Hello, I am going to be a Senior and I am wondering if being a farm boy from rural North Dakota would appeal to schools?
My Class Rank is #1
My unweighted GPA is 4.0
I am captain in varsity football
Elected State Class B rep in National Honor Society
Governor of Boys State
Headed to Boys Nation
Member of JETS team who was National Champion in 2003, State champion in 2004 and 4th nationally in 2005
Student Council member
Dollars for Scholars board member for 4 years.
Worked on the family farm since I have hit the double digits.
My test scores are not too stellar, I did not give my all on them at the time due to the fact that I was then set on going to our state school.
I got a 26 on my ACT, and did really bad in my english portion, the rest of the scores were 27-30
If I study, get my ACT scores up and take a SAT, could i get into colleges like Dartmouth, Northwestern, Carleton, or others where being from North Dakota would help?
Also I plan on majoring in Political Science and possibly Economics if that helps.
Thank you for your input and for everything you have done on this site.
<p>Sorry this is my first time on this board, I probably should have put this in "What are my Chances" but I guess the main factor is if being from North Dakota helps in admissions.</p>
<p>Yes it will help a lot. Colleges look for geographic diversity and like to say how many states are represented in their freshman class. Also, adcoms take into account that students at rural schools do not have the same opportunity to take AP classes. Being #1 in your class is also a big deal.</p>
<p>Definitely get your test scores up. But choose one (ACT or SAT) to focus on. Also check with these colleges to see if you need to take any SATIIS.</p>
<p>at gw orientation one of the deans held a presentation urging students from neighboring states to move to north dakota because it will be the only state not represented in the class of 2009. despite giving out copies of fargo (the movie), sunflower seeds (apparently a huge export of ND) and other fun north dakota items, no one was willing to move there. so yea, i think ur state may help you out.</p>
<p>Yes, it does. Life in the midwest and life in places like FL, CA, MA, etc is totally different... Plus, people in the mid-west don't exactly have a lot of academic opps... And, the ivy league schools have a very hard time getting good qualified students from states like WY, ND, SD, MT, etc. Some colleges, like GW, actually try to recruit. Generally, in a pool of 20,000, less than 5, in some cases, from the following states, WY, ND, SD, MT, even apply. And therefore, because of its uniqueness, it's a hook... However, if you're from a RURAL area of SD, for example, you'll be given a stronger hook than if you're from Sioux Falls, a small city of 120,000 where there are plenty of opps and Ap classes for kids to take.</p>
<p>Are you guys serious? I don't think being from ND is going to put someone with a 26 ACT in an ivy league school or Northwestern. He is ranked #1, but you have to remember that there are hundreds and thousands of valedictorians all over these "underprivileged" states. I don't see people moving to potato farms in Idaho to get into Harvard, but I see tons of people putting money into private schools so their children get good education. I think it's very rare for someone's geographical status makes a difference, especially if your score are well below average.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with the latest post. In many ways it is similar to music school admission in which you can get admitted to the music school because of your talent but declined by the university because of your grades. Just being from North Dakota isn't enough.</p>
<p>BTW, whoever wrote about the Midwest being a cultural wasteland lacking opportunity needs to step out of their myopic east coast/west coast life. We do have trains!</p>
<p>"f I study, get my ACT scores up and take a SAT, could i get into colleges like Dartmouth, Northwestern, Carleton, or others where being from North Dakota would help?"</p>
<p>Yes. In addition, your being governor of Boy's state indicates you're one of the top students in your state when it comes to leadership. Your other leadership activities support your leadership talent. Your living and working on a farm also is a big plus. The top colleges want diversity of all kinds including economic background and states. </p>
<p>Study for the SAT and ACT, using the tips you can find here, in books and on the Net. Because it's doubtful that your GC has much experience helping students get to top colleges, also invest in some books that have information specifically about how to best apply to top colleges. Particularly when it comes to things such as how to best list your activities and how to write essays that stand out, such books are very useful.</p>
<p>Do a search here on college confidential to find a post that some guy from South Dakota posted within the past 4 weeks about wanting to go to Harvard and other colleges. I think it was on the "chances" board. He got lots of good advice that also would be useful to you.</p>
<p>I think that with study, you'll probably be able to raise your scores, but even if they don't go up, still apply to some top colleges. Also consider some of the SAT-optional colleges like Bowdoin. You can find a list of SAT optional places on the Fair Test web page.</p>
<p>U of Wisconsin might work as a match and U Minn. may work as a safety. I think that at least one of these even has merit aid for students from rural backgrounds.</p>
<p>Thank You for the input, I was looking at my horrible ACT transcript from last year and I feel I can do significantly better. I have been looking at ACT and also a SAT prep book for the last few months.
I accually feel I would do significantly better on the SAT than the ACT so I would like to give that a try. What would I need to get on the SAT inorder to even be considered to those schools? </p>
<p>Also being Governor of Boys State got me to talk to our states governor quite a few times recently and he too was a ND Boys State Governor and went to my dream school, Dartmouth. Should I talk to him and ask for a reccamendation?</p>
<p>"Should I talk to him and ask for a reccamendation?"</p>
<p>Sorry, but thats a bad ides. He will hardly write a good rec for you because he hardly know you (you talk with quite a few times). Also, adcoms take recommendations letters lightly from celebrities and politicians. Remember, they want the quality of the letter, not the status of the writer.</p>
<p>Thank You Enjoi, after thinking about it your point is legit. I just thought that maybe because he did attend the college it would have more of a factor perhaps. I will just stick to my teachers that have known for a while. </p>
<p>This is a seperate issue, but is my being Boys State governor and attending Boys Nation next week a plus to show leadership? And is there anyway to make this a big point to adcoms?</p>
<p>Again I really thank you for all of the help, Its nice to see that people care.</p>
<p>"Boys State governor and attending Boys Nation next week a plus to show leadership?"</p>
<p>Yes it is a major accomplishment. I myself ran for lieutenant governor at boys state in florida and lost (oh the pain!). So yeah it is a major achievement and Boys Nation is too. Just list all the work and campaigning you had to do to be elected. Was Boys State in ND very competitive? Just wondering...</p>
<p>The colleges really do want to be able to say that they have students from all 50 states, and ND is really remote. In "Admissions Confidential" by Rachael Toors, she would have called the OP a "rural val" in the sense of that being a good thing. </p>
<p>Also, remember that ND schools are not the same as the top prep schools in New England. They don't have nearly the AP courses, and the competition from birth to get a top SAT score isn't there. Lower scores are acceptable from rural areas. Albeit not as low as what the OP is talking about, but he/she recognizes that and is also talking about a lot of practice and a retake. </p>
<p>The result of applying to HYPSM is pretty much unpredictable except for a handfull of people such as URM with very high scores, but being a valedictorian from ND will help you at any schools you apply to, except maybe at the University of North Dakota.</p>
<p>For Harvard, on the old SAT, the minimum for consideration was, according to adcoms, a 1200. That is what the adcoms feel is the minimum score that indicates that a student can be a successful student at Harvard.</p>