Extremely intrested in Dartmouth

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>Hi CCers. So, i've recently been broadening my range of colleges to choose from, and I decided to check Dartmouth out. I'm a junior, so i hope i'm not doing this too late....but Dartmouth really does sound amazing. From all i've read, it sounds like a fantastic school. </p>

<p>I'm really intrested in the physics and astronomy programs, with a minor in Chinese (it might not be that normal, but i really have a passion for both astrophysics and chinese). Would considering Chinese as a major be a bigger hook for Dartmouth admissions? Many people have told me it's a somewhat unique scenario, because i'm Indian, yet i've associated myself so closely with the Chinese language. I've worked with delegates from Beijing (I had to translate for them, it was really tough...the only english they knew was "Hi") and i'm a 2x (probably 3x by next year) Gold Medalist in the MCTA Chinese Speech Tournament. I may or may not earn a scholarship to study in Taiwan over the summer. </p>

<p>However, i'm extremely passionate about astrophysics as well. I crafted a science curriculum geared towards physics in high school, different than what most of my peers did. Also, I'm a year younger than everyone at my school. I will most probably be taking all of the AP Physics exams this year. Also, i'm a huge participant in math team (varsity, made state a couple of times), science olympiad (i'm half of our astronomy dream team, my shirt for the club says "Hubble" on the back), and scholastic bowl (varsity, won a crapload of tournaments, captaining in senior year). </p>

<p>My questions are, which one would be a bigger "hook", for lack of a better word, for Dartmouth? Would either of these tracks help me stand out at all? Which portions should I play up a little on my application? And finally, whose teacher apps should I get? I'm considering my AP Chem teacher (writes great, great recs), AP Phys teacher (though he's a great guy, he writes cookie-cutter apps), my APUSH teacher (he's starting to like me as a student a LOT), and my Chinese teacher (known me since frosh year, she loves me and knows my passion for the language).</p>

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<p>When you apply to Dartmouth, you don’t apply as a particular major; you just indicate your first and second choice interest. What you put down on your app does not mean you have to end up majoring in it later. Admissions tries to give you an advisor (although not guaranteed) in your first choice subject, so I would put down the subject you feel you could use some help selecting courses. In terms of “hooks”, neither one is better over the other, especially because many people double major in completely different things. For example, Thayer (engineering school) takes pride in people studying both studio art and engineering. Dartmouth wants to know about your life and personality, so show both sides equally if your passion is truly equal. As for your recs, I would go for your AP Chem teacher and your Chinese teacher; this way your passion for both is shown by people that truly know you.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for the info! I mean, it can’t be too ridiculously tough to find classes for the Chinese major, so I may end up putting astro or phys first so that if by some divine intervention, i make it, i have an advisor.
Also, i mean i don’t really want to compare both passions…they’re in totally different things and i can’t really judge them on the same scale :stuck_out_tongue: however, i know i am really, really passionate about both subjects, for sure, so i might end up using one passion on commonapp and the other on the supplement (if it has an essay portion). </p>

<p>hmm, yeah i was leaning towards the Chinese teacher for sure, but then i started dithering between all the different options available for the other one :stuck_out_tongue: thanks again for your help!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your opinion, ColdWinter11. Anybody else have something to say? I appreciate anything people have to say about this :)</p>