ED Dartmouth?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi :) I know I've already posted this before, so I apologize, but I've updated a few things and revised my college list
**
-College list-**</p>

<p>I am going to visit a ton of schools over the summer, so hopefully I'll have a better sense of direction. Feel free to suggest additions or removals.</p>

<p>Dartmouth ED:
UIUC: (safety?)
Northwestern:
Georgetown:
Bowdoin:
UPenn:
Pomona:
WashU:
Stanford: (not sure if its worth it)</p>

<p>**
-About Me-**
well-regarded public school, 700 students
Rank: Around 35/700, but I will not be reporting rank (? still deciding wether I will or not)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.93/5 (uw) : 5.7/6 (w)
{All honors/AP classes except for Latin (parents wouldn't let me take honors, they thought I'd be overwhelmed :/), but I got very good grades there and a bunch of Latin awards, so hopefully that will help to make up for that (also I've been studying a language on my own and I am taking a college level course in it this summer)}
I've had 3 B+'s, all in math (I am not good at math), but I think my grades have improved and I got an A this year.</p>

<p>PSAT: 220, commended and hopefully (if the cutoff stays the same) national merit</p>

<p>ACT: 34 (no prep on that, so I may study and retake. Then again I'm kinda sick of tests)
SAT: 2320 (770/770/780)
SAT II: working on it</p>

<p>AP: Euro (5)
Took: Lang/Comp and USH (I think I did well)
Five APs next year (micro, gov, lit, bio, cac)</p>

<p>Essay: Its about art, and how using watercolors forced me out of a comfort zone, etc. Still working on it...</p>

<p>Recommendations: Both of the teachers I'm asking have had me for two years, so hopefully they know me enough to write good ones (physics and apus teacher)</p>

<p>Intended major: Absolutely NO idea! (except definitely not math xD)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: not that great, unfortunately :/
-Sports:
Lacrosse freshmen year (hated it, didn't continue next year)
Paddle tennis (no leagues around here or anything, but I've been playing for a long time)
Tennis (played for years and years but stopped after I didn't make the team- the team here is amazing though so I dont feel too bad).
Not really much here :/</p>

<p>-Clubs:
Key club
political club
Latin club + latin honors society
national honors society</p>

<p>-Art: I've been teaching myself computer generated art (tablets and photoshop) for years. Last year, I also started taking an art class where I've learned watercolors. I do a lot of commissioned work for various websites/companies as an illustrator/graphics designer, and all the money I raise goes to the animal shelter I work at. I've also done some auctions
I don't have any awards though, because I don't really believe in art contests :/ Hopefully it won't hurt that much...
I might submit an art supplement, but the kind of art (commissioned work takes up the bulk of my time) I have to draw for my work isn't very artsy, more commercial-ish- technically well-drawn but without that artsy edge I'm sure they're looking for. I have some things I've done on my own but probably not enough.</p>

<p>-Violin: playing for 9 years, school orchestra for all four years, part of the advanced orchestra
trying out for two other selective orchestras next years</p>

<p>-Horseback riding: this one's not that major, not sure if I should even include it</p>

<p>-Dog sports: I compete in agility and conformation (dog shows) as a junior handler.
Unfortunately I have to quit and can no longer continue Not sure if I should include this</p>

<p>-Humane Society: I volunteer at a shelter and I am a counselor for the kid's education camp during the school year and the day camp during the summer. I also am a photographer that helps update the website and at events. I've done some fundraisers on my own to help raise money here.</p>

<p>-yearbook (photographer)</p>

<p>-literature/arts magazine</p>

<p>-Job: I don't really have a job, besides digital illustration, which doesn't really count as a job. I have done some photography things (took photos for a filmmaker)</p>

<p>Awards: nothing amazing or special here...
NHS/LHS (not sure if these count)
NMS commended, possible semi finalist
national latin exam awards (silver and golds)
latin class awards.foreign language student of the month (not sure if I should include)</p>

