 4.0, this year i have an 4.0 and honors chemistry. I did not do well on the PSAT but i took a practice SAT without any practice before hand and got what is equivalent to a 2010. My high school is ranked 64 in the country by USNEWS but it is public. I have been class prez of my class for the last 2 years and will be doing ASB for the rest of highshool. I do lots of community service and coach younger kids sports. </p>
<p>With these credentials, although i know it is hard to tell, what are my chances of getting into Dartmouth?
What are some other school like dartmouth that i could be accepted to?
My grandpa is the head of the Board of admissions at bucknell so that should be easy for eto get into. </p>
<p>You're certainly on the right path to being a very competitive applicant. Keep working in school (and studying for your SATs), and try to branch out and find one or two defining extra-curriculars that you really enjoy.</p>
<p>Also, when it comes time, make great use of your grandfather about writing a good essay.</p>
<p>Other similar colleges include:
Williams (not really less selective)
Middlebury
Bowdoin
Colgate</p>
<p>Might I also suggest Hamilton College, its not as selective as Dartmouth but still very selective and you'll definitely get an Ivy-caliber (or better) education there. Also like Dartmouth, it's in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>You know what? Dartmouth is in the middle of nowhere, but it's rural location does not mean it is without amenities.</p>
<p>The school is 5000 students plus there is a research hospital etc etc. None of the other schools have quite the combination, and many are barely half the size. I liked the combination of Tufts, but there have been some rumblings that there are a lot of bitter ivy rejects and my S is surely not bitter so that concerns me. Of course, the "ugly girls" concern him!!!</p>
<p>Besides Williams, Amherst may also be a good bet. Not really less selective, but it's a crapshoot really for the most selective colleges, and the more you apply to, the greater your chances of getting into at least one.</p>
<p>Pomona is on there. Not sure why. And John.. be careful with the use of the word "crap shoot." It seems it can really send a few people over the edge. :)</p>
<p>thanks,
i was looking at collleges like Georgetown and Boston college that are not in the least any thing like the location but were similar schools in some other categories. I also like these schools because they focus on business, which is what i want to pursue, and seem like they have a pretty vivid social life.</p>
<p>Middlebury: It has a large span of open space, has its own ski mountain, and is in the mountains. The town is very young, and very active. Not to small, not a economically suffering town by any means, like you may find at Colby, which is also awesome.</p>
<p>Suggest you crack a book on probability/statistics and review concepts of independence and correlation. Applying to large number of similar schools does not really improve your chance of getting accepted at any one. You need to build a portfolio of diverse applications - some a reach, some likely, and some a lock. In craps, every roll is an independent event.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Right, but if you are given enough money to play 12 rounds at craps, your chances that you will win at least one will increase.
[/quote]
Wrong. As the number of conducted trials increases, the probability of a specified event tends to the theoretical value of the probability calculated for it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Suggest you crack a book on probability/statistics and review concepts of independence and correlation. Applying to large number of similar schools does not really improve your chance of getting accepted at any one. You need to build a portfolio of diverse applications - some a reach, some likely, and some a lock. In craps, every roll is an independent event.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>P(accepted to at least one school) = 1 - P(rejected by Harvard) if the applicant only applies to Harvard
P(accepted to at least one school) = 1 - P(rejected by Harvard) * P(rejected by Yale) if the applicant applies to both Harvard and Yale</p>
<p>If the applicant is clearly not capable of attending the kind of schools he/she is applying to, then applying to more schools won't make a difference. (i.e. if your GPA is 2.5 and your combined SAT is 1800, you're very unlikely to get into any selective school unless you're the most awesome person on earth in every other way, since your chances of rejection anywhere will probably be close to 1.) If, however, the applicant is capable of attending but wants to reduce the odds of ending up without anywhere to go, he or she had better apply to more than one school. (i.e. if the probability of acceptance at a selective school is nonzero, the applicant should apply to more than one selective school.)</p>
<p>Note that I am not saying that applying to Yale increases the odds of getting into Harvard or that applying to many schools increases the chance you'll be accepted at a specific school. I am saying that applying to more than one selective school reduces the chance you'll be rejected by all the selective schools you apply to. And since it really is a crapshoot these days, even for some of the most talented, it's generally a good idea to apply to at least a few selective schools to ensure you have more than one roll of the dice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wrong. As the number of conducted trials increases, the probability of a specified event tends to the theoretical value of the probability calculated for it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You're confusing the overall 'win' rate, and the odds that you have one 'win'.</p>
<p>If you increase the number of schools that you apply to, you will increase the chances that you get accepted to college.</p>
<p>If you apply to every school in the country, you have a higher chance of going to college than if you applied to just Harvard.</p>