Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit
ACT (breakdown): 33 C (35 E, 33 M, 32 R, 33, S)
SAT II: Didn’t submit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Unweighted: 4.0, Weighted: 4.57
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/144
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geography(5), AP Psych(4), AP English Lang(5), AP Capstone Seminar (4), AP American Government and Politics(3), AP Macroeconomics (4), AP Environmental Science(4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: U.S. History Hon, Anatomy and Physiology Hon, AP Stats, AP Spanish Lang and Culture, AP English Lit, AP Capstone Research, Physics 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP diploma, Capstone Diploma, Valedictorian (was a tie at our school),
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FBLA(District President: managed 10+ different schools in the district, School Co-President), Academic Team 4 years-won district in scoring 4 years in a row and were district champs this year(officer 2 years), Varsity Swim 4 years, NHS 3 years, Cantor for a 5,000 person parish (5 years), Theater and Chorus, Certified Yoga instructor(200 hour training program),
Job/Work Experience: Part-time handyman, yoga instructor
Volunteer/Community service: Every Sunday volunteering at my church as the cantor, free yoga classes at a Women’s substance abuse recovery center. youth group leader at church.
Summer Activities: International Language college in Barcelona 2 years in a row, International language college in Cannes France, Interning at the city hall of a small village in France to help with Tourism Promotion,
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Personal Statement: 8.5- I wrote about how my father was abusive. He graduated high school at the age of 15 but failed out of college, couldn’t keep his life together long after he met my mom, became a raging alcoholic and addicted to marijuana. Talked about how his tyranny taught me self-dependence and how to survive in the real world. could’ve been more descriptive in how I’ve grown from it but it was a very strong essay.
Supplemental 1(Why Dartmouth): 7, not as strong as I would have liked, talked about my interest in the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network as I hoped to take advantage of it and the gospel choir.
Supplemental 2 (The job that doesn’t exist yet): 9.5, was a very creative and interesting approach with a strong theme and message while addressing the prompt
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10: AP stats and Algebra 2 teacher, struggled in her class a lot but was there almost every day during after hours to get an A and understand the material. Was an excellent writer and had a Ph.D. in education, helped me immensely and has been a major source of support in my life.
Teacher Rec #2: 8-9 English teacher had her for 10th grade English 2 hon, AP Lang, and AP lit, has helped me tremendously in my writing and knows me very well.
Counselor Rec: 5: standard issue recommendation that doesn’t stand out, she came to our school last year and didn’t know me very well and quit this year.
Additional Rec: 7 Very good friend of mine that gave a good testimony to how he knew me as well as how he’s seen me grow. Not the strongest writer but knew me the best.
Interview: 6 Went fairly well, we agreed on a few points, but she was big on political correctness and I am big on freedom of personal expression within the confines of respect, but still we had a constructive interview.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive School of choice, required GPA to be considered for ethnicity
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Very low income: <30,000 but high in valued assets >100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Yoga instructor, abusive father, triple nationality, can speak 3 languages fluently
Reflection
Not going to lie, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to get in, but considering my credentials I was surprised and extremely disappointed that I didn’t even get deferred. I know that at a school of this level that there are no guarantees but a rejection was not was I was expecting. Then again I guess no one is. I think that maybe if I had SAT subject tests and a few more major awards it would have put me over.
Strengths: GPA and my extracurriculars as well as my essay given my home environment.
Weaknesses: My ACT could’ve been higher, and the first supplemental as well.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly not sure what brought me down, I know its a difficult school to get into but again I’m struggling to see the weakest link that brought me down. Anyone that has information on that please let me know so I can try and change it before my other applications are due.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere yet hopefully it stays that way.
General Comments: They say there’s no point in crying over spilled milk, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be upset. Most people don’t get into their first choice and unfortunately, I ended up in that bracket. As for the people reading this, I spent a lot of time on this site seeing how I compared to other people that applied and did or did not get in and I thought that I had a halfway decent chance. It’s with a heavy heart that I will have to make my path elsewhere but to those of you who do get in, congratulations and I wish you the best of luck.
P.S. This took a crapload of time to do correctly, please pay attention to what the other applicants have said so far, it might just change your decision result.
