Dartmouth Class of 2021 Early Decision Results

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[aB][asize=7][acolor=Green]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=7][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=7][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

2

High School Junior size=7[/size]
GPA 3.83/4.0 and
SAT 1340/1600
SAT II: None
Rank: None
AP Scores: Got a 1 in APCP, Not taking anymore AP Tests
Demographic: 16 Male, Born in Africa, raised in England and Maryland.

Special Details:
I am graduating a year early from high school at the end of my junior year. I have exceeded graduation requirements through dual enrollment courses at my local community college. I am pursuing early graduation because of the severe limitations that my school puts on my course selection as well as the negative atmosphere.

Leadership Roles:
2016: Program coordinator for educating youth (Middle and High School) on the importance of UN’s Sustainable development goals, in collaboration with WBFN.
2016: Citizenship Law Related Education Program Award by the MD State Bar Association
2016: Chief Organizer, Voter Registration Drive in collaboration with Prince George’s Board of Elections
2016: Chief Organizer and Coordinator, County College Fair
2016: First Place Varsity Public Forum Award, Prince George’s Debate League, Spring Tournament
2015-16: Chief of Staff, Young Democrats, CHF
2015-17: Speech Mentor and Varsity Member, Debate Team
2014-17: Principal’s Action Committee
2015-16:Student Aide and Class Officer (LSN Gov)

Organizations and Clubs:
2016 - 2017: Spanish Honor Society Member
2014 - 2015: Future Business Leaders of America
2014 – 2015: Member, HS Football Club
2015 – 2017: Member, HS Debate Team, County Champion
2015 – 2017: Member, Mock Trials
2015 - 2017: Community Day, Vice President

Internship/Volunteer Experiences:
2016-date: Mentee under Irving A. Williamson, Chairman of International Trade Commission
June – July, 2016: World Bank / IMF / Inter-American Development Bank Teen Summer Program
August – date, 2016: WBFN Intern
2012 – 2013: Montgomery General Hospital / Olney Thrift Store, Olney, MD
2010 – 2013: Good Shepherd of Olney, MD (Variety of Community service projects)

Courses:
AP Computer Principles
Honors Spanish 4
English 1010 (Community College)
Currently:
AP Computer Science
AP World History
AP English Language
Pre Calculus

Financial Aid: Applied and Received $43,558 out of $69,944 total cost.
Intended Major: Government, International Relations
Essay: 8/10
Recc 1: 10/10
Recc 2: 10/10
Counselor Recc: Unknown
Peer Recc: 10/10
Income Bracket: Upper Middle class (Around $150,000 a year. Dad is the only one that works. Mom and 2 other brothers are in college, little brother in elementary school.)
Service Hours: 74 (Can’t use hours earned in D.C at my school for some reason)

I might look like a mediocre to low student on paper but that has a lot to do with the not being challenged aspect, I think Dartmouth understood that about me. My extracurriculars definitely give me some leeway in the academic section.

Shoutout to the people at GWU thread for convincing me not to apply to GWU ED and take the easy route and to instead take the risk with applying to my dream school.

3

Decision: Deferred

Ok, I will go first, unless someone else is doing it also lol

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Nope
ACT (breakdown): 31 (34 E, 29 Math, 33 Reading, 28 Science,30 Writing)
SAT II: Didn’t take any, lol. Maybe that could have helped.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Around 3.8 uw, 4.43 w
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):Top 8% out of 480 students
AP (place score in parenthesis): No AP
IB (place score in parenthesis): I didn’t take any IB tests yet, but am Full Diploma Candidate
Senior Year Course Load: IB Chem SL, IB Calculus, IB History II, IB Senior Lit II, IB Bio II, IB Spanish 5, Theory of Knowledge, PLTW Principles of Biomedical Sciences, and AP Computer Science online.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Lol no. I will be pursuing something for RD though…

