ED Chances? URM/ADHD/LD/35 ACT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>Basics:
Gender--Male
From--Suburban Chicago public school
Financial aid--Yes
Ethnicity--Hispanic
LD/ADHD--Yes, not diagnosed/treated until end of junior year</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA--3.02 unweighted, 3.88 weighted <==
Class rigor--All honors/AP
AP schedule--English Lang., US His. (jun.); Calc. AB, Biology, US Gov't, English Lit., Economics (sen.)
Class Rank: Surprisingly enough, top 15% (class of ~650)</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT--2340 Blue Book (taking Oct. administration) <==
ACT--35 composite (36 R, E; 35 M; 33 S) <== only took the test once!
AP--English Lang. (5), US History (5)</p>

<p>Leadership/extracurricular activities:
Varsity scholastic bowl--Co-captain (9-12); MVP (9-11); top scorer (9-10, but only because my coach liked pulling me out of tournaments for falling asleep)
Jeopardy!--Finalist, invited to and completed audition in Kansas City. I'll hopefully be on the show in December
School newspaper--Copy editor (established position, 12); production editor (11); staff writer (10)
Blogger--I spend, and this is a pure guesstimation, about 15 hours per week researching, interviewing, and writing for two incredibly popular hip-hop/music/fashion blogs
Chicago Tribune--Staff writer for teen newspaper (11-12)
Varsity baseball--Hurt junior year, but came back during summer (LHP, 10-12)
Travel baseball--Co-captain/member (LHP/OF, 10-12)
Freshmen swim team--Member (9)
Wind symphony--1st chair, alto sax (9-10)
Jazz band--Alto sax (9-10)
Marching band--Alto sax (9-10)
Saxophone lessons--Alto/tenor sax (9-10)
Parish volunteer--Eucharistic minister/misc. volunteer (9-12)
Assistant teacher--Surprisingly selective program for a summer job (only 40 applicants were picked out of a pool of around 150, 11-12)
French Club--Member (9-10)
Italian Club--Council member (12); member (11)</p>

<p>Awards:
National Merit Semi-Finalist (223 PSAT)
National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar
Tri-M Music Honors Society
Northwestern Midwest Academic Talent Search Award Winner (36 ACT R/E, presented freshman year)
Honor roll member every semester</p>

<p>Chance EDI/II?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Most people say that you can’t predict an applicant’s chances of admission based on a “Chances Thread,” but I disagree wholeheartedly. You can tell who has a strong shot of admission to at least one top school 99% of the time.</p>

<p>But in this case, I genuinely have no idea how you’ll fare. Obviously you have your strong points, but a low GPA is one of the worst things to mar your application, outside of disciplinary action.</p>

<p>Here’s how I suggest you play your hand:</p>

<p>(1) Definitely apply ED somewhere. There are far too many qualified applicants in the EA/RD pool, and your application will almost definitely be drowned out.</p>

<p>(2) Put a face to your application</p>

<p>(A) Tell your story well. Your essay really needs to communicate your intelligence, drive, and personality. Show, don’t tell. Your essay should not include the words “intelligence,” “drive,” “personality,” or any of their synonyms. Show those traits. This is much tougher than it seems, which is why less than 1% of applicants actually end up writing this kind of essay, though I bet 50%+ of top school applicants think they’ve written it.</p>

<p>(B) Go to as many admissions sessions where a Dartmouth representative will be present as you can. Get facetime. It’s important that you put a face on your application to cover up its smudges. When you talk to the rep, especially if it’s a younger one, be sure to not come across as a dweeb. For example, questions along the lines of, “Which programs at Dartmouth are strong?” and “How does Dartmouth’s location affect its social life?” are no-gos. Instead, talk to the rep like you would a friend, and be sure to play to your strengths. Obviously you can’t say, “Hey I write these really awesome blogs, so you should admit me.” What you can say, however, is something like: “What does Dartmouth’s music scene look like? I write this hip-hop blog that’s begun picking up a lot of coverage lately, and I’d like to continue writing it in college.” The rep might respond, “Yeah we have [X].” You say, “Oh, X is pretty cool. Do you like it?” If the answer is yes, only talk to the rep about hiphop for the rest of your conversation. When the rep sees your app, it’ll trigger the memory, “That was the chill hip-hop kid!” If the rep doesn’t like hip-hop or doesn’t know about it, do the same sort of thing with jeopardy or any of your other activities until you find some common ground with the rep. And this common ground doesn’t even have to come from your activities. For example, “You’re a Bears fan? Thank God they don’t blow anymore.” Voila. Talk about the Bears.</p>

<p>Tl;dr: Establish a friendship with the rep. Don’t be a nerd.</p>

<p>Good luck, Wiz. TGOD.</p>

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<p>TGOD, bruh. first time i’ve actually found someone kind of cool on cc, even if the “TGOD” was, theoretically, slightly mocking ahaha. if only i hadn’t hurt my arm… the coaches had been sending me tons of stuff, since mid-80’s lefties with 35’s don’t come around all the time. thanks, maaan</p>