Looking for an Honest Man/Woman to CHANCE ME!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>I always considered Dartmouth a bit out of reach for me, but I recently got a lot of emails from them and I am thinking of applying. Would I be a competitive applicant? I am applying RD. Also BONUS QUESTION: should I retake my SATs to score higher? And in what range? </p>

<p>Scores and Grades:
-SAT: 2220 CR(780) W(730) M(710)
-SAT Subject: US History 790
-GPA: 3.6 Unweighted 3.8 Weighted
-Rank: School doesn't rank because we have 1000 graduating seniors, my grades improved by a boatload my Junior year so I am maybe top 15 or 20.
6 AP Courses
AP Gov (senior year), AP Lit (senior year), AP US History, AP Chemistry, AP World History, AP Human Geography
5s in all of them except AP Chem. I was sick the day of the test, but my school made me take it so I got a pitiful grade</p>

<p>Leadership:
Lead Actress in my school's theater production all 4 years
Director in the school's theater production my senior year
Model UN Head Delegate Senior Year and Delegate for 3 years </p>

<p>Sports:
Member of Junior Alpine Ski Team, ranked #3 on the team of 35. We were number one in NY state in 2010-11 season. Won many skiing awards, local and statewide. </p>

<p>Volunteering:
300+ hours of community service at a theater group that uses the arts to spread awareness about domestic violence. I wrote/directed/acted in several shows and committed 6 hours a week for a year. </p>

<p>Work Experience:
2 summer jobs, nothing special </p>

<p>All help is appreciated, even if the answer is no, I want to hear it so I can move on :)</p>

2

<p>I think you have a decent chance … you can really elaborate on the theater in your essays and you seem to be very passionate about it. I think that the GPA can bring your app down a teeny bit but you should retake the SAT only if you think you can significantly improve. If I were you, I would retake just for the peace of mind.</p>

3

<p>Thank you :slight_smile: I like my score, but I don’t know if a higher score is expected from Dartmouth applicants.</p>

4

<p>If you like your score, don’t retake!!! There are much better things to do with your time…</p>

5

<p>There seems to be a disconnect between the scores that you posted now and what you posted in July. No one can give you an honest assessment if you are less than truthful. If you went to the HS in your link, they don’t have a ski team. If on the off chance that you are a skier, have you sent your times in to a coach? Are you recruitment eligible?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/1368944-looking-honest-man-woman-chance-me.html#post14658847[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/1368944-looking-honest-man-woman-chance-me.html#post14658847&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Have you checked Naviance at your school (as I am certain that there are many students who are applying to selective schools). It will give you a better idea as to where you stand vs. random strangers.</p>

6

<p>Unless you are at one of the elite NY high schools (like Bronx Science), I’m having trouble squaring a 3.6 gpa with top 15-20 student. Based on my limited experience, a 3.6 is typically second decile, which for any Ivy would be a real stretch, even with a hook.</p>

7

<p>BTHS is a specialized high school but a 3.6 is definitely not in the top 15-20 there</p>

8

<p>@sybbie </p>

<p>Yup, some stuff is different because I have practiced, taken SAT practice tests all summer and have gotten between a 2200 and 2280 on each of them. I was wondering if I should shoot for higher. I posted up the lower score just in case. </p>

<p>From what I gather, I am in the top 15-20% (understand that that means there are about 240 students with higher GPAs than I have which seems about right.) The Naviance data is not correct because it gives me the “average” information for the past 10 years. Obviously things have changed significantly in the past 10 years and the data is much lower than it should be, which is why I prefer a more modern outlook. </p>

<p>My school doesn’t have a ski team, my mountain does for youth 13-18. I am not planning to be a recruited athlete since I am not on a varsity team. It’s something I do for fun and my college counselor told me to put it down because it does show where I spend a lot of my winter time. </p>

<p>Most of the changes you have seen from my earlier posts are because I have received comments asking about class rank/percentile/ECs and etc. and I couldn’t edit my original post to add more info in. This is just me adding in more info. I would prefer if you didn’t jump to the conclusion that I was a liar, but I understand that this is the internet and people lie all the time. I truly want an honest opinion :slight_smile: If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. Thank you for responding.</p>

9

<p>@blue </p>

<p>I go to a specialized high school and a 3.6 GPA means there are about 200+ people with scores higher than mine. From what I know, that seems about right. I could be wrong, but generally people ask for a percentile rank (which I don’t know) on CC so I guesstimated mine. Yea I know it’s a stretch, but I can dream :D</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>THis is the main reason that I hate chance threads and really try not to do them. It no one can give you an accurate picture dealing in hypotheticals, because practice test conditions are not the same as the actual test conditions. Scoring something on a practice test does not mean anything because you can do better or worse on the actual test.</p>

