“Summer melt” is a trend where admitted students decide to take a gap year, or not attend the college at all. This opens up a couple of spots for waitlisted students to be admitted.
So do you think this means the “third wave” will not happen for a few weeks? Ugh the waiting is killing me
I was actually surprised there was no movement this week. The Harvard thread says next week is busy with graduation so it still may be a few more weeks.
It would be very helpful if the people that didn’t get in would post. Did you receive a notification or is silence Dartmouth’s way of telling you?
@BellaVenezia : would you mind linking to that story you mentioned about a student being notified as late as August?
I’ll look for it.
I talked to Dartmouth on Thursday, they told that they have selected a few number of students and have not received response from all of them. They do not know whether additional seats will be available. They will know about it next week (the selected students need to respond till next week) and will update you guys about this very soon.
And yes! if anybody encounters some useful info, please speak up!!!
Hmmmm… not finding my “August” story, but if you go through previous years on this site you will find several stories like this:
knickknackpatty
knickknackpatty
Posts: 297
Registered User
Junior Member
04-11-2009 at 8:09 am
Hi, I was a waitlisted student last year who got off the list and am now attending Dartmouth. First and foremost, it was perhaps the most stressful, disillusioning and all around not fun experience I’ve had. Dartmouth was my first choice and I really sacrificed by second semester of high school and pushed non-stop to try and get in. The one thing I regret is worrying so much about it, yes I love this school but in retrospect there was a lot of unnecessary stress.
Last year was a strange year and it actually helped me and my fellow waitlistees. Harvard and Princeton had just stopped ED and so there was a lot of cross acceptances and flipflopping amongst the IVY league and peer schools. That period from April to June was absolutely ridiculous and I found myself constantly seeing if other schools had lifted a large amount of waitlisted students (with the hope that they would move Dartmouth students to them). The deal breaker was the fact that Harvard ended up accepting over 200 students off the waitlist. That was unheard of, and in turn Princeton moved 50 and there was a general trickle down effect. 40 kids were taken off the Dartmouth waitlist that year ( I know a good handful of them-all bright kids), which was extremely high.
Going into the waitlist process, I thought that I had full control over the process. That with some recs and constant interaction, I could place myself high on the waitlisted list. I did the following: 1) Had a rec from a professor, college counselor, and Dartmouth Alumni Interviewer 2) Face to face talk with a Dartmouth admissions officer who was visiting for the '13 3) Update letter
The truth is, the process is out of your hands. After 3 months of nothing (and there was previous movement to me, so it was quite sad to hear other people get in off the wl and not me), I settled on another college. I went to the pre-frosh day, got super stoked and by graduation I had put Dartmouth behind me and fully intended on attending this other school. Then, a week or so after my graduation (so weird) I get a call that I was accepted. This was literally in June, so you can imagine how surprising this was. I am extremely happy with happy, and there was a fair amount of luck involved. The way things played out that year, I was able to squeeze in. Again, any other year, I doubt I would be a '12.
I don’t want to tell you this story to scare you. Its ok to have hope if Dartmouth is your absolute 1st choice. But know, that the chances ARE SLIM. I kept hearing this, and I ignored it, which lead to high expectations. I have heard that there may not be a ranking system, but rather they take people off the waitlist who fill the spot of someone who declined Dartmouth. For example, the a star trumpet player may be filled by another trumpet player from the wl.
I wish you the best of luck. Send an update letter, and maybe an extra rec. The one thing I advise though is that you look at your choices and really get excited about one of them. College is what you make of it. There are kids here who don’t take advantage of the oppertunities, and there are kids at “lesser schools” (I actually don’t believe that any school is really worse then another) that are doing amazing things. But, who is to know what will happen with the economic situation? Don’t stress over this process. PM me if you have any questions.
By “next week” do you mean this current week or next week starting June 1st??
Dartmouth starts selecting applicants in early May and concludes the process by July 1st-- I read this on Dartmouth’s official web under the waitlist section.
My comment was in reply to what DKAKJKNS posted btw**
To dranz15,
By next week I mean this present week (25 May to 29 May). This was what it actually said me. And its true that the cycles for wait list candidacy keep moving till July 1. Till the entire June you must not lose hope. All the best…
Feeling kind of discouraged since its been so long since we have heard anything. Do you think it’s time to move on?
I wouldn’t give up hope just yet. Apparently some action is going to happen this week. Good luck!
Where did you hear that from?? Gah this is a horrible waiting game.
DKAKJKNS posted that info a few posts up! And I agree. The waiting is terrible. Hang in there 
Let’s hope one of us hears something soon!
I think you must move on… Do not depend on DARTMOUTH. But if you get it then …Excellent! But try consider other option.
Because overthinking can kill you! Even I’m in the same situation but try to comfort yourself with other options. Remember! then if you get DARTMOUTH, you’ll enjoy it but thinking in anyway will not get us DARTMOUTH. If not now, we - wait listed guys can try DARTMOUTH in transfer application. We can get it! and try to send essays and LORs which can really turn your tables in Mid or Late June. If any of our destiny favours! we can still get DARTMOUTH till late June… So, All The Best!