For the discouraged...

<p>These boards are a great way to receive feedback from likeminded students all over the nation. But at the same time, they can be very discouraging, as I have often felt inferior because of others' impressive stats.</p>

<p>I just thought I'd provide the statistics of a friend of mine.. A graduating senior, who was accepted at Dartmouth ED. </p>

<p>For those of you who tell other people that they have "no chance" at the schools they want, maybe you should be more lenient.</p>

<p>I wonder what you would have considered my friend's chances to be @ Dartmouth:</p>

<p>GPA: 98% (unweighted)
Rank: Top 3%
SAT I: 1420 (V 680 M 740)
Unsure of SAT IIs</p>

<p>ECs
National Honor Society
Chess Club
Math Club/Mathletes
Science Olympiad
Social Studies Club
Volleyball Team
(No leadership positions)
Minimal volunteer work
Probably a few other minor community activities</p>

<p>Awards
Placed well in state Science Olympiad competition
Silver, County Interscholastic Math League
Honor Roll all marking periods
Probably a few other minor awards from school</p>

<p>School Type: Very prestigious Catholic HS / All-Male
Caucasian
New York</p>

<p>He was the only one from my school to apply to Dartmouth ED.
Maybe that helped? I have not a clue.</p>

<p>There were about five or six more qualified applicants (not only better ECs, but even higher scores and grades) who were rejected RD.</p>

<p>I know that everyone on here would say Slim to No Chance.
I have no idea how he did it. His essays were probably good. Could great essays make up for subpar ECs?
Could ED play that much of a factor? Did being from an elite parochial school help?</p>

<p>Admissions is very strange...</p>

<p>It was a reach school for him but I'm sot suprised he got in.</p>

<p>A GPA of 98 is an A+ average for the entire high school period. While the test scores are a bit low (1420 on two parts equates to 2130 on 3 parts). </p>

<p>Presuming that this person got a 2250 or more on the SAT IIs (SAT IIs are always higher than the SAT Is for Ivy applicants), his AI is 226, which equates to an 8 out of 9 on rank (above 230 is a 9). </p>

<p>His ECs are just okay, but the Science Award adds credence. Being the only student to apply to a particular Ivy also adds to his possibility of being accepted. Applying ED helped, because it meant that yield would be high if he was accepted.</p>

<p>I would have ranked his chances as 70% if we knew everything on this list. But we probably wouldn't have known he was the only applicant to Dartmouth and was ED--so maybe I would have rated him 60%--with the reason this percentage being so high is because the grades (which are always the single most important factor) were outstanding.</p>

<p>P.S. How could lots of others at your school have had better grades? This means the school is giving at least 5 people an average of 99?
So, in other words, you're telling us there were at least 6 people at this school that had 4.3 U/W GPAs?--That seems highly unlikely. Either that or your school grades WAYYYYYYYYYYY too easy.</p>

<p>His GPA was about 97.7%, which I rounded to 98%.
My school is the most prestigious parochial school on Long Island.. Most would be amazed how competitive it is. But yeah, there are about 10 kids in the grade whose averages range from 97.8% to 99.7%.</p>

<p>I have very similar stats to him (same grades/scores, slightly better ECs), so I don't really understand why everyone always tells me I'm a longshot to Columbia or Georgetown or Dartmouth, ED, when you rated his chances 60-70%.</p>