<p>Alright so I'm a junior who really loves Dartmouth, and I am wondering if it is worth trying to go ED to this school next year. (I figure if I have any chance at all, it would be ED). </p>
<p>White At Competitive Public School in NJ
GPA: 4.1 Weighted, Probably a 3.5/3.6 UW (Top 10%, but barely)
Courseload: Always the hardest courses available, 1 AP Sophomore Year, 5 Junior, will take 5-6 senior year. All other courses are honors.
SAT: 2110, 710M, 710W, 690 CR...Retaking
SATIIs: Physics and American History In June, Bio 670 Freshman Year
APs: 5 AP Euro Sophomore Year, I haven't yet taken any this year but will take 5. </p>
<p>ECs: (The number of years includes whether I will take it next year)
Cross Country: 4 Years
Fencing: 4 Years, Varsity Each Year
Physics Club: 2 Years, Secretary Next Year
Research at State School analyzing Electron-Positron Collisions
Economics Club: 3 Years, Vice President Next Year
Outdoors Club: 2 Years
NHS
Community Service at Environmental Center
Art Teacher says my painting portfolio is excellent and will help me very much with getting into colleges.
Work As A Lifeguard</p>
<p>Thank You and please be honest, I don't want to waste an ED at a school most likely out of my reach.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t apply ED. Your stats are low for the college and ED is probably the tougher round as Dartmouth accepts a smaller percentage than most ED. The vast majority who get in ED are hooked.</p>
<p>I’d wait for RD and try to significantly raise your scores for your best shot.</p>
<p>Definitely a better chance as their applications were down 20% this year, but it’s still a reach and most of their ED admits are athletes and legacies.</p>
<p>I’m going to disagree with many of the above posters and say that, in my admittedly unprofessional opinion, that you DO have a shot.</p>
<p>Your GPA is a little low, so try to bring that up as much as you can the rest of this year.</p>
<p>Your SAT I, while not outstanding for the Ivy League, is respectable, and if you’re planning on re-taking it, you might do better next time.</p>
<p>The SAT II score you have is a little low, but keep in mind that you took that your freshmen year. If you were to take more SAT II’s this year, you could probably do well enough to get more competitive scores. (A bit of advice: if you are planning to take any Subject Tests for any classes you are in this year, take the tests towards the end of THIS year. Do not make the mistake of waiting until next year, because believe me, the material vanishes from your mind much faster than you would believe possible. (I waited to take the Chem Subject Test until a year after I took the AP class, and I felt very unprepared.)</p>
<p>You’re taking the hardest courses available, which is very important, plus you have respectable EC’s. </p>
<p>What are you planning on majoring in? If it’s something science-related, you could send in a supplement about your research at the state school. (Don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that Dartmouth looks very favorably on independent research like that.)</p>
<p>Don’t lose hope! I think you have a chance of pulling it off, if you work hard and bring your test scores and GPA up a bit. Good luck!</p>
<p>The profile looks fine. SAT IIs could be higher. It seems as if you are spread out a little thin on extracurriculars, without major leadership roles? Unless you forgot to mention some. Dartmouth seems to emphasize school rank a lot though, and that could hurt your chances.</p>
<p>It is worth a shot, especially since Dartmouth financial aid is pretty generous (making ED less dangerous).</p>
<p>All in all, it appears that you are qualified, but you need an extra push from essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>Not a chance at Dartmouth with your GPA. Not a chance either at Williams, although they can be funky sometimes.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you want to specialize in, but I’d suggest applying to Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon (based on electron-positron emissions research). Umm but since you’re singling out Dartmouth and Williams, I’m guessing that you’re looking at liberal arts schools. Check out Oberlin, Wesleyan, and Macalester.</p>
<p>I’ll root for you if you bring up your SAT I and II scores up higher. This year, the percentage of ED acceptances at Dartmouth having stellar SAT scores decreased… IMO, it’s a message to the public that SAT’s aren’t everything and that D is considerably taking into account thousands of other factors in applications.
