Dartmouth '14 - how will the cookie crumble

<p>General Things
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: East Indian (international)
Country: India (but living in Singapore for 16 years)
Current Grade: Senior Year (in singapore, schools run from Jan-Dec)
Financial Aid: Not applying for any sort of FA</p>

<p>Grades
GPA: 3.1 (Sharp rising trend)
-Very tough international magnet school specializing in Math & Science</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning Test
SAT Critical Reading - 770
SAT Math - 800
SAT Writing – 800
SAT Composite (M+CR) – 1570
SAT Composite (M+CR+W) – 2370</p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests
SAT Math Level 2 - 800
SAT Physics - 790
SAT Chemistry – 780
SAT Biology M - 770</p>

<p>AP Tests
AP Calculus AB – 5
AP Chemistry – 5
AP Physics B – 5
AP Biology – 5
AP Calculus BC – 5
AP Statistics – 5</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
- Captain: Debate Team
- President: Creative Writing Circle
- Editor: School Yearbook
- Editor: School Newsletter (we don't publish too actively tho)
- Editor: Official Newsletter of Singapore Int'l Mathematics Competition
- Captain: Scrabble Team (placed 3rd nationally in 2007, several individual awards at national level too)
- Head Delegate: Model UN
- Tennis Team
- National Education Ambassador
- 300ish Community Service Hours
- Creative Arts Program (very selective program for writers and poets)
- Research on atomic spectroscopy
- Research on oxygen's behavior on palladium and applications in fuel cells
- Interned at a renowned museum of biodiversity research
- 2 Commendatory Awards @ Commonwealth Int'l Essay Writing Competition
- Gold (Drama) @ Singapore Youth Festival
- Best Delegate @ Singapore Model United Nations 2009
- Best Delegate @ WE International Model United Nations 2009</p>

<p>Well the GPA is unsettling, but if your school is as difficult as you say then I’m sure Dartmouth will overlook (wrong word, something along those lines) it. Any idea what your class rank is?</p>

<p>On the whole, very impressive stats. Great SAT I, SAT II, APs, ECs, and awards. You seem very well-rounded and I can see you standing out amongst the 1000s of apps. Very good shot, and make sure your essay is good :)</p>

<p>Good shot if you’re among the top students in your class rank wise.</p>

<p>I’m not among the top students in my class. But my class is among the top students in my country (top 5%). Admissions rate wise, my HS is more selective than the ivies and that puts together an academic environment where it’s just really hard to be near the top. </p>

<p>Would it help if my school does not rank?</p>

<p>No, colleges will know where you rank. Your HS is more selective than the Ivies? Doubt it.</p>

<p>I think that in general the top colleges get the very top students from their countries. Of course they also take several wealthy, influential students from countries like Singapore and India.</p>

<p>The colleges also will know exactly where you rank whether or not your school officially ranks.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Admissions rate wise as I said. (i.e. statistically). There’s of course no basis of comparison between high school admissions and ivy admissions because of the nature of the admissions process and when it comes in a student’s life. </p>

<p>What do you mean the colleges will know exactly where I rank?</p>

<p>How will they know that if my school doesn’t provide ranks (i.e. if my counselor indicates ‘Do Not Rank’) and if very few others (or none at all) from my school were to apply?</p>

<p>Almost all high schools give colleges enough info to rank in their school profile. Schools like you describe also typically have sent many applicants and they keep historical data. If all else fails they call and quiz your counselor. With internationals they also know the competitions/awards/honors they are looking for.</p>

<p>i gotta say that admissions not knowing much about your school is a strike AGAINST you.</p>

<p>for locals, entry to dartmouth from singapore has been traditionally dominated by raffles (which back in the day, was top 2%… ahh the fracturing of tertiary education in singapore…), interspersed with hwachongians. when i told the international director that i was singaporean, his first question to me WAS whether i was from raffles.</p>

<p>i’d suppose eventually some acsians will get admitted on the back of insane IB scores, but in the case of NUSHSMS i’d try to include an information packet of sorts in the application.</p>

<p>^^^I guess that’s secret code among Singaporians.</p>

<p>hello CAP-er!
your application sounds good. i was an a level student so i dont know about the ib system, but trust me your sat scores are competitive, and you have cool extracurriculars. </p>

<p>i was in CAP too, was a counselor in 2008 (j2), and had a bunch of other ccas. i applied for dartmouth ED, and got it. you probably can, if you write a decent essay. </p>

<p>why don’t you ask for FA though? i doubt it hurts your chances… i have a really good fin aid package.</p>

<p>Ummm…this is a thread from last year. The OP went to Cornell.</p>

<p>Dam I have similar stats, with lower SATs and a slightly higher GPA. If he didn’t get in, then I won’t either…crap.</p>

<p>I don’t know whether he got into to Dartmouth or not, but it’s clear from his posting record that he is attending Cornell.</p>