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Finance and Investment Club, Head capt. and Pres for the past 2 years, joined sophomore year. We started from 3 members down to a solid, close to 20 count. Made regional history this and last year by winning. We have had a losing streak for the past decade…But we won! I trained the team to success.
  • Math Club President/Founder: We do competitions and stuff, but my friends and I do it for fun. I am not too great at math, but I love doing it regardless.
  • NHS President: Yep, that is a fun post. Pretty self explanatory.
  • …Homecoming King?
  • I write poetry. And am darn good at it.
    Job/Work Experience:
    Parents will not let me get a job, but I know how to use a cash register with tiger prowess…
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • I volunteer at Wheaten Franciscan Hospital. Did it for the past Five years, have 600+ hours. Got to volunteer at some pretty awesome places.
  • I taught an Arabic Class at the local Library. Past three years, there have been 12 consistent students.
    Summer Activities:
    Not enough money in a family of seven.
    Essays (rating 1-10, details):
    Let me put it this way, my common app essay could have been better, but the supplemental questions were great. 7/10 common app (rewriting that), 10/10 supplemental
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: English Teacher, she likes me, and is really cool, 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: Economics Teacher, do not know what he wrote about me…but I got faith in him 10/10
Counselor Rec: I no doubt would have been rejected without her. 11/10
Additional Rec: My peer recommendation was really nice. It was short, but got to the point. 10/10
Interview: He was a busy guy, but we went half an hour over. He wrote a lot of stuff, so that is probably why I didn’t get rejected… but I do not know.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
Intended Major: English/Comparative Literature and Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): Wisconsin
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, but pretty competitive
Ethnicity: Middle Eastern/ North African, Muslim (Ik it isn’t ethnicity)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 78k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college, had a good reason for my sad GPA, from a country in conflict

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, recs, EC’s
Weaknesses: GPA, ACT, no SAT II’s
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
No SAT II’s, a serious dip Junior year 2nd semester. At least there is hope, and I am happy to still be considered.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
I got accepted to UW Madison a month ago, and am hoping to receive the First Wave scholarship.
Applied:
No where else. If anyone can help me choose small schools that are like Dartmouth, most appreciated. For now, I may apply to Brown and Upenn.
General Comments:

Okay, so I didn’t get in. But I seriously thought I would get rejected. At least they are considering my application. I think if I win this next competition, and show an improvement in my grades, I think I have a good shot still. The reason why my ACT/GPA is so low was because of some serious family issues overseas. So they must have taken that into consideration, and I mean, if showing improvement is all I need to do, I will do that. I have all A’s in all nine of my classes, and my SAT II practice test scores are 750+, with 800 in US History, so if all goes well, I hope to see everyone who gets accepted next fall!

4

ACCEPTED!!!

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A

ACT (breakdown): 35 (E:35, R:36, M:35, S:35, Essay:35)

SAT II: US History- 720, Math 2- 740

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/505
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human(5), AP World History(5), AP Calc AB(5), AP Bio(5), AP Lang(5), AP USH(5), AP Psych(5)

IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A

Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1, AP Enviro, AP Lit, AP US Gov, Debate 4 Honors, Virtual Enterprise Honors, Economics Honors

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2nd place in the world DECA international competition,1st place in Florida DECA states, Multiple qualifications to debate nationals (CFL, NSDA, TOC) and local debate victories, Congressional Award of Leadership and Service presented by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, AP Scholar With Distinction, National Merit Commended, half dozen top student awards in school, Annual county mock interview competition winner, 1st place regional chemistry competition, 2nd place regional NHS Brain Brawl competition

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate (President), DECA (President), NHS (no leadership but I’ve done more than most officers have), Boys Varsity Volleyball (starting setter), Academy of Finance (CEO of virtual enterprise business), Chemistry Team (captain), Biology Olympiad (captain),

Job/Work Experience: I work at a local tutoring company, summer internship at local business
Volunteer/Community service: 500+ Hours, Soccer Coach in local rec league, Hospital Volunteer

Summer Activities: Internship, classes at local community college, adventure summer camp

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
… Common App (9/10)- spoke about different original events in my life, like building a functioning hovercraft etc, and connected it with a common theme
…Supp Dr. Sues (9/10)- got creative and referenced my visits with specifics
…Supp Other (10/10)- Talked about a person that inspired me for half then turned it to explain how I’ve passed on that inspiration

