Dartmouth ED chances please...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a rising Senior in a fairly competitive public Massachusetts High School (last year, 3 kids went to Cornell, 2 to MIT, 1 to UPenn, 1 to Swarthmore, etc). Right now, my number one choice is, by far, Dartmouth College. Can you please chance me twice? The first chance will be for my current stats, my second chance for the stats I plan on working my butt off to have by the time I apply (the > indicates what I hope to have). Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>White male, unhooked from MA.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2140 SAT (800 M, 680 CR, 660 W) > 2200 SAT (800 M, 700 CR, 700 W)
SAT II: 780 US History, 800 Math II</p>

<p>3.81 GPA > 3.9 GPA
Class Rank (estimate): 12/324
All Honors and 6 APs for my course load (all 5's on the tests so far)</p>

<p>Recs: My teachers seem to like me and know my strong points... hopefully their persuasive :)
Essays: I realize their importance, and they should be on par with the rest of my application.</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
-Varsity Cross Country (captain)
-Varsity (competitive) Ski Team (captain)
-Varsity Track and Field (captain)
-National Honor Society (Junior and Senior year)</p>

<p>Volunteer:
-300+ hours on "Mississippi Mission Trips" (cleaning up the Katrina aftermath)
-300+ hours working at a camp for people of all ages with mental/physical disabilities
-100+ hours as a Eucharistic Minister in my local church
-Another ~50 hours of service through a church camp</p>

<p>Awards:
-Fairfield University Book Award
-High Honor Roll every term
-CompTIA A+ Industry Certification</p>

<p>So I hope that covers most of the basics... please chance me ED for the stats I currently have, and the ones I hope to have (in italics if the formatting worked).
Thanks,
SuperFanMike</p>

2

<p>This dropped off the front page fast. ;)</p>

3

<p>Super, you are considered super for almost all the nation’s schools, however the Ivies are in a different category all their own and you appear to me to be a mid-reach, even with a hypothetical 2200 SAT score in the fall. Great work getting a perfect score on SAT I /II math, but your CR and W scores will hurt you unless you get them into the 700 range. You are a quality applicant who will go to a very academic school. Make sure you have some A-/B+ and B (safety) schools on your list.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply, jshain. A mid-reach is about what I expected; the school doesn’t seem impossible for me, but then again there are many more qualified applicants out there. I hope that being a three-sport captain and having a large number of community service hours might help. And I plan on making the hypothetical 2200 a reality: not only do 700s look better than 600s (obviously), but it will jump me from the 98th to the 99th percentile, cutting the number of students with higher scores in half. Thanks again. :)</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>With your current stats (not what you ‘hope to have’) you have a low chance, and all Ivies are a high reach, including Dartmouth, although I still believe it’s worth applying to a few since you never truly know in this process. Outstanding essays and teacher recommendations are key to making you stand out in the Dartmouth applicant pool. In addition, major awards help too.</p>

<p>If you achieve all you aspire to, you have a better chance, though certainly not a great one. At that point, all Ivies would be mid-reaches, and you would have to work your tail off to make your app truly outstanding if you really wanted in. You’re unhooked, so acceptance is virtually unguaranteed, even if you had a 2400 on the SAT, were your school’s valedictorian, and had five 800’s on the SAT II’s.</p>

<p>With that said, I do believe you have a good shot at top schools. In the top 40 alone, there’s plenty of incredible schools that would love to have you. So although you should definitely apply to Dartmouth if it’s your dream school, stay grounded in reality and realize that, while certainly possible, it’s not probably that you’ll be admitted. But please keep in mind that there are lots of academically oustanding colleges in the US, and that even if Dartmouth doesn’t happen, plenty of other opportunities will open up for you.</p>

<p>Phew. I’m done. Good luck. :)</p>

6

<p>Sorry I did not mention your EC’s last night when I posted. Being a 3-sport captain makes you stand out. If it wasn’t for that, I would have said you’re a high-reach. Your CS/Awards are good also but the athletic achievement makes you more unique. I don’t know if you have Boston College on your list or not, but when I read your shortened resume, I can see you there (as long as you’re not planning on majoring in Engineering). My daughter goes there and loves it. Bucknell is another good match with your current stats.</p>

7

<p>Colgate and Holy Cross are similar to Dartmouth-all have strong academics and athletics. HC and Colgate are slightly easier to get into. Holy Cross is need blind for financial aid(same as Ivies). Dartmouth and Holy Cross are long time rivals in sports for over 100 years and both schools have strong alumni networks.</p>

8

<p>Funny you should mention Boston College, jshain, as that is my number two choice as of now. And @par72, I’ve looked into Holy Cross… and I’ve realized that Dartmouth is about as small as I want to go… though size can always be overlooked if I really like Colgate.</p>

9

<p>One Final Bump :D</p>