Dartmouth ED or Northwestern for an international student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m planning to apply for an Econs Major in either Dartmouth or Northwestern. Also considering UMich and Cornell but not certain yet.

Demographics:

  • Male
  • Singaporean of Indian origin
  • Small semi-autonomous school with IB classes only

Academics:

  • 38/45 IB (according to some quick conversions this equates to about 3.75-3.8 GPA UW)
  • 7 in Econ HL, 6 in Math HL
  • 2130 SAT (680CR/800M/650W) planning to retake in May
  • Plan to take Math IIs in June, should be able to get 800
  • No class rank but it wasn’t too good

Awards:

  • Several honorable mentions from Model UN conferences
  • Several awards for service to the school
  • Special recognition by the Education Ministry for Achievement, Leadership and Service

Extracurriculars:

  • Photography, executive committee member and trainer. Organized an annual convention.
  • Model UN Society, chaired councils and organized MUNs for two years
  • Editorial board, kind of an ‘elite’ photography club
  • Sergeant in the National Cadet Corps

Other commitments:

  • Organized a TEDx Conference in school
  • Fundraised for the YMCA (about $150,000)
  • Did overseas volunteering in China, raised about $4000
  • Started a program to give free tuition and mentorship to underprivileged and academically challenged students
  • Run a website for IB students answering common questions and publishing articles
  • Play the violin for the National Orchestra
  • Did a three month internship for a corporate law firm and wrote out/proofread legal contracts worth several million dollars
  • Joining the military for a 2 year stint soon

Recommendations:
Counselor: 8-9/10. He worked with me on TEDx and we have a lot of common interests so I think it’ll be favorable.
Economics teacher: 7-8/10. We had a kind of rough relationship for a while because of a depressive episode I had in 12th grade but she knows me well and although it’ll be slightly critical, I’m confident that it’ll be realistic and helpful.

Open to any other school suggestions in the US in line with my qualifications if the aforementioned schools are too far out of my reach; I’m genuinely not sure.

2

Couple of questions:

  1. Why not apply after you finish your military obligations? Why apply now?
  2. Do you need financial aid? Neither Dartmouth or Northwestern is need blind for internationals
3

Hi!

Guess I should’ve made it clear that I’ll be applying for the 2018 intake. I haven’t yet decided whether I’ll be applying for the upcoming 2017 cycle and request to defer a year, or apply direct next year, but I figured it’s good to start thinking about my applications earlier before I get brain rot from the military.

As for the second question, no I won’t need financial aid.

Thanks a lot!

4

These EC’s seem slightly suspicious. It seems slightly unrealistic for one student to have accomplished all of that to the level that you seem to imply. The more ECs you have, the weaker your commitment seems to each.

5

These were done over a 4 year period (9th to 12th grade) and not all simultaneously. My school grades will show that I sort of neglected my studies in favor of ECs as well if that clears things up.

Do you have any suggestions as to how I can avoid seeming like a jack of all trades master of none kind of

6

bump10char

7

It will be painfully obvious if you apply in the 2017 cycle that you still have a year left on your military duty. The admissions reader will know from reading the application.

I don’t think schools allow you to apply in advance like that. You might want to check with them to see if they would let you even apply. Most will allow deferral, but this is only done after you are accepted.

Regardless you have a great list of ECs. Just get the SAT scores up a bit, and I think you’ll have a great shot.

8

Fair warning, I’ll have that checked. Thanks a lot! Appreciate the comment.