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: (10/10)- AP Lang teacher for two years, one of those very emotional teachers that really connects with you and can put real emotion into writing, she offered to write mine without me having to ask so I knew it’d be good
Teacher Rec #2: (10/10)- AP US/NHS advisor, This one was the opposite of my first one. I did quite a bit of work for and with this teacher in class and for NHS, so he knew my capabilities and work ethic well. Not a very emotional guy, but it was balanced by my first one.
Counselor Rec: (10/10)- One of the best relationships in my class
Additional Rec: (9/10)- Debate teacher. It was her third year teaching and I’d been with her from the beginning. Very strong relationship, like friends. I have done a lot for the debate team like increasing membership and expanding national qualifiers, and i lead the creation of a team at the local middle school.
Peer Rec: (10/10)- One of my oldest friends. Knows me very well. I was also her campaign manager when she ran for state office for DECA and put in quite a bit of work for it with her,
Interview: (10/10)- Got a late interview two weeks before decisions via skype. My camera never turned on so they spoke to a black screen for 40 minutes :frowning: , but i played it off well. We really connected and I was very happy with it.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

Strengths: I have quite a few strong awards and did a lot of work for my good extracurriculars. My rec letters were well rounded and well selected and my essays were creative.
Weaknesses: My SAT 2 scores were subpar, and I had a couple spelling errors in my common app upon review after submission
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was well rounded, but was able to show that I had strong focuses through my extracurriculars and successes in them.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Tulane; haven’t heard back from anywhere else

General Comments:

5

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1540 Math: 770 EBR&W: 770 Essay: R- 7/8 A- 7/8 W- 7/8 (taken once with no prep)
ACT (breakdown): None
SAT II: Math I: 770 Math II: 770 Physics: 740 (One sitting with no prep)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.03
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/200 (even though the school doesn’t rank I know where I am, basically tied for 2nd)
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), English Language and Composition (5), Physics 1 (5), European History (5), English Literature and Composition (tbd), Biology (tbd), Chemistry (tbd), French (tbd), Calculus BC (tbd)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs - all listed above with (tbd) [I always took the hardest classes I could possibly take]- people say I’m crazy but apparently it was worth it
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing HUGE, National Latin Exam Latin II Silver Medal, National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Honors, Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award, Grade 10 Biology Award (top student in that subject), Grade 11 Chemistry award, Grade 11 English Language Arts award, 2015 White House student film festival Honorable Mention, 10 Science Olympiad Regional Medals: 6 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze (lots of science hardware)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (President), Fishing Club (Founder and President), Varsity Ski Race Team (Captain), Varsity Soccer, Varsity Ultimate Frisbee, National Honor Society, Catholic Youth Group (mostly community service based), IPEC Leader junior year (basically an assistant Gym teacher)
Job/Work Experience: Certified Grade 8 US Soccer Referee (have reffed up to international youth club teams U17)
Volunteer/Community service: minimum 18hrs per semester with NHS - I often volunteer with the Boston Homeless Ministry at our Church which brings food/clothing/other supplies to the needy in Boston
Summer Activities: Overnight Skateboard Camp Counselor for two weeks at Rye Airfield - Rye, NH
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10 - I discussed a traumatic childhood experience in which i was hospitalized for 51 days with an extremely rare disease and what I saw and how it changed my life outlook. In one of my supplements I discussed how that experience inspired me to pursue Biomedical Engineering. In the other supplement (long one) I wrote about stepping out of my comfort zone to create a fishing club at the school.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): definitely very solid 9.5 or 10/10

Teacher Rec #1: I think the one that got in first was my Physics teacher freshman year for Honors and Junior year for AP and also became one of the Science Olympiad advisers - probably a very good Rec.
Teacher Rec #2: AP Euro teacher and Soccer coach, a total bro - definitely had lots to write about and was confident in what they had wrote when they talked to me about it
Counselor Rec: Likely very good, a newish counselor at my school but got to know me quite well, very motivated, I have no doubt she wrote a great Rec
Additional Rec: Peer rec. - President of our senior class and one of my best friends and teammates - also very confident in what he had written
Interview: Could not have gone better, left it with the assurance that “You are the type of candidate that Dartmouth would be VERY smart to accept”

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (not too happy with the result however)
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public, small (200 per class), doesn’t have a very good history with sending students to top tier schools, the last was UPenn about 3 or 4 years ago (I think) and probably not for a while before that
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper Middle class ( roughly $200k with both parents working full time)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No diversity points, but my experience with hospitalization that i discussed in my essays probably helped A LOT

Reflection

Strengths: Almost everything other than my ethnicity and socioeconomic situation (see above)
Weaknesses: White, Male, Middle class, From a very small school that barely ever sends kids to IVY League schools, also in the Northeast so almost 0 diversity points here. Also no major national awards or internships.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Besides my ethnicity and school I think I had everything going for me, it was just the luck of the draw
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere, Dartmouth is the only college that has gotten back to me

