Official Dartmouth '12 Early Decision Thread

<p>yeah, i didnt think that was a major problem or anything but i dont know i guess i'm just looking for a reason... this really does suck though. i visited a lot of schools but compared to dartmouth none of them seem so great</p>

<p>could a bad counselor rec really hurt that much? i mean it wasnt bad as in negative but it was very weak and i know it didnt give me an edge or anything</p>

<p>Consolation for RDers: I had a weird upward then downward then upward trend in high school. I actually failed a couple of classes and had quite a few Cs in 8th and 9th grades (in my school system 7th and 8th grades are part of high school so I had to submit grades from them). After that I skipped a couple of grades, but still had a 3.75 GPA (out of 4, unweighted) in our equivalent of 12th grade - and my recs were none too good (my GC said my course load was not the toughest possible, one teacher said my grades were only "good", and the other's rec was one sentence along the lines of "Among the brightest in my 30 years of teaching"). And I was an international asking for aid at a need-aware school.</p>

<p>In short: don't despair! Everyone will find a good fit for them. If you are a good fit for the school, show it in your essays and passions, and show how you can contribute, and how you as an individual align with the college and its community. This applies regardless of whether you are a deferred/rejected ED applicant applying to another school, or an RD applicant applying to Dartmouth. As George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."</p>

<p>amybeth - Re: deferral - Some say when you are deferred - it is an oppty to send in supplemental info - like latest grades, test scores, athletic skills, projects completed etc as a way of demonstrating continued interest. Check the stats and see what the rate of acceptance is at Dartmouth for deferral. It may still be very worthwhile to apply regular decision. But having been thru this w/ my own s's - I'd say also take a second look at other schools as well - like Northwestern, Berkley, U-Virginia, Cornell, Carleton, U Washington at St. Louis, Brown, etc - really looking at what your child wants to major in. W/ such great stats - other schools will be throwing money your way - which will be useful when it comes time to make the final decision.</p>

<ol>
<li>ajayc (R)</li>
<li>5757 (D)</li>
<li>sneamia (A)</li>
<li>BalletGirl (A)</li>
<li>copefan5 (D)</li>
<li>pamplemoose (D)</li>
<li>asfe (A)</li>
<li>Diablo47</li>
<li>collegebound2008</li>
<li>KLLeader (D)</li>
<li>mwgdc (daughter)</li>
<li>whatisthreeve1</li>
<li>Imfrommaine4</li>
<li>thesparetire</li>
<li>snowman1206</li>
<li>von_herrs</li>
<li>daloisio27 (A)</li>
<li>shackleton55 (A)</li>
<li>8879154</li>
<li>01jttma (D)</li>
<li>arrowsmith24 (A)</li>
<li>yihan.zhu</li>
<li>hellfire</li>
<li>capsv</li>
<li>BigBoy99 (A)</li>
<li>JayGarrick</li>
<li>Coolman123</li>
<li>gnc2773 (A)</li>
<li>beed311</li>
<li>rainmama's son (R)</li>
<li>ctheller</li>
<li>andsoitgoes</li>
<li>wishiwereinparis</li>
<li>CAmomof2Girls's Daughter</li>
<li>Redondo Dave (son) (A)</li>
<li>Rob33</li>
<li>CRProspect (D)</li>
<li>lechy</li>
<li>frenchfootballer (R)</li>
<li>skichica (D)</li>
<li>kat1228 (D)</li>
<li>erc37</li>
<li>monicaPR (A)</li>
<li>destined2bme (A)</li>
<li>JBRC2828</li>
<li>sameer785</li>
<li>ainsivalavie</li>
<li>rearset44</li>
<li>MEAKmom (daughter)</li>
<li>chathamxc</li>
<li>princeofhearth</li>
<li>berksquat (daughter) (D)</li>
<li>Fenixfyre</li>
<li>berkley5</li>
<li>fernwoodchick (D)</li>
<li>serf- (A)</li>
<li>amybeth (daughter) (D)</li>
<li>jmb271 (D)</li>
<li>hopeful? (A)</li>
<li>8879154 (A)</li>
</ol>

<p>Welcome to jmb271, hopeful?, 8879154!!!</p>

<p>Accepted: 14
Deferred: 12
Rejected: 3
MIA: 31</p>

<p>Decision: ACCEPTED!!!!! </p>

<p>Stats:
SAT/ACT: 2300: 800M 760W 740V
SAT IIs: GPA (w/uw): 96.93 (u/w)
Rank/Percentile (# out of #) or %: 2/320
Total AP's/IB's taken (score):World history 4, US 5, Stat 5, English Lang and Comp 5; this year - physics, bc calc, spanish, english lit, euro</p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: Common app essay allowed reader to really see into my life and how i think, smaller essay was mediocre
Teacher Recs: First was amazing and i knew him well, second was solid but more academic-based
Counselor Rec: Very good
Interview: Nothing special
Major EC's: Varsity hockey captian, very involved/accomplished pianist and saxophonist, politics (founder young dems, model congress), student gov, student paper
Work experience:tutor, law firm intern
Hook (if any): well-rounded?<br>
Notable weaknesses (if any): from Westchester and white, spelling and grammar (not really related, but true)</p>