<hr>

<p>Thanks for reading this :) Constructive feedback is really appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Whether you report rank or not, Dartmouth will figure out one for you. At most schools that rank the rank is on the transcript anyway. In the book A is For Admission, former Dartmough adcom Michele Hernandez explains how Dartmouth has formulas to figure out rank for candidates whose schools do not rank. This is a school that truly cares, 40% of it’s ranked students last year were val or sal. </p>

<p>You have strong scores and they really care about those too. But without a hook I think the rank is going to hurt you. The exceptions are if you are low income or from an underrepresented state. But as there are not a lot of lax playing horeback riders who are poor or from Alaska, I’m guessing this is not the case. Who knows, it’s worth the application in your case but my guess is you’ll be deferred and compared to those applying RD in your pool.</p>

<p>Now ED Penn and I think you have a good shot.</p>

3

<p>Our school has a weird situation where they are switching to no rank next year, so my class has the option of choosing. I guess I’ll talk to my counselor to see how my GPA compares to the school data.
My state (IL) is not underrepresented (maybe even over-?) and I probably wont be getting financial aid, though…</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>b u m p . . . .</p>

5

<p>bump again? :)</p>

6

<p>I guess, again?</p>

7

<p>can i ask which school you go to? I think your at my alma mateur? also what is your ethnicity, this can make a difference.</p>

<p>as was said, dartmouth places much importance on rank. Unless your a recruited athlete, you would want to be in the top 20 at least. Also, ED at dartmouth is made up of almost 50% athletes so it is tough to get into. Your test scores are really good, but your ECs really are not. I feel for you because your schools tennis team (i think) has won 3 straight girls championships and 2 stright mens championships. But really your ECs are really really weak and at selective schools, like the ivies, this will hurt you a ton. Also your app shows no passion, a lot of things that you did for a little then dropped, other things that are not really connected. very scattered and not concentrated</p>

<p>Dartmouth ED: probably not
UIUC: (safety?) UIC? or U of I? UIC your in for sure, U of I I would expect you to get in as well
Northwestern: i would expect you to get in. about 30 kids from your school did last year.
Georgetown: you have a decent chance
Bowdoin: once again a decent chance
UPenn: wont get in regular, ED would be a good idea for you
Pomona: its a reach, a school with lots of importance on Ecs.
WashU: this is a high match, you could probably get in
Stanford: (not sure if its worth it)- probably not worth applying. They place tons of importance in ECs and your</p>

<p>Overall I would expect you to get into Wash U, Bowdoin, U of I, Northwestern. Waitlisted at Pomona (if they have it), Waitlisted at G-Town, Waitlisted at Dartmouth, in at Penn (if ED, otherwise waitlisted) rejected at stanford. </p>

<p>I would say your best option would be Penn ED mostly because of your rank/Ecs. Stanford is probably a waste of time but that is your decision. NU and U of I are good matches with U of I a safety. I think youll get into WashU regular and Bowdoin, and I think Pomona is a shot but a definite high reach. Dartmouth is a chance but not a great one. GL!</p>

8

<p>I probably, I’m at Central.</p>

<p>Yeah, my ECs are weak. I spend way too much time on drawing and art (usually 4-5 hours a day on commissions x_x)…but I guess that could be considered a “passion” of mine, along with working at the humane society. I almost thought they were too focused: art and animals, covers just about all of them. Although I have to quit the dog sports now because my dog is injured…
But yeah, thats the part of my app, besides my rank, that I am most worried about.</p>

<p>The main reason why my rank sucks is because I’m in regular latin- my parents wouldn’t let me take honors, which I’m sure doesn’t fly as an excuse at top colleges, but thats why :confused: I’m hoping it will go up a bit if I can hold onto the grades I have right now.</p>

<p>thank you</p>

9

<p>woah thats weird. you go to the same school as me, same grade, looking at your resume though I have noooo idea who you are</p>

