Hello friend, chance a rising senior? (ED)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

I visited Dartmouth this past year and loved the vibe I got from it. At the same time, I’m considering Pomona College ED for recruitment (in contact with the coaches). I’m not good enough to be recruited into a D1 Ivy league school, so I was wondering about my chances considering the rest of my profile (I’d be giving up my recruitment at Pomona for Dartmouth). My thoughts are that I’m not a strong enough applicant (I go to a competitive high school), but thank you guys for the help anyway!

Here are my stats: (I’m possibly majoring in Biology/other science major)

GPA: 3.82 UW, 4.35 W
Rank: my school doesn’t rank, not sure
ACT: 35; 36 English, 33 Math, 35 Reading, 36 Science
SAT Subject Tests: 750 Biology, 800 Math
APs: I took 5 so far: AP Biology (4), AP Calculus AB (3 major mess-up ik), AP US History (4), AP Lang/Comp (4), AP Chinese (5); senior year I’m taking 3: AP Government, AP Literature, AP Statistics

*side note:(I don’t plan on sending my scores because they’re on the lower end esp at my high school, does anyone have any thoughts on not sending scores? I know Dartmouth says it strongly encourages students to but I’m afraid it’ll negatively impact me)

Extracurriculars:

-Cardiomed (Cardiovascular Medicine) club vice president
-Varsity cross country/track athlete, team captain for both
-Hospital volunteer
-English tutor in a lower-income area for children struggling in school
-Current summer intern at a university, working with a professor on antimicrobial resistance (stipend of $1300)
-Head leader in a student-run organization partnered with a Haitian clinic, annual medical mission trips to Haiti (donating medications and distributing it, assisting doctors with taking patient vitals)
-Member of: Pre-med Club, Youth Activities for Kids Club (both since freshman year)

Background:

-Asian/White female
-not first gen
-household income: $150,000+

Application:

-Recs: APLAC teacher (really solid essay, told me that he hasn’t had a student like me in ten years), Chem Honors teacher (my sophomore teacher, so might not be as great but he seemed happy to write one for me when I asked)
-Essays: I’m not a super-talented writer but I’m pretty good at expressing myself, have some good content that I want to talk about in my essays

Conclusion: won’t be bitter if my stats get completely shut down in the comments, so please don’t hesitate to reply with something negative if its the honest truth (anything constructive is greatly appreciated)

2

You have a chance, but there are some details that hurt your profile. Your UW GPA, for example, is a little low. What is your approximate class rank? Are you in the top 5%? 10%? GPA matters more relative to your high school class. Which Math subject test did you take? Also, I would be careful in choosing to not send AP scores to Dartmouth. If you don’t send, I heard that colleges assume you got a 1 or a 2. I think you should send your scores.

Your ECs do a good job connecting to why you want to major in Biology. If you really love Dartmouth and want to ED there, I say go for it and try writing some thought provoking, creative essays.

3

Thank you for the advice! I took Math level 2, and as for class rank I really have no idea though I can ask my counselor. Speaking of which, how is class rank judged?

4

I really really really (did I say really) hate change threads. They are a big waste of time, if anyone could predict with any true accuracy, do you really think they would be on CC answering chance threads?

That being said, AP scores are self reported. It does not hurt your chances if you do not report them as a Dartmouth is looking slowly phasing out the use of AP scores fir credit ( I think by 2018). I know plenty of kids who did not report scores (my kid was one) and it did not hurt their chances.

Don’t look at weighted GPA because there is already an expectation that you are taking the most demanding course load your school offers and you are acing those courses.

As far as your ECs be able to show, not tell. Quality is definitely better than quantity. Found something over a sustained period of time and growing in responsibilities and leadership. Sustained volunteering in your own back yard is better than paid service trips.

At the end of the day, all you can do is toss your application in and let the process okay it self out.

5

I appreciate the input. I recognize that these threads aren’t the most accurate, but it doesn’t hurt to gain insight from other opinions.
I also completely understand the idea of volunteering as being focused on my community and consistently trying to improve it. (hospital volunteering and volunteer tutor in low income area). I do consistently help in more distant places such as Haiti, and I think gaining perspective from that is important as well. After my first year, the trip impacted me so much that I returned again as a leader. And I plan on doing so this year again.

tl;dr: I’m super grateful for your response and will take into account everything. Yes, chance me threads may be a bit ridiculous. By no means do I feel secure if anyone were to tell me I have a shot; my main goal was to receive advice adhering to my stats.

6

If most of the responses that you are getting on chance threads are from high school students like yourself, where is the perspective ?

also remember that 60% of the ED pool is hooked; athletes, legacies, facbrats, questbridge matches, and developmental admits leaving very few slots for unhooked applicants

7

Class rank is simply based off of your GPA. Over 90% of the class at Dartmouth (and most other top colleges) are in the top 10% of their high school class, with the few who aren’t being legacies, sports recruits, or some other kind of hooked applicant.

Actually I think you could get away with not sending AP scores since you have other scores that are great. Also, you can pick and choose which AP scores to report on the Common Application. Only if you get in and plan on attending do you have to send them officially from the Collegeboard, which sends all of them.

Also, take a look at the Dartmouth ED and RD results threads. They will help you see if you have a good chance or not

8

based on my experience as an undergrad there, i’d say you’re a pretty good fit accept for the academics. if you end up going to Dartmouth, you’ll find all the bio/psych/neuroscience classes are overloaded with wannabe premeds. needless to say classes can be competitive and admissions probably would like to see that you can thrive in that environment. also, if you’re just another athlete who wants to be a premed… well they got so many of those already. how are you different? i know this probably won’t resonate with you at this point in your life but my advice would be to go out and experience something different. a soul-crushing internship perhaps… the perspective you gain from something like that can really set you apart.

as far as whether you’re qualified… i’d say only you know the answer to that question. do you really want to push yourself harder in a more competitive environment or do you want to have a more relaxing 4 years? i think whether you qualify or not depends on your answer to that question.