6

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 34 R, 35 S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 710 Physics, 650 US History (Didn’t send US History)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8-3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top Decile
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psychology (4), Calculus BC (4), Calculus AB Subscore (5), English Language and Composition (4), Physics C Mechanics (4), Biology (4), US Government (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature and Comp., AP Environmental Science, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Symphonic Orchestra, and AP Chemistry.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Track, Spanish Honor Society, Spanish Club, Theater, Orchestra and a Quartet, Key Club (Treasurer), Youth-in-Government (Treasurer), National Honor Society (Secretary).
Job/Work Experience: Lead Instructor of a math tutoring center. I was promoted out of several other instructors to lead work procedures and train new instructors.
Volunteer/Community service: Did some volunteer services through Key Club and National Honors Society.
Summer Activities: I started out as a volunteer camp counselor at the beginning of the summer before senior year. After the first camp, I was hired by the recreational department in my town to be a counselor and sometimes as a substitute for sick counselors.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): (6) I thought my common app essay showcased who I was, but my supplements were really rushed due to me procrastinating until the day before (whoops!).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9, Written by my calculus teacher. Studied the Calculus BC outside of school and she provided with practice tests and notes to study from. I thoroughly enjoyed her class and hope that she enjoyed me being in her class as well.
Teacher Rec #2: 7, Written by my English teacher. Although he writes good letters, I wasn’t the best student in his class and he didn’t know much about me.
Counselor Rec: 10 She wrote me a personalized Dartmouth recommendation. I was ecstatic when she told me she would write one specifically to Dartmouth.
Additional Rec: 10, Peer recommendation was written by a good friend of mine. Although the recommendation was embarrassing because it emphasized my love for eating, it illustrated my personality pretty well. My counselor also read it and said that it was the best peer recommendation she had read.
Interview: To be honest, it was nerve-racking. He told me that the interview would be a supplement my application and to not talk about anything that is already on my application. While we were talking, it felt like he was interrogating me. He was constantly writing notes down and I felt like I wasn’t able to connect with him very well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics, Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 40,000-60000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation College

Reflection

Strengths: Test Scores, Recommendations
Weaknesses: Supplement and ECs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was strong in my extracurricular activities, but I became less active starting my junior year. Also my supplements could have been better. They were rushed and I wished I could have spent more time on them.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Haven’t heard back from anywhere yet.

General Comments:
Write some stellar supplements. Look up previous Dartmouth essays and try to find articles on what Dartmouth is looking for in their supplements. Also, don’t procrastinate like I did!

7

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 35C (33M, 34S, 35R, 36E, 9/12 essay)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 750 Chem, 720 Lit(highest percentile I’ve gotten)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/250
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH 5, Stats 4, Chem 3 (eek)
IB (place score in parenthesis): haven’t taken yet
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB/SL Math, AP CS A, HL History, HL Physics, HL Biology, HL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Senior Dean of Youth Caucus at UU General Assembly (manage 15-person staff team, run programming for hundreds of youth)
-UU Youth Leader at Congregation of >1000
-Academic Bowl Captain
-Varsity Cross Country
-Swim Team (Statistician)
-High School Media Team (invited student rep)
-Investment Club (Founder & President, over 40 kids)
-NHS
-Ping Pong club (treasurer)

Job/Work Experience: Worked at Pizzaria
Volunteer/Community service: mostly through NHS
Summer Activities: I held a job the most recent two summers
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 maybe?
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 lit teacher who I volunteer for and did well in discussions in her class, made improvement throughout the year in weak subject
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 chem teacher, I was just a good student
Counselor Rec: Hard to tell, knows me fairly well, but I don’t know what he would’ve said
Additional Rec: Had a peer rec, pretty good, but thinking back I might’ve chosen someone a little closer
Interview: Pretty good, although not a super amazing connection

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~80K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: probably too many Bs, first semester AP CS grade, OOS (for gambling, so it’s pretty dumb)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: wanted to wait on academic progress, also don’t add much for diversity
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at UGA

General Comments: This is frustrating, but i’m still holding out for regular

8

Decision: Deferred

SAT I: 1540 (760/780)
SAT II: 700 USH, 690 Lit
GPA: 95.5 UW
Rank: (Unofficial) 1/350+
Course Rigor: Most rigorous (only AP Calc AB at my school, took it)

Extracurriculars/Job/Volunteer:

-Student Council VP
-Retail Worker
-Youth Council at Hospital
-Link Crew
-Piano for Musical
-Varsity Volleyball
-Varsity Ultimate Frisbee
-Summer Camp Volunteer (135 hours+)

Essays: CommonApp probably 8/10, Supplements 6.5/10

Recommendations:

Won’t give a rating because I haven’t seen them!