10

<p>Haha its a mystery :slight_smile:
I think I’ve seen a lot of people from Central on here, you can kinda tell with our 6 pt gpa scale</p>

11

<p>Yea, and the fact that our school has more kids worried about getting into college than maybe anywhere else. I think I saw the kid whose 5th in our class, and his resume was really impressive. And nice job on the SAT, 2320 is awesome. Youll do fine on SatIIs they are easy. Write good essays</p>

12

<p>Your college list seems very scattered. Why would you apply to pomona, bowdoin, dartmouth (all very isolated and smaller rural schools) and then also to georgetown, penn, wash U, all in larger cities. Which have you visited? Here are some I would add to your list that will be much more like the Dartmouth/Bowdoin feel. Kenyon College (in Ohio), Claremont McKenna (one of the CM schools with Pomona, but youd have a better chance their). Also, a school you probably have not considered is Middleburry in Vermont. From your resume it seems like it would be perfect for you. It has one of the most beautiful campuses ive ever seen, is in a mountain town like setting, and if your into art would be great. Definitely look into it. It is not like it is by any means a bad school either, I believe ranked around number 5 in the nation (US news world report) liberal arts colleges (ahead of Bowdoin and Pomona), so it is as strong if not stronger than most of the schools you have listed. Another reason I reccomend this, is that your school is going to have a lot of misinformed naive kids applying to all the big named schools, making it that much more challenging to get in. You will likely have less than 5 (if even) applicants at a school like Middleburry, and I think your chance would be significantly higher.</p>

13

<p>I haven’t visited any schools yet- thats the plan for the summer, I’ve got a list of about 20 that I’m vaguely considering and I’m hoping that after glimpsing the campuses I’ll be able to narrow it down quite a bit, because one of my most important concerns is the campus- I don’t do well in cities. Middlebury was one of the schools on my bigger list, too :slight_smile: Yeah hardly anyone from my school applied there last year, maybe 6?</p>

14

<p>OH- and I talked to my counselor about my rank (reporting or not)…</p>

<p>Apparently, because my year’s class is so competitive, a 5.7 is ranked ~35, with the previous years data (which is what I assume they will use to compare it to) my rank would be closer to 15-17. But my GPA should be going up anyways now because I got all As again</p>

15

<p>Bumping this…</p>

<p>Also, a question: do you think UIUC is enough of a safety? Or should I have something below it, too?</p>

16

<p>The other hge consideration is who else from your school is applying to your schools and in which round. The first line of competition to get past is yor own classmates.</p>

17

<p>I can’t fathom UIUC rejecting someone with your stats, so I wouldn’t worry about having another safety.</p>

18

<p>Your test scores are great, fantastic. Everyone will tell you the old “60 percent of dartmouth students are their schools valadictorians” but I think you can get in. One thing to watch out for- A lot of the students they admit early are recruited athletes, over half. I’m not saying you’ll have a better shot RD but look into that, I know a few candidates with the same scores as you ranked higher in their classes who didnt get in ED. As far as ECs go, yours are ok, not great and you do not display any leadership which is important and could hurt you. What is your ethnicity? This could hurt or help you depending. UIUC would probably be a fine safety for you as well. PM me if youd like, im going to Dartmouth class of 2013 :slight_smile: and id be glad to help you and give you my sort of resume so I could help you compare. Your stats are pretty similar to mine.</p>

<p>Edit: I just read that you dont do well in cities. I would cross Georgetown right off that list in that case. It is right in the middle of a thriving city.</p>

19

<p>Your test scores are very good and your gpa as well, regardless of rank. When I read your ecs, I get the sense that art is important to you, that you have pursued it on your own and acheived at least some level of recognized talent -don’t undersell that if it matters to you.</p>

20

<p>I’m applying ED to Dartmouth from her school. I’m 3rd in the class with a 5.94 GPA</p>