<p>Hey guys. I have been set on Dartmouth ED for the past year. It's my dream school. And ED is my best chance of getting in. But, today, there was a big bump in my college application plans.
I found out I am my school's nominee for the Morehead-Cain scholarship at UNC, a full four-year tuition/room/board/books/supplies/travel scholarship with special dorms, 4 summers of paid travel experiences, special internships, etc. Coming from a low-income family, it sounds like a dream come true - if I get it (which is extremely, extremely difficult).
I'm torn. I suppose I still have a chance at Dartmouth RD if Morehead doesn't work out. But my chances drop a lot just by applying RD instead of ED. The opportunity to even apply to the Morehead scholarship is, however, amazing.
But, if I have no chance of winning the Morehead, I don't want to miss out on Dartmouth ED because I took a chance at the scholarship.</p>
<p>My stats: 36 ACT, 2320 SAT, 4.0 UW, 4.98 W, IB diploma candidate, IB Physics (7), AP English (5), AP Physics B (5), 770 Physics, 800 Math II, 730 Literature, editor-in-chief of 3 school publications, national journalism awards, state journalism awards, 2nd place in an international academic competition, play 2 varsity sports, my english teacher (Who writes 30+ recs a year) called my essay "beautiful, powerful, moving". </p>
<p>And I need to make a decision by tomorrow..</p>
<p>Actually, you have pretty equal chances ED as you do RD (don't let the disparity in acceptance rate fool you). In your situation, you're better off applying RD to Dartmouth. Besides, one really shouldn't apply anywhere ED if you want to compare aid awards.</p>
<p>Do RD. The reason ED is so stacked is because of legacies and athletes. There was an article on The D about the actual numbers, but I don't want to dig for it.</p>
<p>If I'm thinking of the article you're referencing, it still confirms that the acceptance rate after accounting for legacies and athletes is double for ED as it is for RD (as opposed to triple for ED over RD including legacies and athletes). That said, I think I would still do Dartmouth RD and go for the Morehead at UNC. The people that I've known who have done the Morehead had a great experience and were able to come out and do the same things as if they had gone to Dartmouth. This way you give yourself at shot at both options and a 2300+ SAT is still going to be in the top portion of the applicant pool at Dartmouth that it seems kind of ridiculous to hold it against you that you only applied RD, but you do never know.</p>
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If I'm thinking of the article you're referencing, it still confirms that the acceptance rate after accounting for legacies and athletes is double for ED as it is for RD (as opposed to triple for ED over RD including legacies and athletes).
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<p>TheDartmouth.com</a> | Early applications increase 11 percent from last year
For the '11s, 178 admittees in Early Decision were legacies or athletes, out of 382 total ED admits. So 178 out of 1287 applicants were not legacies or athletes, which comes out to around 13%, which is slightly, but not significantly, higher than RD numbers.</p>
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For the '11s, 178 admittees in Early Decision were legacies or athletes, out of 382 total ED admits. So 178 out of 1287 applicants were not legacies or athletes, which comes out to around 13%, which is slightly, but not significantly, higher than RD numbers.
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<p>As far as I can tell, you did the calculations wrong in a couple of ways. First, if 178 ED admits were athletes or legacies (and I didn't see anywhere in that article the mention of number of athletes), then there were 204 other ED admits (not 178). So, if you assume 100% of legacies and athletes applying ED are accepted, then 16.32% of other (382-178)/(1428-178) (non legacy and athletes) ED candidates are accepted (already a higher acceptance rate than the overall rate and ~ 63% higher than the RD rate). If you assume only 50% of ED applicants who are legacy or athletes are accepted, then the ED acceptance rate of non-legacy, non athletes is 19.03% ((382-178)/(1428 -(178/.5)). This is approximately double the RD acceptance rate of ~ 10%, which is still going to include some legacies.</p>
<p>The Morehead is effing fantastic. It is literally a life-changing experience that cannot possibly be replicated by any other school or scholarship. If you have even the teeniest chance, go for it. I swear you won't regret it.</p>
<p>Thank you :)
I'm not expecting to get it, but just making semifinalist spells wonders for my application :). If you would like to read my essays (a Williams director of admissions said they were the BEST she's EVER read), message me. They are personal, direct. They are me. I LOVE writing, and they represent my best writing.</p>
<p>I'd be glad to read your essays! Actually (not to sound like a crazed weirdo or anything), the similarities between us are striking - I'm a Morehead nominee, anxiously awaiting the announcement of in-state semifinalists tomorrow, AND I wanted to apply to Dartmouth ED! I love Dartmouth and their study abroad programs, the setting....it's forever been my first choice. But, like you, if I don't get that darn email tomorrow morning saying that I'm a MH semifinalist, I'll curse the heavens for not applying to Dartmouth early! Best of luck to you tomorrow!</p>