Other:

Financial Aid: Yes
Major: History
Country: Canada
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 40000-60000

Strengths: Leadership roles, plethora of experience in different settings
Weaknesses: SAT II scores, International needing FA, Supplements were a bit weak, ECs weren’t particularly focused
Where else you were accepted: my two safeties in Canada (QueensU and UWO)

General Comments:

You win some, you lose some! I know a deferral is pretty close to a rejection at Dartmouth (5-10% acceptance) so I’m not expecting anything! I’ll look onto my other RD schools! Congrats everyone who was accepted and best of luck to those who weren’t!

9

Decision: Accepted - ED

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): new SAT 1330 (710 EBR; 620 math)
ACT (breakdown): 31 (35 E; 28 M; 33 R; 32 S; 28 W)
SAT II: none taken
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/103
AP (place score in parenthesis): none offered
IB (place score in parenthesis): none offered
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Physics, Spanish 5, Honors English, Leadership, Business Writing, Advanced Spanish

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Student Government (secretary)
-Class Council
-NHS (Vice President)
-Softball (co-captain)
-Forensics Team
-College Ambassadors
Job/Work Experience:
-McDonald’s 20+ hours/week
Volunteer/Community service:
-Adopt-A-Highway
-Penny Drives
-Blood Drives
-Food pantry handouts
-Solider care package round up
-Sports boosters ticket sales
-Caroling at retirement center
Summer Activities: none other than work and volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
-Personal statement 9/10: considered this my strongest one, talked about moving beyond the barriers of a small town
-Dr. Suess 7/10: very candid, talked about wanting to find success
-choose your prompt 5/10: wrote about being kind but weak due to poor story telling skills

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: didn’t read
Teacher Rec #2: didnt read
Counselor rec: didn’t read
Additional Rec: didn’t read
Interview: Very fun and thourough. Had the chance to talk about things that weren’t reflected in my application. Very nice people and I look forward to meeting them again.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes. $58,000
Intended Major: biomedical engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Michigan
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: very small public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 77k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen

Reflection:

Strengths: volunteer and extra curricular. Used the fact that I’m from an underprivileged small town in my essays.
Weaknesses: below average test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea. Not sure what exactly stood out to make me wanted
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Too many acceptances to count
General Comments:

Test scores aren’t everything. Genuiness gets you just as far.

10

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 English, 34 Math, 34 Reading, 34 Science)
SAT II: 780 Math II, 720 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (4), English lit (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP BC calc, AP physics, AP English language, Neuro, Online medical course, American history
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity tennis (captain), varsity softball (captain), environmental club (president), democratic club (president), student ambassador, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, GirlFriends (hospital learning program), Female Entrepreneurship Program, TiE Young Entrepreneurs Program, Women’s empowerment group where we tutor seventh graders and inspire them, probably more idk
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer weekly at local hospital, tutor young kids under poverty line
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I really really liked my supplement I thought it was 10/10 and my common app was a 10/10 but the other supplement was maybe an 8/10

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10
Teacher Rec #2:8/10
Counselor Rec: my counselor looooves me she really thought I was going to get in so I guess 10/10
Additional Rec: I got an alumni to also write me a rec who donates money to the school every year and she knows admissions pretty well too
Interview: 7/10 we just didn’t mesh very well it definitely wasn’t bad though.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major: International relations
State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >200,000 lol
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: I have good test scores and I really really liked my essays
Weaknesses: GPA, interview
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly no idea. My counselor said I had a very very good chance and it was kind of a shock. I at least expected to get deferred. I honestly don’t understand. I guess I’ll try and revise or rewrite my common app if it didn’t really work but I really liked it.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: So far only into UGA but waiting to hear back from UC Berkeley, UCLA, WashU, Yale, Columbia, Amherst, UMich

General Comments: I’m really upset everyone at my school thought I was going to get in but I was the only one who applied ed that got rejected which is more than dis-heartening. I have good leads at other schools but Dartmouth was my dream school. It sucks that I know for sure that I’ll never go there.