Don’t lose hope, but you’ll have to bring those scores up asap.</p>
<p>definitely check out wesleyan; it’s no haven for outdoor sports (unless, you count sledding as a sport) but, there is a similar scale and emphasis on <em>publishable</em> undergraduate research.</p>
<p>You could also try taking the ACT once. My son did and his score came out substantially better than his equivalent SAT scores. Dartmouth looks at whichever is higher. (He still had to submit SAT subject test scores.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone! Yeah I am really motivated to bringing my scores up and am taking the SAT again in may, (right around AP exams, eek). Dartmouth would definitely be the highest school I apply to, and I will probably go RD. </p>
<p>I am actually most interested in history, if I end up at a top LAC, and business/finance if I end up at a university. I don’t really want to be doing much scientific research at college. The particle physics just sort of reflects my interest in topics not completely understood. (It’s actually quite funny, I know more about relativity and Quantum Physics than most of the class, but I tend to do average on exams, which cover things like kinematics, electricity and magnetism.) </p>
<p>Anyhow, I’m going on tangents. Thanks for all the feedback!</p>
<p>Spark, I can all but guarantee you that Dartmouth’s overall SAT picture will overall remain the same or go up when RD rounds thing out. Given that the majority of ED accepted candidates are hooked, the slightly lower scores most likely reflect Dartmouth’s institutional priorities this year as opposed to their lowered interest in scores.</p>
<p>With the school trying to attract more low income and first generation kids and their renewed interest in having winning sports teams, I’m thinking that is the reason for the slight score decline. As usual, the RD pool will pull up the stats of the hooked:</p>
<p>Michele Hernandez, nationally known private college admissions consultant located in Vermont. Author of the book A is Admissions: The Insider’s Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges and former admissions officer at Dartmouth College</p>
<p>“40 percent of every Ivy League school is filled up with special cases: athletes, minorities, low-income, legacies or development cases. They’re tagged, and schools lower the admissions standards a lot for those kids. So you got to know how to use those tags to your advantage. If you’re a legacy and you apply early to the school, you’ve got a 50 percent better chance of getting in</p>
<p>Your ECs and transcript may mitigate your less-than stellar SAT scores, but retake them again and try to get at least 2200 (or as close as you can). As it stands, your essays and recommendations will likely be the tie-breakers.</p>
<p>Nope. I agree with hmom: it’s a message that D is looking to improve some of its sports teams and to recruit certain URMs.</p>
<p>Just look at the stats and activities/interests of some of the unhooked kids who were deferred who post here. I think that ED can be a detriment for the unhooked kid.</p>
<p>Sure, SATs aren’t “everything.” They and the other most selective schools ALSO expect everything else: the grades, the difficult courses, the ECs, the recs, etc. And of course that indefinable thing that makes you stand out.</p>
<p>. agree with siemprecuriosa.
since you are in the top 10% I think that might compensate for your low gpa. That shows that As are harder to get at your school than they are at most. Also, try to get straight A’s this semester & make sure you are in the top 10% when you send your application. This will also show an upward trend. Does your gc have a naviance chart? If so take a look. You may actually have a shot, especially if you pull up your SATs. Try to get at least 2300. It’s definitely possible if that was your first time taking them.
I would also try to do something science related at a high level this summer</p>
<p>I also think in several top colleges, it is actually harder to get in ED than regular. It seems that since the legacies & athletes are far more likely to be accepted and mostly apply ED, the rates for unhooked ED applicants is MUCH lower than it appears. For the next tier down and many other schools within the top tier, this might not be the case, but at dartmouth it seems to be that if the Adcom is not 100% sure whether to admit or defer, they defer. If it is easier to get in, it is not significantly easier. For you, it may be more beneficial to improve your grades for first semester and apply regular so that they have the chance to see those grades before immediately rejecting you.</p>