<p>Hello fellow CC'ers and Dartmouth applicants! I'm sure all of you are just as excited (and nervous) as I am about this year's college admissions process!</p>
<p>As I was filling out some parts of my Common App today, I ran across a few areas that I was confused about how to fill those sections out. So, here are some questions that I would greatly appreciate if anybody would answer:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If my parents went to universities outside of the country with no CEEB code, should I leave it blank?</p></li>
<li><p>If I am Asian (Indian), is it a better idea NOT to state my ethnicity? (I am applying to very selective schools including Dartmouth where being Asian does not help)</p></li>
<li><p>If I am applying to the Questbridge National College Match, and I am applying ED to Dartmouth whose application due date is before the Questbridge notification, should I or should I not put that Questbridge is assisting me with the application fee?</p></li>
<li><p>On the AP/IB/SAT Subject Tests box of the Academics section, there are only eight spaces. It just so happens that out of the 11 AP's I have taken, I have made eight 5's. So, would it be best to state those eight 5's, and then save the three 4's and my two SAT Subject test scores for the "Additional Information" section?</p></li>
<li><p>On the Cumulative GPA box of the Academics section, if my weighted GPA is 4.5, is it out of 4? (This may be a stupid question.)</p></li>
<li><p>My school says they don't rank. But my principal has told me that I am #1 in my class, and it is confirmed by their records. Yet, they still don't like to give students individual ranks, which is totally unfair to me. Should I self-report my rank as #1, even though my school transcript will say that the school does not rank? I know that many schools treat a #1 ranking as very significant, and I would hate to pass up the opportunity to show that.</p></li>
<li><p>How significant should the Honors be on the Honors box in the Academics section? I mean, I don't think it means that I should write every little Debate or music award that I have ever gotten. Should it just be limited to distinctions as National AP Scholar, and National Merit? </p></li>
<li><p>On the Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience section, should I list every specific activity? I mean, take this for example: I was part of something called the Space Program at my school, where we participated and won numerous important national competitions like the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams, NASA DIME, the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Competition and FIRST Robotics. We also did our own high-altitude balloon research as a part of the program. Should I list these competitions and activities separately (they each took up only 1 or 2 years), or should I list the Space Program as one entry, and later describe it in an attached resume? This is because if I do list each of them separately, I will have over 25 activities, as opposed to 12 or less. But I don't want to diminish the overwhelming value of the great accomplishments within each activity. </p></li>
<li><p>Should volunteer work be a part of the Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience section?</p></li>
<li><p>Should summer activities be counted for as the grade before or after the summer? Like, if I did a volunteer activity the summer after my 11th grade year, should I check the 12th grade box or the 11th grade box?</p></li>
<li><p>If I do attach a resume, is there a specific way it should be formatted?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>THANK YOU in advance for the help and advice! I know these are a lot of questions that are quite specific, but I feel that everybody could benefit from knowledgeable responses to these concerns! :)</p>
<p>If you’re applying through QuestBridge’s College Match to Dartmouth, then you don’t even need to submit the Common App to Dartmouth in the first place…</p>
<p>As somethinggeneric said above, if your last name is foreign anyway, (for example, if you’re Korean: Kim, Lee, Park, etc) hiding your ethnicity won’t have any effect. As a person who has one of the mentioned last names, I think not disclosing your ethnicity when it is apparent in other parts of the application might somehow be reflected negatively.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that these names reveal your ethnicity. Park and Lee are indeed Korean names, but Lee is also an English name and Park is also a Scottish name,</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Leave the CEEB code blank if the universities don’t have it.</p></li>
<li><p>Ethnicity is optional. Putting it won’t hurt you. It could in fact help a little since you’re Asian and Dartmouth is only 17% Asian.</p></li>
<li><p>Dartmouth should have specific instructions on the application fee through QuestBridge. It should be waived. If Dartmouth is really your first choice, I would recommend against using QuestBridge. The reason is that this is Dartmouth’s first year with QuestBridge, and I doubt they will accept a large pool of students from QuestBridge. (If I recall, Brown accepted only 9 from QuestBridge for it’s first year. MIT accepted like 7 and it’s in it’s fifth year or so. QB acceptances are just overall low, and plus you are international, so that might hurt…) You are better off applying ED. But still apply for QuestBridge for finalist status, just don’t rank colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, list the eight APs on the AP section and the other three in the Additional Information section. </p></li>
<li><p>Unweighted is out of 4.0. Weighted is out of 5.0, generally.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are indeed ranked #1, perhaps your guidance counselor or principal can state so in a recommendation. Stating you are #1 will indeed help you.</p></li>
<li><p>Put down the major distinctions and debate/music awards. You can list the less important ones in Additional Information if you feel they are important still.</p></li>
<li><p>Only list the most significant activities, the ones you’ve spent the most time on and gained leadership positions in.</p></li>
<li><p>Extracurricular or work experience section is fine for volunteer work. If you can’t fit it into extracurricular, then put it in work experience or Additional information.</p></li>
<li><p>I think the summer after.</p></li>
<li><p>I think the general convention is to not put a resume as it is essentially a repeat of the Activities and Work Experience section. However, do post more detailed descriptions of the activity if you think they are unique and not self-explanatory.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What immortalix said. And yes, definitely relax. You sound like a solid candidate and shouldn’t be worrying so much. With that said, anything can happen</p>