11

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 32 (29 math, 31 Science, 34 reading, 35 english)
SAT II: 800 World History, 750 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.13 (school only does unweighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): APWH (5), AP Bio (5), APUSH (4), AP Lit (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lang, AP AB Calc, AP Physics, AP Latin, AP Spanish, AP Macro, AP Micro, orchestra, science research program, peer leadership program
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing that matters: 2 National Latin Exam Golds, 1 National Latin Exam Silver, NHS (does this even count lol?), AP scholar with Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-School’s Environment Club (Co-pres and founder)-have won grants, donated money, implemented projects, etc… (11-12th grade)
-Student Liaison on my town’s Green Policy Task Force (9th-12th grade)
-Varsity Winter Track, Varsity Spring Track (Co-captain), have done track 9th-12th
-Varsity Field Hockey (Co-captain), have done fockey 9th-12th
-Model UN (senior delegate)-have won a couple awards
-Student Council (secretary treasurer-9th grade and 12th grade, student rep.-10th grade)
-Ski instructor (paid job) PSIA level 1 certified, (10th-12th)-work every winter weekend and vacations
-Peer leader: program to mentor freshmen at my school, have to apply into (12th grade)
-Also did similar program for middle schoolers (11th grade)
-NHS (position: representative) 12th grade-first year my school has it

Volunteer/Community service (not making a special section for this because some of my extras and summer activities were volunteer/community service)
Summer Activities:
-Community service trip to a Spanish-speaking country (10th)
-Religious Community service trip to Israel (11th)
-Intern science researcher at a lab at a medical college, studied an enzyme for my research project, an extension of the 3-year college level science research course offered at my school (12th)
-Volunteered at an environmental organization on the weekends (12th)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
common app-talked about how my disease (non-life threatening lol) inspired my passion for science and my desire to pursue research, I thought it was informative and personal and really told the story behind why I want to study Biology. 9/10
Why Dartmouth-wrote a poem, thought it was witty and concise yet detailed, talked about wanting to be a doctor and different Dartmouth programs/organizations, wrote it in the format of “oh the place you’ll go”-8.5/10
supplement-did the kermit the frog one, wrote a kind of abstract piece about my love for the environment-7.5/10 i guess
-I also submitted a studio art portfolio
-submitted the my science research paper (legitimate) as an additional material through the portal

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): don’t really know how good because #FERPA
Teacher Rec #1: my APUSH teacher/track coach, assume good, this teacher is known to write great recs
Teacher Rec #2: AP Lit teacher, loved me, also an experienced rec writer
Counselor Rec: not a good counselor but I think she likes me, she definitely mentioned that I’m an overachiever etc…
Additional Rec: Peer rec-bff wrote it, amazing writer and her dad went to Dartmouth so she knows a lot about the school and mentioned that when referring to why I would be a great Dartmouth student
-also got a rec from the PI of the lab I worked at (my science research mentor), she hasn’t written a letter of rec for a high schooler before so I don’t really know
Interview: thought it went well, she was a doctor and I’m interested in pre-med so that worked out well, her daughter goes to my school and is on MUN with me (I figured this out after the interview lol) she asked a couple of stumping q’s (ex: the what drama happens in my friend group) which I found odd. She told me at the end that she would definitely tell Dartmouth I would be a strong asset for the school so I assume she liked me.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: wrote Biology, Environmental Studies, and Spanish as my academic interest
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none, maybe girl in STEM but doesn’t seem like such an anomaly anymore

Reflection

Strengths: extracurriculars-definitely told a story with all my environmental ones and even wrote the environmental supplement to support my interest, common app essay showed that I wasn’t just another high schooler doing sci res, showed a more personal, passionate aspect of my lab work. Strong course load for senior year
Weaknesses: ACT scores, senior year grades ughhhhh (75 in AP phys, 80 in AB calc, everything else 90+)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: so far I’ve been accepted to SUNY Binghamton