<p>While Naviance can trend a lot of information, you can look at how students have performed within the last 2 to 3 years, to give yourself a more accurate trend. As large as you think the world is, it is actually very small. </p>

<p>Do you plan on continuing your major in college?</p>

<p>When did Tech stop ranking? Every NYC public HS can pull a class ranking. Your GC can pull your ranking from STARS, it will tell you exactly where you stand in relation to your peers</p>

<p>I happen to know your school very well because I graduated from your high school (and I am a still active alum), I know a lot of students who graduated from Tech (including my some of my younger family members), my sister taught at your school, and I went to grad school with a couple of members of your staff.</p>

<p>Your best bet would be to deal with the unweighted gpa, because there is already an expectation that you are taking the most rigorous classes offered and are doing well. Your EC’s are a little light. Since you spend so much time skiing, and you are a competitive skier, I don’t understand why you haven’t reached out to the coach. </p>

<p>Your school does some very comprehensive advising. your best bet would be to start here</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bths.edu/college_office_forms/College_Resourse_Data/PRIVATE_OoS_COLLEGES/Selectivity_of_Colleges_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bths.edu/college_office_forms/College_Resourse_Data/PRIVATE_OoS_COLLEGES/Selectivity_of_Colleges_2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would also recommend looking at the 2011 score profile as it gives a breakdown for last year as to the number of students applying to each school and the number of students accepted. I was just able to see the 2010 and 2011 data.</p>

<p>I think that the biggest challenge you will face is the fact that so many of your classmates applied RD last year (and most of you knocked each other about the box). Run the numbers through the net price calculator or Dartmouth’s financial aid calculator. Talk with your parents to see if the package is doable. You should probably consider asking if they can do a pre-read of your financial aid (they won’t guarantee that you will get the package, but it will give you an idea as to where you stand). If the money is doable to your parents and you really want Dartmouth, toss an application in ED.</p>

11

<p>SAT- Very true, which is another reason why I put the lowest score I got on all the practice tests.</p>

<p>The trend on Naviance has been generally the same for the past 3 years. 2-3 people got into Dartmouth while around 70 applied. It doesn’t give me their SAT scores or GPAs though, just an average GPA and SAT score of all the accepted people for a decade which is too low. </p>

<p>Class rank- I honestly have NO IDEA why Tech doesn’t make my class rank public. Trust me, a lot of people are confused and frustrated about this. Did it rank when you went? Maybe its because there are so many people now :confused: <em>sigh</em> its been giving us a lot of trouble on our apps this summer. I am honestly impressed with all that Tech pride. All seniors can think about is getting out of Tech, but I have a feeling I will miss it. </p>

<p>It makes me very happy to know a Techie went to Dartmouth. On Naviance, they show only a few that have actually attended recently (even those who got in). It was making me a little apprehensive about applying. </p>

<p>I didn’t send it because I never planned on being a recruited athlete. My parents, products of watching news stories about college athletes, didn’t want me to do it either because they feared joining a college team would interfere with my education. My skiing has been separate from my school activities and has been for fun. Only when I had an appointment with my college counselor in May, did she suggest playing it up on my app.</p>

<p>You seem really knowledgeable about this so can I ask a question I have been trying to get a straight answer to? What type of GPA conversion does Dartmouth use? The literal one (number out of 100/100 = x/4.0) gives me a different number than the one on Collegeboard. If it helps my unweighted is a 92 and my weighted is a 97. That is a 3.6 and a 3.8 on the literal but a 3.7/4.0 on the Collegeboard scale.</p>

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<p>this techie went elsewhere, her daughter (who turned down Stuyvesant to go elsewhere) attended Dartmouth (there were quite a few Technites in her class). Yes, Tech ranked when I went there. There were more people at Tech when I attended than there are attending Tech now.</p>

<p>At the information that I looked at 87 students applied to Dartmouth last year, up from the 16 students who applied from the class of 2011. The tables that I looked at has the SAT scores (based on 1600/2400, GPA, decision round and result). I can send you the links via PM</p>

<p>Since the DOE, uses a scale of 100, Dartmouth will use that also so don’t get crazy about converting a 100 scale to a 4.0 scale. I am very sure that Tech has a very comprehensive school profile, which also lists their grading policy.</p>

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<p>Yes please, if you can send me the link that would be amazing :)</p>

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<p>Dartmouth’s definitely on the hunt for artsy kids given that it’s the “Year of the Arts” on campus, so make sure to center your essay around something mildly art related, although make it original at the same time. Your GPA seems a bit low, but honestly, if you make yourself really stand out in the applicant pool with your ECs, which I really think you can do, only good things can happen. Lastly, make sure that you get a really, really strong peer rec. Find someone who will take the task seriously and spend a lot of time on portraying who you are to the Admission Office. If you do that and everything else, you should be in good shape, so best of luck.</p>