<p>I just read that last year 60% of the accepted early decision students were legacies. Dartmouth is my top choice and my plan was to apply regular, but upon hearing this fact, it seems that early decision gives me no REAL advantage, especially since a lot of the athletes who have relationships with the coaches go early and are pretty much guaranteed a spot. I have a 2230 on the SAT (retaking) and I am very accomplished in the sciences, especially environmental science (did research relating to global warming at a university) and my community service reflects sustainability and "being green". Should I apply early anyways and hope for the best?</p>
<p>60% were not legacies, that would be many more than are in the whole class. I nelieve about 60 of 400 were legacies.</p>
<p>There is no doubt lots of hooked kids get in ED. Athletes are the big number. There is room for the unhooked too, but in my experience the unhooked Dartmouth takes ED are very top students–those they might lose to HYPS RD. 2300 plus vals and sals.</p>
<p>Then again 40% of the class are vals and sals.</p>
<p>If it’s your dream school apply ED, but realize ED does not give a break to kids with lower stats. It’s not an advantage for a marginal candidate.</p>
<p>S got in ED without a hook or crazy stats, but I believe his passion for Dartmouth was evident. Stellar teacher recs, a readable essay and interesting EC’s surely helped. If you love Dartmouth, apply early.</p>
<p>hmom5: so you would call my SATs low? I mean I will be retaking and hopefully break 2300. I wouldn’t say my stats are low. After 6 APs through junior year I am an AP scholar with distinction, my unweighted GPA is 3.93 and I am president of the science club. My activities reflect a passion for the environment and science and combining the two, which I believe is unique to me. I have done lots of research in environmental biology and will be submitting them to the big research competitions. I don’t know how much this counts for at Dartmouth, but I am hispanic too. I understand that even under early decision, a school won’t accept you if they don’t think you are well-qualified and a good fit for the school. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m trying to weed out an answer from you that would make me feel better. I’m really not. I probably will apply ED and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.</p>
<p>I would say your SAT score is slightly above median, but median includes the 40% of the class that is hooked.</p>
<p>My DS also got in ED without a hook, but he was val with a 2350 plus from a highly competitive HS. </p>
<p>I’d say much weighs in here–where you’re from (my DS from a NYC prep school needed to be tipy top), so a less represented, less affluent place a big plus, and any tip factors like first gen/low income will help a lot.</p>
<p>I’m from a pretty affluent area, but I am one of the only hispanics. My family is also not poor or less educated. I have immediate family members who went to Ivies. None of them include Dartmouth. I think the less represented stuff is my ethnicity and my passion for science and the environment. I know that environment is big with Dartmouth applicants, but I think the way I explored and implemented it into the sciences is cool. My school is really competitive too, so it is tough to get really high in the ranks, like 1 or 2, but I’m probably 1 or 2 if you just include math and science performance. Still I probably like within the top 3-4% of the school. I definitely see what you are talking about with the hooked students bringing down the median, giving a false sense of security. I saw the averages per section and at just barely over 700 in each section, it seemed low for Dartmouth, even considering it being early decision stats. With your knowledge of admissions though, and what I have to offer, I’m not asking my chances, but how different would my odds be of applying ED versus not ED? Do you think that I am at any advantage ED?</p>
<p>If you want good information to see how all of your stats line you up, I suggest plugging your them into this website:</p>
<p>college.my chances.net/college/college-rankings.php?thisCategory=ALL&thisYear=ALL</p>
<p>(take out the space in between “my” and “chances” after you copy and paste the link)</p>
<p>It will tell you your chances to every college, and compare them with hundreds of past users who have gone through the college admissions process. It also ranks schools according to where students choose to go after they’ve been admitted, which is kind of cool. It’s like an updated revealed preferences ranking.</p>
<p>I would say that if they regard you as as URM candidate with high stats and well-developed passions ED might help. The question is, will they?</p>
<p>It sounds as if you might benefit from going ED. It’s really hard to say. If you were a legacy the answer would be easy.</p>
<p>You did not mention being Hispanic in the OP. That is a hook. You have a good shot ED.</p>
<p>I’ve always believed that ED shouldn’t be a calculated decision. It should be made because you love a school and not because of your assessment of the chances or otherwise. That’s just my opinion ofc.</p>
<p>FWIW, last year D took three kids from the town next to us ED. One was a legacy, and the other two were recruited athletes (one of whom was also on the Presidential Scholar nominee list).</p>
<p>Holy cow. That makes me nervous. I’m going to get a rec from my research mentor I think. He knows some researchers at Dartmouth which may be a good thing, but idk. He told me that he felt I was one of the best researchers (Ph.D. students included) the department has seen. I hope that helps.</p>
<p>Good grief. Since when is a 2230 on the SATs not a stellar score?? I think you have an awesome shot at Dartmouth ED, and I think that if you want to attend, you should apply!! Why is this so hard?</p>
<p>My son was a Dartmouth legacy and, while the legacy probably gave him a tip, he had “only” an SAT of 2180. Slacker.</p>
<p>Did you ever check the CC Stats forum? Gives you a lidea of SAT scores of those who get accepted, deferred, rejected over the past three years… Its limited to the number of respondents who actually follow up with their decision of course - but you can see that your SAT scores, alone are fine, (and you can see that over-the-top SAT scores don’t guarantee acceptance).</p>
<p>[Stats</a> Profile Search](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/member_stat_search_form.html]Stats”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/member_stat_search_form.html)</p>
<p>If the admissions office flags you as a URM, then you will almost certainly be admitted.
My son’s first year roommate was part Native-American with an 1120 on the (two part) SAT. Someone who had spent time living in Paris, so not high on the “deprivation” index.</p>
<p>danas, there were students last year who had better stats and were Hispanic who were ultimately rejected.</p>
<p>Treehugger, getting a rec from your research mentor is an excellent idea. </p>
<p>I think that you have a strong chance at D and the other Ivies. But things like that rec will definitely help.</p>
<p>Thanks Consolation. Great to hear some positive news, but knowing the difficulty of getting into the Ivies, I won’t get my hopes too high. Still, I have been frequenting the Dartmouth website and I keep seeing all of the great outdoors activities, and I have a few friends who are new 13’s and they all got back to me and told me how great the first-year trip was. Everything makes me love the school more and more. Hopefully, I will be able to enjoy that first year trip for myself.</p>