ED rejection... how bad is it?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I know that many times a deferral is a "polite rejection." I've just been flat out rejected by Dartmouth ED, and although I really really wanted to get in, I now wish that I was at least deferred. </p>

<p>I have 600CR, 800M, 730Wr.
33 ACT
790, 780, 770 SAT IIs
Top 10% of competitive public HS class, w/ extremely tough course load
5's on all 4 AP exams I've taken.
Essays and recs are too subjective, but my essay was said to be wonderful, and my recs I didn't see.</p>

<p>I guess that 600CR killed me... and I'm expecting it to kill me in the RD round.</p>

<p>I'm applying to Amherst, Bowdoin, Bucknell, Cornell, Geneseo, Harvard, Middlebury, Penn, Princeton, Williams, Yale. </p>

<p>Am I screwed? Thanks in advance for your help. Everyone on this board has really been great.</p>

2

<p>Are you international or something? whose native language is not English?</p>

3

<p>It seems like it, doesn't it? I'm 100% American, and I'm awful at taking critical reading tests.</p>

4

<p>One of the things I often notice on these boards, is that people put too much weight on the statistics. Schools like Dartmouth are trying to build a community; they are looking for the kids that will make a big postive splash in the community.</p>

<p>The best way to gauge whether someone will make a major contribution to your school is to look at whether they are a "high impact person" in their current school environment.</p>

<p>Sometimes the wrong persons (for your sake) read your file, but sometimes a student is just reading as generic or flat. There may be some tweaking that can be done on your other applications if you haven't submitted them yet.</p>

<p>Your CR could have been 750 and you may easily find yourself with the same result. Schools like Dart get so many high testers that it's no big deal to deny or WL someone who has scores across the board in the 750-800 range.</p>

<p>It could be that there is nothing about you that stands out (in a competitive pool) and indicates that you are likely to noticably upgrade the intellectual life or the community life of the school.</p>

<p>One thing I would do if I were you, I'd add a few more excellent, but less competitive schools to your list. Vanderbilt, Davidson, Trinity, William and Mary and Wake Forrest are a few that come to mind. If you like Dartmouth, you may likes these schools. They are all outstanding schools, but none of them have acceptance rates of under 25%. I expect Dart to be in the 16% range this year.</p>

<p>Have a few seasoned professonals review your application and point out what they think is lacking. You may not be able to make any changes with the Jan 1st and Jan 15th dates looming, but it would be nice to have an expert give you a few more suggestions of schools to add. I listed a few schools that you MAY like, knowing you like Dartmouth, but a quality new list would involve having an expert get to know you, your interests, strengths, weaknesses, passions, hooks, connections, and preferences for location and other salient desires.</p>

5

<p>jsph..
i just got flat out rejected from dartmouth too..ouch..
and im applying to almost all teh same schools as you</p>

<p>i am so screwed..and international haha</p>

6

<p>I don't see why your relatively low SAT CR score should wreck your chances when you have a good ACT score to make up for it. Maybe your ECs are weak?<br>
I think Bowdoin is SAT-optional, anyway.</p>

7

<p>7/11 of those schools are big reaches with a 600 CR. I agree with looking at some more less-competitive schools to add them to your list.</p>

8

<p>those are ambitious schools and not to say that you aren't going to get in to any of them but what is your safety? your stats look outstanding to me, and i'm surprised you didn't get in! but don't worry jsph89, i'm sure a year from now you'll be happy wherever you are!!</p>

9

<p>edited and deleted. sorry</p>

10

<p>I don't think you are doomed, by any means. Do be careful about having good safety and match schools and make sure you give those schools and applications the attention they deserve.</p>

<p>View this as a bit of a wake up call in terms of being a call to go over your application package and make sure it is the strongest you can make it. If you are worried about the verbal score, what can you do to minimize its impact? Could your counselor refer directly to it and point out that it is an anomaly (giving evidence of critical reading/verbal strengths from your grades, APs, teacher comments, etc.)? Is a teacher from a reading/writing intensive subject recommending you? If so, consider asking him/her to address the issue and highlight your strengths -- remember that teachers often don't even know of an applicant's scores and might be very startled to see one such as yours (and very willing to say that it doesn't match your skills). If you don't have such a recommender, consider adding one. Maybe substitute an English teacher for a science teacher, for example. Another alternative might be to write a statement addressing the issue straight on, but I tend to think it is better to have someone else make the points on your behalf. </p>

<p>Talk with your guidance counselor and other trusted adults and go over everything with them. See if they can suggest changes. Remember to update your materials before submitting them to your RD schools -- do you have a fall athletic season to summarize? did anything happen with our ECs? Make that application feel fresh and sparkling.</p>

<p>My point is that you have a chance to improve your application package. This rejection from Dartmouth hurts like hell but it could turn out to be the thing that ultimately gets you in elsewhere.</p>

<p>And keep on doing all the excellent things you were doing before this blow occurred.</p>

<p>Best of luck. This is a very difficult experience, but you will be fine.</p>