Is this an aberration? What can I do?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>What can I do to improve??? Advice needed from you guys who got in ED</p>

<p>I just got deferred... wonder what needs fixing so my RD can go more smoothly
ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED :)</p>

<p>STATS
Decision: DEFERRED
Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown) - 2340 (800 M, 800 W, 740 CR)
SAT II - 790 Math II, 800 USH, 730 Bio E
GPA - W: 4.4, UW: 3.88/4.0
Rank - No report; class size 522</p>

<p>AP (place score in parenthesis):
AP Envi Sci (5) AP English Lang (4) AP US Hist (5) AP Euro (3)</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish Lang, AP Comp Gov, AP Stat, AP Calc AB, Architect Design, English12, Speech and Debate</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, AP Scholar, American Foreign Service Essay Contest Honorable Mention, National Forensics League Special Distinction, Finalist Stanford Speech Invite
Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Four Year Varsity Swim (Co Captain), Model UN President, Speech and Debate Debater, Intern at Congressman, Docent at Museum, Hospital Volunteer, 1 year marching band , Outdoor school counselor, school ambassador</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Volunteering, intern at cpu company</p>

<p>Essays: It was ok, I never really got it rated.. definitely not horrible</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: One was good,by AP Lang teacher; the other was by math teacher, i dont know... waived rights </p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Awesome, i work with her because i am school ambassador
Interview: Good, but probably didnt influence deferral; guy is very happy with me</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Competitive Public School
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none</p>

<p>Reflection </p>

<p>Dont know what this means... is my essay bad? I cant improve scores that much.... what was the missing piece? No Idea. Oh well, wait four months. hopefully I am in top *8% that get in</p>

2

<p>Wow. That’s all I can say. They deferred that? Wow. I’m guessing you are from the northeast. That and the asian (ORM) is all I can figure. I feel for you. Best of luck, you deserve it.</p>

3

<p>i think you’re already pretty qualified, haha. maybe you could show more interest and definitely let them know that dartmouth is your top choice (email the regional admissions officer, etc) and also keep them updated on your accomplishments. i went to every single dartmouth related event in my state. :P</p>

4

<p>Tbh, he applied ED - he already demonstrated that Dartmouth is his first choice. I can’t really see a weakness in your application either, but I’m guessing the essays simply weren’t good enough. I’m not saying they’re bad, I’m just saying they didn’t make you stand out.</p>

5

<p>Guys, not getting in is NOT about a weakness. There are simply too few seats for all of the very well qualified to get in.</p>

<p>OP, you were in an overwhelmingly crowded pool (Asian from CA), so you were competing with many high stats students. Good luck RD!</p>

6

<p>Not much you can do in relation to this particular application. Wait to hear about RD, but make sure you have other apps out to places you may want to attend. This is a good time to prepare for different possibilities. In case this does not go through, have your alternate plans…Worst thing to do is to second-guess their process – just make sure any other apps you send you are tight in terms of the essays and the things you can control.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone for all your help!</p>

<p>I can’t resend a new essay to Dartmouth because it is a deferral, but I will definitely switch to a new essay for all my other RD apps…</p>

<p>Any of you guys think I can be one of those 8% deferrees who get accpeted each year? I heard that if there are a lot of athletes in my region (West-California) and a lot of competition you can get deferred with good stats</p>

8

<p>When you write the new essay(s) for additional colleges, DO have someone review them. And, I mean someone older and wiser, not another hs kid who has no idea.
The big problem in most kids’ essays is they write tham as if ithey were another hs paper- which they are not, not by a long stretch. So, get a review.</p>

9

<p>You will be competitive RD. Even if you’re not ultimately admitted, I’m confident you’ll have other excellent choices, some of which will likely be Ivy League schools.</p>

10

<p>^ I did get them reviewed, by my cousin who is a graduate student. However, I will revise them further. especially for my other schools.</p>

<p>And Thank you!!! I am sure I will have other good choices, I am just slightly disappointed now that even in the ED pool i was deferred.
Hopefully all goes well… I am just annoyed now that I have to wait until April. </p>

<p>Now to work on my essays :/</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>First off, you have a really great application. But from my experience, what you can do to help your application would be sending another essay (which you can, in fact, do). I sent a package of materials, all of which were above the required items. One was an essay detailing my experience in my school’s marching band. It is really unique and the box to explain an EC would not do it justice. Considering my stats (which are lower than yours), I have a hard time imagining that the extra envelope of goodies didn’t influence their decision on me at all. Based on this, I would say you could write another essay about something that means a lot to you. </p>

<p>Also, you can’t change your Common App essay once it has been submitted to a school. Just thought I’d mention that.</p>

