Concerns of a Dartmouth Reject

Colleges & Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>I was recently rejected from Dartmouth ED (probably due to my low GPA of 3.68). In this time of confusion, I took a few "what college is right for me" quizzes on various websites, including CC and The Princeton Review, and Princeton seems to rank fairly high as a fit for me. I was thinking of applying to some other reach school to fill the gap left by Dartmouth, but if there is no chance at all of me being admitted then I don't see the point. How slim are my chances if I was rejected from what is considered an "easier" ivy to get in to? Should I even bother trying to apply to Princeton?</p>

<p>In addition to the GPA, my stats include...</p>

<p>Gender: White Male</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2220 (Math: 800, Critical Reading: 680, Writing: 740) (took them on Dec. 4th, waiting on those, pretty sure they went up)
SAT II Math Level 2: 800
SAT II Physics: 800
SAT II Biology - M: 710
SAT II Chemistry: 710</p>

<p>AP:
5 Physics B
5 European History
4 US History
4 English Language</p>

<p>Classes taking this year (all AP):
Chinese (I am one of two students selected to be in this, the first class offered at my school)
BC Calculus
Physics C
Chemistry
English Literature</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:
Varsity Math Team (9,10,11,12)
Freshman Math Team (7,8,9)
School Newspaper Copy Editor (12)
Improv Society (11,12)
Academic Decathlon (12)</p>

<p>Leadership positions:
Math Team Captain (12)
Learn-to-Skate Coach (9,10,11,12)
Senior Leader (for freshmen) (12)</p>

<p>I have travelled overseas every year since 7th grade. I have stayed extensively in England, Scotland, Wales, Poland (where I have family), and Italy. My family has as an apartment in Venice that we rent out during the year, so we go there quite often. I wrote about this in the Common App extracurricular supplement.</p>

<p>Athletic Status - list sport and your level:
Town
Ice Hockey (all my life)
Lacrosse (7,8,9,10)</p>

<p>JV
Lacrosse (9)
Ice Hockey (9)
Cross country (11,12)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
Special Olympics (9,10,11,12)
Learn-to-Skate Coach (9,10,11,12)
School Service Day (9,10,11,12)
Local Parish Clean-Up (10)
Religious Retreat Associated Service (10,11,12)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
Academic Decathlon Superquiz Gold Medal (12)
Freshman Math Team Highest Scorer (9)
National Merit Commended Student (11)
AP Scholar with Honors (11)</p>

<p>Other: Ultimate Frisbee Club (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Interests: Physics/Mathematics</p>

<p>I wrote my essay about my Polish heritage...the three teachers I had read it said it was excellent, so I will probably stick with that. Great teacher recs, etc.</p>

<p>feedback?</p>

2

<p>Holy crap. If you were turned down by Dartmouth, that really makes me feel bad about my own chances (applying both there and Princeton–to clarify, I think I have a bit better academics and you have a bit better ECs, but wouldn’t those things cancel out in a holistic evaluation?). I mean it’s obviously worth it to apply to Princeton anyway because ivy league schools are so unpredictable, unless you are struggling for the money for the application, but for sure apply to a few other good schools to, I’d say.</p>

3

<p>Admissions is unpredictable. All Ivies receive more qualified applicants than they can admit. You hear of students not admitted to a less selective university and then admitted to HY or P. All you require is for one admission officer to think that this individual has unique characteristics that would benefit the university. </p>

<p>Do not allow the admission process to define you as a person. With three 800’s you are obviously a very good student. Apply to one or more reach universities, universities that you expect to be admitted, and a safe university. Select the university to attend and do not worry about the universities not attended. Both Princeton and Dartmouth have a long list of outstanding people that they did not admit.</p>

4

<p>Don’t let my Dartmouth decision discourage you. There were people with scores lower than mine who were accepted, so it’s not the absolute defining factor, but honestly any ivy is a toss-up. You probably have just as good a chance as anyone, but it’s difficult to say. I thought I had some chance, but that turned out to be wrong. A good friend of mine who has wanted to go to Duke since he was, like, 10 got rejected earlier today and he had similar statistics to mine. It seems that applicant pools are getting more competitive, but who knows. Best of luck to you! :D</p>

5

<p>…obviously the above comment was meant for RockySterling. Took me a bit too long to write that response… Thank’s for your contribution too, PtonAlumnus. I think one factor that may help me is that Princeton has additional essays…I felt with Dartmouth (who has no essay other than the common app) that the application didn’t reflect enough of me, so maybe that’s why I was rejected. Can only see what happens</p>

6

<p>I would have to say that the 2340 (740 cr, 800 m, 800 w) I now have with my December SAT is going to help me quite a bit</p>

7

<p>Just keep telling yourself that. It’s good for the soul, etc.</p>

8

<p>It should help. I think you should also check out Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, and maybe Amherst and Rice as schools with similarities to Dartmouth and Princeton.</p>

9

<p>Admission to the topmost universities is crazy, plain and simple. One or two will accept you (ideally), and the rest will shut you out completely. In my case, I received 5 rejections (WashU, Duke, MIT, Yale, and Harvard) and 1 acceptance (Princeton) from my top school choices. So in your case, maybe Dartmouth is just one of those many who will inevitably reject you, and there is still a school or two out there that you’ll be grateful to have gotten into.</p>

10

<p>Just some constructive criticism regarding your common app extracurricular essay:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>No offense or anything, but writing about your extensive foreign travel experience might make you just come off as a spoiled rich kid. If you didn’t DO anything with that experience–learn three new languages, or start an international club at school, say–I’m not sure why it’s so special. All that it shows adcoms is that your family has the money to travel a lot. I might consider switching to a different topic.</p>