Here is my hypotheses:
If you are from a high school that provides class rank and you are not valedictorian or salutatorian, then your chance of admission into Dartmouth is almost nonexistent.
Here is the data to back it up.
for class of 2021: http://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2017/03/college-accepts-2092-to-class-of-2021
among accepted: “Of those from schools that rank, 96 percent are expected to graduate among the top 10 percent of their high school class. That group includes 547 students who are currently ranked as the valedictorian or salutatorian of their class, a 25 percent increase over last year and an all-time high”
I do not know the number of accepted students who are ranked, but I can make a guess based on Dartmouth CDS. CDS shows that 36% of their applicants submitted ranks. Let’s assume that same percentage of the accepted student are ranked. The total accepted is 2092. times that to 36% = 753.
This means 547 / 753 = 73% of the ranked students are valedictorians or salutatorian. If you add legacy, sports recruits, what is your chance to be admitted if you are not the top 2 in your high school?
My guess is that Dartmouth only looks at val and sal serously. others no need to apply. Tell me where I am wrong please.
Without looking closely at any numbers, an obvious explanation: basic statistics. Correlation DOES NOT equal causation. Vals and sals may already have strong applications, with a high GPA, test score, and likely solid ECs and essays and the like. They might’ve gotten in because of those “lurking factors,” with the rank 1 and 2 as icing on the cake. They would’ve stood probably just as good of a chance if they were simply in top-10, or ranked 5 or 6 or the like, as they did as vals and sals.
“My guess is that Dartmouth only looks at val and sal serously. others no need to apply.” Do account for the approximately 1500 other non-Vals and Sals?
To add to what I said above, incidental data from my school: all of the kids who’ve gotten in, and are attending Dart, for the past 3 or 4 years are not vals or sals. If Dartmouth only takes vals and sals, how could this be?
two third of applicants do not report ranks. So they cannot say those are Vals or Sals.
Yes, I understand the correlation vs causation argument. The difference to me is that Dartmouth publishes and celebrate their Val and Sal numbers. Most other elite colleges do not do that. If it is something Dartmouth brags about, I can bet that is something they looks for in their applicants.
Well if you score a 35/36 ACT / 1550/1600 SAT, have multiple high-700 SAT 2’s, a 4.0 UW GPA with 8 AP’s (but no ranking), and strong EC’s then I think your chances are the same 10% as the majority of the non-hooked applicants that profile the same.
There are always exceptions but I think the evidence is quite clear.
There will be some cutoff in terms of the class rank in most elite colleges, top 10% is common. But Dartmouth seems to go to extreme. In a truly holistic approach, the percentage will not eschewed the way Dartmouth numbers look like.
First, you are assuming that only schools that rank everyone can have a valedictorian and salutatorian. In reality, many non-ranking schools still designate a valedictorian and salutatorian. Such schools don’t officially release the rank of everybody in the class, but obviously they know the GPA of every student, and they can still figure out who has the highest GPAs and confer val/sal honors at graduation. In fact, some states have special admissions or scholarship offers for the students with the highest GPAs, so a school may be required to identify the top performers, even if they don’t release the ranks of everyone else.
You are assuming that approximately 753 of Dartmouth admits came from schools that rank, and that every single one of the 547 vals/sals came from that group. In reality, it is likely that many of the vals/sals came from schools that don’t release the ranks of everyone in the class, but which nonetheless do publicly identify the very top performers.
Having worked at one of the top magnet high schools in NYC and a number of other schools in NYC, I can tell the OP unequivocally that his/her rationale about only taking vals/sals is incorrect. The magnet schools I worked at there are a number of students to Dartmouth each year, and I don’t remember any of them being Val and Sals. Even in some of the other schools I have worked at, there have been students admitted to Dartmouth that were not vals/sals.
As @corbett stated, the vast majority of students come from high schools that while they state they don’t rank, will rank for admissions and scholarship purposes.
@Corbett makes a good point about vals/sals without the school having to rank. However, I do agree with @hou2019 that Dartmouth likes to accept vals/sals since they obviously highlight that fact on their press releases. I expect that the news release for this year’s ED class will come out tomorrow. We will see if it is mentioned again. Last year 92 of the 555 admitted in ED were vals/sals.
@sybbie719
well, two third of the students did not submit ranks. So Dartmouth could not designate them as Val/Sal. 92 was for the schools that rank.
Corbett’s point is valid in that there are schools that do not rank yet designate Val/Sal anyway. I just do not know how many. So my 73% number should be lower.
Still, Dartmouth brags about its Val/Sals numbers, which says something.
555 number is for ED, which usually contains more legacy, sports recruit, etc. Yet there are still 50% Val/Sals !
Taking into account that there are schools that designate val/sal yet do not rank, it could be lower than 50%.
Anyway, thanks everybody. I realize that Dartmouth may not be as extreme on class rank as I thought initially. It still does not give me enough comfort to send in the application.