12

<p>last year, when i was a junior and my friend was a senior, well, he got deferred. he was asian, first off, and his stats were better than yours. like, he had a 35 act, 2310 sat, like 800 physics, 800 math 2, 800 chem, like 1 B in high school while taking as many AP classes as possible. great ECs. yeah. </p>

<p>so i wouldn’t call it an abberration; it does happen
sorry though</p>

13

<p>topramen, your stats are fantastic and you’ve certainly accomplished alot in your 4 years of high school. My advice to you is to stay strong and work hard on your regular decision apps. Besides from doing your best during your Senior year and perhaps applying to scholarships, there isn’t too much you can do. Again the qualitative factors of your application are undoubtedly strong (stronger than my own if I might add), and I have no doubt at all that you’ll end up somewhere amazing (hopefully Dartmouth!) Best of luck and hope to meet you in Hanover!</p>

14

<p>You can still edit common app even after you have applied… my counselor showed me how to customize it for every college so thankfully I am working on that now.</p>

<p>I think I will consider an alternate packet of info!!! Thanks for the recommendation.</p>

<p>^ wuchu: Yeah I understand, I wasn’t saying it WAS an aberration, I was just asking a question… and Yes I know it does happen. ): Did your friend end up being accepted??? please let me know how good my hopes may be!!</p>

<p>^hollow: Thanks!!! I am trying to stay strong and hopefully everything works out as it should. :D</p>

15

<p>Your stats look somewhat similar to mine (except I was an asian female from NJ ;P).
Definitely re-look that essay for other RD apps.
And for Dartmouth, any extra cases of demonstrated interest you can show (re-visit the school, etc. etc. etc) plus sending an update letter in January telling them what you’ve been up to your senior year is helpful.
Try not to stress too much; unfortunately, there’s a bit of a crapshoot that goes into this that you just can’t control. Rest assured that as a deferred candidate, you are QUALIFIED for this school and basically every other school you’ll apply for.
Good luck!</p>

<p>-Dartmouth '14</p>

16

<p>I would ask your GC to call D and ask for feedback. Do it right away, before they are dealing with the flood of RD applications.</p>

<p>I’m going to give you the same advice a professional college counselor gave my S when he was deferred from his SCEA school:</p>

<p>1) You have a lot of ECs. Do a resume that enables you to present them more effectively that the little slots on the Common App.
2) Send the resume to the D admission dept with a BRIEF cover letter expressing your interest in the school and mentioning any additional honors that you may have gotten since applying ED.
3) Send the resume with a BRIEF cover letter to all other colleges to which you apply.You can wait to mail this until the RD deadline, or even a little later if you are waiting to hear about an award.
4) Get an addition recommendation from someone who knows you well in a non-academic context: a coach, an employer, a supervisor in a volunteer position, et al. If at all possible, pick someone from the EC/job/service activity that means the most to you. It is perfectly acceptable to have TWO of these as long as they reveal you in a different context and the person really knows you. Send these recs to D and to all other schools to which you apply. (Ignore nay-sayers who haul out the old saw about “the thicker the application, the thinner the candidate.” Up to two WELL CHOSEN additional recs are fine.) </p>

<p>Have someone else look at your essay (or essays). Your cousin may or may not be the best judge of a) good writing, and b) what appeals to a committee. If you PM me, I will look at it. (I’m a former professional writer and editor, and obviously a college admissions junkie :slight_smile: ) Other CC parents will do the same.</p>

<p>You are highly qualified, and you should have good acceptances.</p>

17

<p>As an Asian Dartmouth '13, I think you need to send something to Dartmouth that shows 1) you care and that 2) you stand out from everybody else. Stats matter enough at Dartmouth, but beyond 2200, 3.8 and all that, they look for the unique and special person. To them, the distinction between a 2400 and a 2200 is negligible, but the difference between a 4 year varsity swimmer and a 4 year varsity swimmer who was also a lifeguard and had a really funny story about the time he thought he saw a shark and evacuated the whole beach…you get what I’m saying?</p>

<p>The admissions office is small and pretty tight-knit. Don’t worry about sending in another letter/essay.</p>

18

<p>I agree with Sporkey37. </p>

<p>A current Dartmouth student I know was deferred in the ED round but accepted RD. In February, he sent a short letter to the admissions office about all the fun things he’d been doing (academic, athletic, and other) since he applied in late October. He also said that Dartmouth remained his first choice, and that if admitted he would be delighted and honored to join the incoming class.</p>

19

<p>@definenormal: Dartmouth does not consider demonstrated interest. Extra visits will not affect your application.</p>