<p>here's the deal... my dad is a Dartmouth alum, donates lots of money, and has several connections to faculty there. My top choice has been BC, but my dad seems to think that I will have a good shot ED if I'm willing to make that commitment (but obviously his opinion is biased as a father lol). The only reason Dartmouth hasn't been high on my list is because I don't think I could get in... but if I have a shot, it will certainly move up. I'm going to visit Dartmouth in the next couple of weeks to see for sure, but give me your honest opinion if I have a shot ED.</p>
<p>Info:
- small private school outside of Boston, Mass
- 3.65 GPA weighted
- class does not rank
- I've taken pretty demanding classes</p>
<p>Testing:
SAT: 1290/1600; 1970/2400... took it yesterday--not sure if scores will improve
SAT II: Math I 680; French 700--taking French w/ listening in Nov.
ACT: to be taken</p>
<p>AP:
English Lang 3
French 5</p>
<p>Senior Year schedule:
Calculus B
AP Environmental
Religious Conflicts
World Literature - Honors
French V - Honors</p>
<p>some ECs:
- Sailing Race Team A 9, 10, 11, 12
- Varsity Crew 9, 10, 11, 12
- JV Cross Country 10, 11
- Editor of Yearbook 11, 12
- Junior Sailing Instructor (work)
- Vice Commodore of Junior Yacht Club 2008
- Treasurer of JYC 2007
- etc, etc, etc...</p>
<p>What is your unweighted gpa? I really think your stats are not that bad. Honestly. I say GO FOR IT! I think with the legacy aspect and a decent unweighted gpa and hopefully you can get at least 2000 from saturdays SAT...I think you have a really good chance.
I do have 2 questions for you...</p>
<h1>1 If you had your ultimate choice, would you rather go to BC or Dartmouth?</h1>
<h1>2 I noticed you are taking French w/listening and you already took French for your subject test. Which do you think is easier?</h1>
<h1>1. I would rather go to BC at the moment. I don't understand why my dad pushes Dartmouth on me so much when he went to BC too. Right now the only thing Dartmouth has for me over BC is the prestige... BC has the location, school spirit... and I think I would fit in much better there. It's stressful because I know Dartmouth is way out of my league. I'll have to actually visit Dartmouth though to see if I would choose it over BC. Who knows... I might really like it.</h1>
<h1>2. I don't know about the listening... I'm pretty good at that I guess but I'll have to see with the test. I was disappointed with the 700, because that doesn't seem to match the 5 I earned on the AP, so that's pretty much why I'm giving it another shot.</h1>
<p>Some more info...
My brother was accepted and offered money, although he was a much stronger applicant than I (got into all three schools to which he applied... Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth)</p>
<p>Do you think you could get recruited for crew or sailing teams? That might be your ticket. The legacy will help-the scores are low and Dartmouth likes scores.</p>
<p>Crew can help a lot if you are needed on the Dartmouth crew team. How much money are we talking about in terms of donations? If he is a major donor, it could make a big difference. I don't think you should be posting such specific info, by the way. This is a public forum and you could be identified.</p>
<p>Also, I don't see how your brother was offered money from any of the ivies including Dartmouthas they do not give merit money, and I don't see how he would be eligible for fin aid if your dad is such a philanthropist and big donor.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse,
how is my info more specific than any other info people post?
i'm not sure how he got money... he got some money from yale too. nothing considerable but hey, any money is good right. it wasn't financial aid though. are you sure they don't offer money to anyone?</p>
<p>casey2009,
yeah BC is competitive. i'm right on the edge for it too so i want to put all my efforts into getting in there... i'm still undecided about dartmouth. i'll just visit and see what i think... at least that way i can tell my dad that i saw it and don't think it's the place for me. he pushed dartmouth with my brother and now he's pushing it on me. it stresses me outttt.</p>
<p>I would say it really depends on what you mean by lots of money. If you are on the radar of the development office as being from a family that can give a major gift or help the college in a big way, I would say it would be quite possible to get in. Dartmouth, however, does seem to be very numbers oriented so a more minor legacy not being supported by development would probably not get in with your current stats. For the class of 2012, about 75% of legacies were rejected. That still gave them twice the shot over the unconnected.</p>
<p>I think that you have a good chance at getting admitted to Dartmouth as you are a well rounded applicant and crew alone can get one admitted if good enough. A 1290/1600 SAT is not unheard of at Dartmouth. The work load is manageable and is only 3 classes per trimester. Remember that 25% of the students accepted to Dartmouth have below a 1330/1600 SAT according to the stats for the high school class of 2007 (Dartmouth class of 2011) and Dartmouth College has a 98% retention rate which suggests that all the kids do well--even those with less than a 1330/1600 SAT.
More importantly, however, is why do want to go to Boston College? What do you like or dislike about each school? And what do you plan to study? Boston College has many similarities to Dartmouth, but also differences. Are you intimidated by students who scored higher on standardized tests than you did?
P.S. "Vice Commodore of the Junior Yacht Club" sounds more Dartmoorish than Boston Collegeish.
Double P.S. If your 1290/1600 SAT was done in one sitting without any formalized test prep, you will certainly be able to handle the coursework. On the other hand, if your 1290/1600 SAT was achieved with substantial formalized test prep and/or was not achieved in your one and only sitting for the SAT, then follow your heart to B.C.</p>
<p>The legacy alone won't mean much with your academic stats, but depending on how much they'd like to recruit you at crew, possibly. And, frankly, the money has to be huge (close to donating a building huge) to make a difference. I know people who were legacy with much higher stats than yours (sorry, but it's true) who were turned down and I also know kids who were very good in crew but not amazing who had higher academic stats who were also turned down. This is your only chance for early decision, be careful with it. On the other hand, I think BC has early action so if you could cover yourself there that might be the way to go. Good luck!</p>
<p>I have a slight disagreement with the advice shared in Post #14 regarding your stats. A 3.65 from a high quality rigorous curriculum private school is excellent. If you achieved this GPA at a school such as Roxbury Latin or Concord Academy, it is outstanding! Also with respect to crew recruits at several Ivy League schools, I know many instances that suggest otherwise.</p>
<p>Legacies are usually flagged and put in separate category. If you are applying ED, that is a small category. You have a sibling brother who applied. You have a history of crew.
From a small private school with some unusually titled courses, exact SATs and gpa. Unless you changed a few things, I would be able to pick out that app!</p>
<p>ColdWind, I am not saying the OP has NO chance, I am just saying that I saw many many kids from my D's high school, which is on a par with a Roxbury Latin, get rejected from schools like Dartmouth with much better stats. My point is that legacy usually only really helps when you've reached at least the median in terms of GPA and SAT scores, and the OP's stats have not done that. And I happen to know that Dartmouth is looking upon legacies less favorably than they used to--I think someone here was quoted as saying that 75% were turned down last year. The crew recruiting thing I know less about, partly because it is hard to know how attractive a crew recruit he would be to the school.</p>
<p>Sail640: Have you thought about what it would be like at Dartmouth being in the bottom 20% of the class (bottom 10% of non-athletes) in terms of test taking ability? </p>
<p>Would it bother you to be a B- student, studying as hard or harder than the students getting mostly As? Emotionally are you OK with being in the bottom part of the class? Some people can handle that, some cannot.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how a back-door admitance does you any favors. It is not a good feeling to not really fit in with others who have more of what gets kids in the front door -- intelligence, determination, ability to get straight As in high school.</p>