Is applying to Dartmouth through ED worth a shot?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Dartmouth is one of my dream schools, and I was wondering whether I should apply to Dartmouth through ED or just apply RD and apply somewhere I have a higher chance in. (My other dream schools are: Cornell, UPenn, Northwestern, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins) I would be completely satisfied with attending any of these schools.

I saw that Dartmouth has a RD acceptance rate of 11.5% and a ED acceptance rate of 28%.
And, I don’t know if it matters in the process, but I’m from an extremely low-income family.

Here are my stats:

Major: undecided.
GPA: 4.0 UW
SAT 1: 2220- CR 720 M 740 W 760 (single sitting) Superscore: 2270- CR 760 M 750 W 760 (taking it again)
SAT 2: Math level 2: 800 (I’m preparing for two more subject tests and will make 750+ on those).
AP: Calculus AB 5, Calculus BC 5, US History 5, World History 4, Lang 4, Biology 3 (lol…)
Senior year: taking 3 AP classes.

ECs:
-contributing translator to one book
-translated several children’s books for an orphanage as volunteer work
-ASB officer
-1 Varsity sport captain
-after school tutor
-paid tutor
-AVID tutor during school
-an award from piano
-church piano player
-have been volunteering a lot since freshman year (at least 10 hours a month)
-an award for math
-Questbridge college prep scholar
-NHS member

Should I apply to Dartmouth through ED? If not, which school should I consider for ED? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :slight_smile:

2

@mythp1 I see you are a QuestBridge college prep scholar. Is there a reason you aren’t applying through their National College Match programme?

3

Yeah I say its worth a shot. Your SAT scores are pretty high and your GPA is impressive.

4

And the higher figure includes almost all of the recruited athletes, as well as many legacy applicants, since legacy is only considered ED. So ED acceptance rates aren’t as rosy as they look. That said, you would appear to be a legitimate candidate.

I’m not sure about the Questbridge matching process, but how does that play into your choices?

5

@mythp1 I think the best way to go about this is to apply ED to your absolute first choice. I get that that you would be very happy attending any one of the schools you mentioned, but this is a very diverse group of schools. They are extremely different from each other in many ways. I suggest thinking long and hard which school is your #1 choice and doing a lot of research. Think about what kind of campus vibe/atmosphere you want, do you wanna be in a city or not, take into consideration the strength of the schools in our area of academic interest. School fit is an important consideration that usually can affect your performance once at college.

6

Hi there! :slight_smile:

Please take the ED acceptance rate with a grain of salt; as others have said, the figures include recruited athletes, legacies, etc. that skew the numbers. The main advantage to students choosing that route is avoiding the stress of Winter Break Essay-Writing and second Senior semester angst. The school benefits with increased yield.

If Dartmouth isn’t your #1, you probably shouldn’t apply that way. Be sure before you commit to that.

All the same, you’re more than qualified. You could give it a shot. I love the school to death and would really like you to be able to share that love.

7

@Consolation Wow, I didn’t know that ED includes those people. Btw, I’m not applying through QuestBridge.

8

@SirPepsi Thanks for the info! I would love to attend Dartmouth!

9

While the above posters are accurate that most recruited athletes are in the ED pool, most books and professionals feel strongly there is a benefit to applying early for even unhooked applicants. I post the following when the question comes up as it is based on a researched book and not my opinion: