<p>I am a international student from south east asia. I would be applying to dartmouth this year.</p>
<p>In my senior year I had given a national level exam which is technically given by almost EVERY high schooler in my country---it was given by 800,000 people and i ranked 125,000 on it, which means basically in the top 15% of the entire body of high schoolers in the nation. </p>
<p>IS this worth reporting to in the admission?? I mean will the admission guys see it as somehting of an achievemnt or should i just leave this information alone and not tell them??</p>
<p>I read somewhere you're from India. India's not in Southeast Asia. Unless you're currently studying in Singapore or something.</p>
<p>To be honest, I don't think ranking 125,000 is that impressive. I know people from my country who ranked in the top 25 out of 450,000 getting rejected from Dartmouth. Maybe you should just give them your grades and let them decide if they're good enough for them?</p>
<p>uhm lol i know where i live, the indian subcontinent is in south-south east asia!</p>
<p>and thanxs for ur advice bro, its disheartening but totally what i expected. but i have a doubt--you know i mean in the high school rank, if somebody is ranked 1 out of 600, thats considered pretty pretty impressive, as i understand it.so when you are considering 800,000 people shoudlnt 125,000 be averga atleast, nit impressive, but like ok kindof?, and mann rejecting people ranked 45 out of 450000 seems almost cruel! :)</p>
<p>I guess adcoms evaluate the person ranking 1/600 with the benefit of doubt in mind. He could be first in the country, or way behind.</p>
<p>I got into Dartmouth via national exams too. I don't know where I stand nationally and I don't think it mattered at all. All they want to look at is your grades. Are you thinking of including your ranking because your grades are less-than-great, or because you have great grades but would like to stand out from the other top students? If it's the former, I don't think the ranking can draw the adcoms' attention away from the transcript. If it's the latter, your grades are a boost enough. It doesn't matter if 125,000 other students have great grades too, or 500,000. I guess Dartmouth trusts the body grading your national exam to make straight-As exclusive enough. The school will compare you to other students from your country by looking at your SAT scores. However, you do have to send in the results of any exams graded by your school. These are the exams in which your rankings matter.</p>
<p>think of it this way, being ranked 125th of a class of 800 is alright, but not impressive. and being comprised of the entire body of high schoolers does not make it seem more impressive either.</p>
<p>actually i understand, finally realise ur right. But still you know, theres sort of a doubt, when school dont rank , colleges ask if ur in the top 10% or 15%, a 15% is still respectable in that. So, when your considering the whole class of high schoolers in the whoel country , the top 15% of the entire class of high schoolers in the country does seem respectable, doesnt it?? i am not implying its tottally impressive and all, just respectable or ok average types??</p>
<p>Being in the top 15% of your high school isn't impressive actually. Students who rank in this range usually have great activities or awards to back them up. Or maybe they go to a private prep school where the competition is way overheated. So in your case, being in the top 15% is not going to stop you from getting into Dartmouth. But neither is it impressive enough to be on your resume. So I'd rather not tell them about it. If you're not feeling comfortable with your grades, back them up with impressive awards, just like what the top 15% high schoolers are doing.</p>
<p>Anyway I've been reading your other threads too and I have to tell you, DON'T SWEAT IT! You can't change your grades, so just do your best in everything else that you can still change. Especially that essay. It's great that you're starting early.</p>
<p>ok i understand, btw what did you read from my earlier posts :)?</p>
<p>also, yah i totally understand top 15% is not impressive, but to add to it i do have lots of awards and stuff, however, i dont have a extremely long list of ECs, its kind of worrying me. I mean i have 2-3 ECs that i have been extrremely dedicated too, i have kind of stuck with them for the last 5-6 yrs.........but you knw a lot of kids who get admission do have like an almost unbeatable list of ECs, like savign the world or anything, just wondering is having an involvement in 100s of activities a prerequisite for admission to colleges like dartmouth??</p>
<p>i mean i have ECs too, but 10-12 of them are normal ECs and i have 2-3 ECs that i have really stuck up with, do yo uthink i will be at a disadvantage as compared to students haveing tens and tens of ECs on their profiles??</p>
<p>In the U.S., India is usually referred to as being in South Asia, whereas Southeast Asia is such countries as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. If you are from India, Americans will be confused if you say you are from Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>The rule of thumb is it's better to have few but excellent ECs than many but average ECs. So if it is like you said - 2-3 ECs that you have been extremely dedicated to - I don't see that as a problem. You have to realize that the admission officers do not use some numerical method to gauge your extracurricular achievements. Don't be worried if you don't have many awards to back up your ECs; as long as you can show that you're incredibly excited about the things you do and that you want to contribute your experiences to the school community, the officers will be happy. </p>
<p>In fact, if I were you, I would not include the 10-12 other ECs (or maybe just add a few of them) and concentrate on the 2-3 ECs that you love. Your application is all about packaging yourself. Find a theme so that when they think of you, they think musician or chessmaster or full-time volunteer. You don't want them to think, "oh that guy who did everything but I've no clue what he really likes and who he really is."</p>
<p>wow! ok guys, if thats what you are tought then so be it! but this thread wasnt about whether india is south east asia or south asia!! thank you.</p>
<p>Hey, we're just trying to keep you from being embarrassed. It may well be that in other parts of the world, India is referred to as being in Southeast Asia. It just isn't in the U.S., and you're talking about applying to U.S. schools.</p>
<p>Hunt that you for ur concern. I couldnt understand the requirement of ur last message dude, i didnt say that ur wrong or didnt show any kind of aggresiveness abt it. anewayz which colleges are you applyin to ??</p>
<p>I thought the Indian region is called South Asia everywhere in the world. And even if it isn't, wouldn't Pakistan and India be more towards the Southwest side than the Southeast side of Asia?</p>