<p>Read title please.</p>
<p>You’ll never know if you don’t do it…And bad stats around here is a relative term. What do you have to lose other than your time and the application fee…?</p>
<p>My GPA is not very uhmmmamaazing like all these other CC posters, I am all right apart from that.
I was just wondering how much an essay can have an effect on being admitted?</p>
<p>Pretty big effect. But academics always comes first as far as I know. They are accepting intellectually stimulated students and not some aspiring story tellers. (If you are both I’d say you have a pretty good chance)</p>
<p>Cannot answer without knowing the stats.</p>
<p>How bad? Remember you are going to college to learn, and they will reject you if you don’t show evidence of academic prowess.</p>
<p>SAT: 2140
SAT subjects tests:
World hist: 780
Taking 2 more this year.
EC’s are reasonably good, can’t post the list right now</p>
<p>GPA= Not to be mentioned 
I slacked last year.</p>
<p>If the GPA sucks as much as you indicate, I would take the SAT again and try to bump it up a bit. 2200 to 2300+ would definitely counterbalance a low GPA for me. 2140? I’m skeptical, but no one outside the admissions office can really say. </p>
<p>You’ve probably seen this, but I’ll toss in the link anyway. [Testing</a> Statistics](<a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/test-stats.html]Testing”>http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/test-stats.html)</p>
<p>Any APs? As far as subject tests, I think Dartmouth only looks at the top two scores, so aim at hitting over 780 on both if you’re taking two more. </p>
<p>I’ve offered in the past to read essays. I hope the OPs have benefited from my comments. If you would like a read (which might help me answer your original question), PM me and I’ll give you an email address.</p>
<p>Frankly, not likely, unless you have a hook that you haven’t revealed. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give it a shot if you really like the place.</p>
<p>If you see that there is nothing to lose, while you have that passion to apply, then why not?</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I believe you really want to, then why not pull that off in other parts of your application?</p>
<p>I hate to comment on chance threads or questions such as this, because I worry that I’ll insult someone, and because no one can really tell what you are from a brief summary written on thsi board.</p>
<p>However, your grades/transcript/curriculum difficulty are the number one criteria. You keep saying that you slacked off last year, and won’t answer the question of what your grades were last year, so no one can give you any substantive information to your question.</p>
<p>However, those junior year grades are critically important, and unless you have some extenuating cirucmstances beyond merely saying that you slacked off, the admissions committee isn’t likely to be very forgiving of weak grades, regardless of your test scores and how good an essay you write. Hard workers trump geniuses in performance at any college.</p>
<p>There are numerous valedictorians with great test scores, powerful essays and strong extracurricular records that you’re going to go up against.</p>
<p>Gretsky: ‘You miss every shot that you don’t take.’</p>
<p>That being said, gpa/rank is probably the most important thing in selective college admissions. And second, it is an extremely rare 18-year-old who write an “excellent essay” that is outstanding enough (adcom reaction, ‘wow, I just gotta have this kid’) to overcome weakness in gpa/rank.</p>
<p>Your stats are fine. It’s not good to compare to people on here. Trust me, apply. You might be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>To have any chance you will need strong semester grades.</p>
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<p>Huh?</p>
<p>btw: D has publicly stated that a large % of the matriculants (upwards of 40% some years) are Val or Sal. Do you still think gpa/rank doesn’t matter?</p>
<p>^^If I am not mistaken, it is 40% of those who submit class rank, and many don’t. But nevertheless, clearly a mediocre GPA is not easily overcome. Not only that, but his SAT is marginal for D. Telling someone their stats are “fine” when they clearly are not is not doing them a favor, IMHO.</p>
<p>“Your stats are fine. It’s not good to compare to people on here. Trust me, apply. You might be pleasantly surprised. – Funsidejas”</p>
<p>Funsidejas is listed as 17 years old, so regardless of whether he says, “trust me,” you shouldn’t. Don’t take advice on how to get into college from someone who is still in high school. And high school kids, please refrain from giving out advice on how to get into college or respond to Chance Me questions, unless you can provide concrete information about your next-door neighbor who did get in. You haven’t been to college yet.</p>
<p>Leave the information-giving to people who are at the school, graduated from the school, been accepted by the school or a similar school, interview people who apply to the school, have advised people who have gotten into the school, etc.</p>
<p>In general, these Chance Me threads are worthless, because most of the respondents are not in any position to provide any information that is not on the school’s web site. In addition, no one can evaluate someone’s extracurricular activities from the brief summaries that prospective applicants list here.</p>
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<li>From a Princeton alumni interviewer who was also accepted at Dartmouth who has spent hundreds of hours leading local kids through the admissions process on a volunteer basis and who evaluates executives for a living. (And I am a long way from being able to being able to read a Chance Me thread and give the poster a fair idea of their chances).</li>
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<p>And, since this is an anonymous board, I, as well anyone on here could be lying.</p>
<p>^^ Concur with EarthPig. Have been waiting for someone closer to the action (my own experience is as a Dartmouth parent and an alumnus volunteer with a small, highly selective liberal arts college in the Northwest) to say this.</p>
<p>An essay is not going to make up for a poor GPA/low SAT. Of course there is always a chance, but a very small one.</p>
<p>I would focus more of my energy on schools where your GPA/SAT scores are within the range of the students they accept.</p>
<p>With all the posters on CC convinced that schools want more apps so they can collect all that app money, then reject more kids and mythically “raise” their usnews standing, I am surprised how many here throw out, “won’t know if you don’t try.” You are, in effect, telling more and more kids to go for it, just in case lightning strikes.</p>
<p>OP, if you are too embarassed to admit your gpa, you have to understand the top colleges interpret gpa as evidence of a pattern of motivation to succeed. Extenuating circumstances? Rarely work. They like patterns of success, real evidence you will keep up and do well at their college-- not explanations of why you didn’t perform. Explanations suggest the next time you get bored, distracted or whatever, you’ll have issues.</p>
<p>2140 and 780 are in range for an Ivy. Most of the serious competition will apply with a high gpa. Plus, as a holistic admissions school, D will be looking for patterns of success in other areas of your life. That said, we don’t know your gpa- you could be like too many kids who whine over a 3.8uw.</p>
<p>If it were as simple as a super, outstanding essay, lots of kids would hire someone to do it for them.</p>