General Comments: I’m shocked and upset. I’m not arrogant, I knew I had a slim chance of getting accepted but I thought that a deferral would be reasonable especially since my senior grades were far from stellar. Maybe they will want to see if my senior year grades go up is what I thought. I hoped that my two supplements would stand out because they weren’t as traditional as my common app essay. Maybe they came off as gimmicky rather than quirky, but again, I had multiple people read them. No one else from my small school applied ED so at least I know that wasn’t a factor in my rejection. I just don’t understand why I was rejected instead of deferred. A family friend who works as a college advisor (specializes in getting people into Harvard) told my parents that she would have accepted me as a dartmouth admissions counselor so clearly a qualified professional opinion considered me a strong applicant (this person is very straightforward and blunt, not someone to sugarcoat). If anyone has some ideas or thoughts on why I was rejected, please PM me I would really appreciate it as I want to get into good schools RD. Don’t hold back, I really want the cold, hard truth. My school’s guidance counselor department is crap so I’m not getting any advice from their that’s for sure. My ACT is low but still in the range and I thought my SAT 2 score would kind of pick up the slack. Welp, good luck to the rest of you and congrats on the new '21s!

12

^^^p.s. IDK how to edit this so there are some grammatical errors OOPS also ski instructing goes under work experience but yeah I clearly forgot to put it in its own section. kk bye

13

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1510 (770 CR, 740 M)
ACT (breakdown): 34 C
SAT II: Chem (760) Math II (740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.985
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/496
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography (5) Lang (5) Chem (4) Physics 1 (4) Calc (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/a
Senior Year Course Load:AP Bio, GRCC Programming, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, UW Spanish 201, AP Gov
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): uhhhh do national merit commended and AP Scholar with distinction count?

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cheerleading, Academic Decathlon (Captain, won lots of state awards), FBLA (President, won a couple awards), NHS (President), Key Club, Tutoring, Spanish club
Job/Work Experience: none when i applied
Volunteer/Community service: through NHS and key club
Summer Activities: Univ of WA Math Academy 2016, Girls who code @ MSFT 2015
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app (8/10) well written but didn’t really SELL myself, why Dartmouth (9/10) I was very specific, other supplement (9/10) this one was pretty funny. My common app one was pretty funny too honestly.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:AP calc ab teacher (7/10) it was glowing but very canned and standard
Teacher Rec #2: AP lang (10/10) let’s just say I cried after reading it
Counselor Rec: who knows, he knows my face and likes me but we had no special bond
Additional Rec: Peer (10/10) same as above

Interview: 9/10, loved my interviewer. We talked for an hour and a half and we hit it off really well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Chinese (didn’t check the Asian box though)
Gender: F
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none really except maybe women in STEM?

Reflection

Strengths: above average gpa and test scores probably helped, definitely my recommendations
Weaknesses: my ACT writing was troll and my ECs are nothing special
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Probably recommendations and interview, and my essays were pretty amusing.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at PLU, USU, Tulane

General Comments: I was not expecting this at all. I cried for the next 2 hours. I thought for sure I was going to get rejected, but my dream did come true!

14

Accepted!

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35C (36E, 33M, 35R, 34S)
SAT II: Physics 800, World History 780, USH 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/125
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics 1 (5), Physics 2 (5), Microeconomics (5), World History (5), USH (5), English Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mech, AP CompSci A, AP Chem, AP US Gov, AP Psych, Calculus II, Classical Mythology, Studio Art, Health
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Surface Plasmon Resonance Physics Research at local college, sort of a combination of optics and materials science
-Science Olympiad, two invitational medals and some regional medals
-President of the Student Association
-Student Representative on School District Planning Committee, one of two
-Student Representative on District Technology Committee, I reviewed new tech that the district was considering purchasing and organized student tests of said tech
-Cross Country
-Piano/Guitar performance
-Model UN (Co-President)
-Key Club
-NHS
-Chess Club (President)
-Volunteer Program at Local Hospital
-Volunteering at the Soup Kitchen

Job/Work Experience:

-Worked at a game shop for a little while

Volunteer/Community service:

-Local Hospital, Soup Kitchen, Key Club, NHS

Summer Activities:

-Research, volunteering, hanging with friends

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

-Common App: 7/10 It was the failure prompt, very generic. I didn’t like all that much it but apparently someone did
-Dr. Seuss: 10/10 Wrote about how the destination isn’t as important as the people who come with me.
-Great Teaching: 10/10 Rather personal, would rather not elaborate. I liked it, though

