<p>I'm considering applying to Dartmouth, but I'm not sure how good my chances are considering I only have one leadership position: the cofounder and historian of an environmental awareness group.
My essays are pretty good and I have a gpa around 3.8 unweighted. My act score was 32 and sat was 2100, but I'm retaking both. I have loads of community service. My writing has been recognized by both scholastic and teen ink. I've taken 6 ap tests and have made three 5s, two 4s, and a 3. I plan on taking 5 more at the end of this year.
How much will my lack of leadership affect my chances?</p>
<p>You are right on point! Don’t worry. </p>
<p>How did you get your works acknowledged by scholastic and teen ink?</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC One X using CC</p>
<p>Scholastic has an art and writing program that I’ve recieved a Gold Key award and Honorable Mention in. I’ve only recently joined Teen Ink, so none of my work has had a chance to be published in the magazine, but many of my works have been chosen as featured articles on the front page of the website.</p>
<p>I don’t think that D is as big on leadership positions as some of the Ivies. D goes for a range of interesting, accomplished individuals, rather than concentrating on the BMOC types.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, read Michele Hernandez’s book “A is for Admission”. Ms. Hernandez is a former Dartmouth AO who wrote this book about 10 to 12 years ago giving away the inside scoop, apparently, on the admissions practices at top schools, especially Dartmouth. Although many in the know say that the top schools (and especially Dartmouth) no longer follow the admissions steps Hernandez outlined in her book, I found this book most helpful and used it to project the likelihood of my son getting into DC. (It worked. He is now in Hanover.)</p>
<p>The big take-away I got from that book was that grades matter but SAT’s matter more. “Leadership”, EC’s, etc. are helpful only on the margin; however, if you are a filthy rich legacy, a world class performer in the arts or athletics or possess some other rare or unqiue trait or talent, then grades and standardized scores are less important.</p>
<p>@ Consolation… I thought I had all the CC acronymns… seems I missed the boat on “BMOC”. What’s that?</p>
<p>“Big Man on Campus”</p>