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 Very well written, from the Student Association adviser and a person with whom I am very friendly
Teacher Rec #2: Didn’t see this one, but it was from a teacher who is like a best friend
Counselor Rec: 11/10. She really knocked it out of the park.
Additional Rec: Didn’t see it, but it was from the professor who advised my research
Interview: 9/10. Lasted for almost two hours. It was somewhat scripted at first but by the end we were discussing deep moral quandaries and current events. Aside from a few awkward moments, it was a pleasant and interesting conversation.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, $51k
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Very poor public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100k-125k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Test Scores, GPA, Passion for Physics, Leadership
Weaknesses: No big awards, no hooks
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My strengths, and I think I fit Dartmouth quite well
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at Northeastern EA

General Comments:
To all the students thinking of applying this coming round or in the years to come, I hope I’ve helped a bit by posting my stats. That said, don’t let anyone’s stats scare you off. Reading CC threads and seeing people with international fame and recognition getting rejected had me thinking it would be impossible to get in, but here we are. Couldn’t be happier! I think that, since most applicants have impressive accolades and scores, it all comes down to fitting the personality of the institution. Just be yourself. Can’t wait to meet the 21s on the Green next fall!

15

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Math 2- 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/350
AP (place score in parenthesis): APWH (5) APUSH (5) AP CAL AB (5) AP LANG (4)

IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: 3 AP classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student government officer, after school tutor, captain of 1 varsity sport, NHS officer
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: volunteered a lot since freshman year. (at least 3 hrs a week)
Summer Activities: did meaningful volunteer work
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app: 9 (wrote about my position in the community), supplements: 8
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 (pretty personal)
Teacher Rec #2: 9//10 (wrote about how the classroom is without me, and how other students and teachers perceive me)
Counselor Rec: probably 8.5/10. I was one of the few students she knew personally.
Additional Rec: 10/10. Cried when I read it.
Interview: 7/10. The interviewer said that she was very impressed, but it didn’t go as smoothly as I wished.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: undecided
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): low income

Reflection

Strengths: grades, scores, community service, recommendations
Weaknesses: supplements and interview
Why you think you were accepted: my extracurriculars and volunteer activities clearly reflected my passion and determination.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: applied ED.

General Comments: good luck to those who are still in the process. Trust me- all your hard work will be worth it!

16

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): did not send this score in but 1490/1600
ACT (breakdown): 33 composite (35 english/32 math/35 reading/31 science)
SAT II: 730 Literature, 670 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No ranks reported but top quartile
AP: (5) AP Cal AB, (5) AP Lang, (5) AP Research, (5) AP Seminar, (5) AP USH, (4) AP Bio, (3) WHAP (which I chose not to report)
IB: (N/A)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Cal, AP Environmental Science, AP US Govt, English, Gym, Theatre, Health, AP Econ
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate (Team Captain, Middle School Coach, Team Officer, CIty Champion, National Champion, Scholarship recipient), Newspaper (Chief Editor, Managing Editor, Writer), Writing Club (President), Student Congress, NHS (Officer)
Job/Work Experience: Summer Camp Counselor, Debate Coach

Volunteer/Community service: Significant projects involving debate and breast cancer
Summer Activities: Internship in breast cancer research, Debate camps
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Probably an 8-9, my essays showed my deep passion for debate and also showed my connections/friendships with the people around me. I tried to paint a picture of my life in an honest, endearing, touching way while reflecting on a 4 year long journey

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 - History teacher and debate coach. I know this was a glowing letter and I mentioned this recommender in my essay about debate
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10 - English teacher who didn’t know me very well but had a copy of my resume and liked me enough to write something nice I think
Counselor Rec: 7/10 - My counselor literally does not know me but I gave her detailed information to write about
Additional Rec: Peer rec was a 10/10, showed my caring/loving/quirky side and added a fresh voice to the application as a whole
Interview: 9/10, interview was very long like 2 hours and I bonded with the alum who interviewed me

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Econ
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Hispanic female

Strengths: Leadership positions, debate awards, rec letters
Weaknesses: Grades are probably the weakest thing in my application, because I had a dip sophomore when I missed a lot of class for debate. I didn’t explain this anywhere in my application or interview so I guess they didn’t care, probably balanced out by the fact that my junior year grades were stellar (along with AP scores that year)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Really strong passion for debate, decent grades/test scores, good letters of rec