<p>State or Country: New york
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200k up
Financial aid?: no
Intended Major: Unsure
Other schools in mind: Princeton, yale, harvard, penn, colgate, cornell, GWU, georgetown sfs</p>

<p>General Comments: I'm flying... absolute bliss - congrats '12s</p>

<p>Decision: ACCEPTED lolz</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT/ACT: 2230 (630 CR/800M/800W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 770 Chem, 750 Bio M, 740 Math 2
[<em>] GPA (w/uw): 3.75 UW, 4.3 W (ish?)
[</em>] Rank/Percentile (# out of #) or %:School doesn't rank but I think between 30th and 40th out of 630
[<em>] Total AP's/IB's taken (score): Bio 5, Spanish Lang 4, Chem 5, English Lang 4
[</em>] Course load: pretty much the hardest
[<em>] Other stats: National Merit Commended Scholar, Chemistry competition (ACS) state finalist, CSF, Principal's honor roll, class at UCLA (A)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Britney Spears as an issue of local concern... enough said.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Amazing, according to them
[</em>] Counselor Rec: We're pretty tight
[<em>] Peer Rec: From someone I met last year, showed how close we became in less than a year
[</em>] Interview: Pretty good, but not AMAZING.
[<em>] Major EC's: Drumline (co-captain, HUGE HUGE HUGE time commitment), founding member of winter line, marching band/football band, symphonic band, Disneyland orchestra, stock market investments, counselor at a retreat for gifted and talented middle school students in the district, volunteer work fundraising for a breast cancer research institute.
[</em>] Work experience: Sales rep/ice cream preparer at Baskin Robbins summer before 10th, during 10th, and summer before 11th, avg 15 hrs/wk; Teacher's aide 1st semester 10th, 5 hrs/wk; Internship at a management firm, summer before 12th, 12 hrs/wk; Current AP Chemistry tutor, 2 hrs/wk.
[<em>] Hook (if any): I go to the most famous high school in America (not saying which), someone else called the admissions office on my behalf (although I don't think it did much... Dartmouth doesn't seem like the school that'd consider that that much).
[</em>] Notable weaknesses (if any): Low grade in PE one semester, CR score, kind of low GPA compared to some peers, wrote essays a little later than I'd like but they still turned out fine.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: CA
[</em>] School Type: Public, large (my class is probably the largest ever)
[<em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[</em>] Gender:Male
[<em>] Income Bracket:High
[</em>] Financial aid?:No
[<em>] Intended Major:Econ, possibly pre-med concentration on top.
[</em>] Other schools in mind: now none, but Pomona, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Georgetown, WUStL, CMC, Berkeley, USC...
[/ul]Other Factors:
I guess my essays show how awesome I am. They probably also say something about how I'm not the typical go-getter, that I'm actually going to DO something with my education.
General Comments:
um... HOW?!</p>

<p>*Decision: Deferred *</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT/ACT: 2120 (680 CR, 750M, 690W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 760 Phys, 760 Chem, 730 Math2
[<em>] GPA (w/uw):4.0 I guess, my school doesnt calculate a GPA, but straight As in the finals would amount to the stated GPA
[</em>] Rank/Percentile (# out of #) or %: 1 / 78
[<em>] Total AP's/IB's taken (score): A levels( Phys, Chem, Bio, Maths, GP), straight As
[</em>] Course load: Tough
[<em>] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Not my best piece of work
[<em>] Teacher Recs: One of them was supposedly good, the other, it seems, made things difficult
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Fine enough
[<em>] Interview: Sucked
[</em>] Major EC's: Stellar ECs, everything from leadership positions at school and outside to website design to being an ace swimmer
[<em>] Work experience: Volunteer at an NGO, teacher at a a private college of repute, past experience shows that my high school's whose graduates with similar SATs of lower have regulary been accepted into ivies,higher the rank, better is the college you get
[</em>] Hook (if any): International, from a country ranking 144th on the HDI, and a school of excellent repute among US colleges
[<em>] Notable weaknesses (if any): one goddamn email where I just lost control with an admission officer, she replied politely though
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul] Kathmandu, Nepal
[</em>] State or Country: Nepal
[<em>] School Type: Semi-public ( Trust school)
[</em>] Ethnicity: South Asian
[<em>] Gender:Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: <10000
[<em>] Financial aid?: income says everything
[</em>] Intended Major: Biomed
[li] Other schools in mind: Seems like I should set my sights a bit low[/li][/ul]Other Factors:</p>

<p>General Comments: Someone who used to study in the same school and had failed physics dismally has been accepted. Those nepotist adcoms, I will get at them someday haha.</p>

<p>I'm kind of suprised that AjayC got rejected.</p>

<p>He was a less-than-stellar applicant from a country with probably dozens if not hundreds of stellar applicants to Dartmouth, in an overall more competitive than usual pool of applicants. As an international student asking for financial aid, he was in a crapshoot with even lower odds than the usual participant. I suspect his poor SATs may have sealed the deal.</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred...</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT/ACT:M 780, R 730, W 700. ACT 34
[</em>] SAT IIs:Math II 780, Chem 770
[<em>] GPA (w/uw):4.13
[</em>] Rank/Percentile (# out of #) or %:does not rank
[<em>] Total AP's/IB's taken (score):2 Taken, English Language 5; AP US 3. 7 to be taken this year.
[</em>] Course load:Hardest possible.
[<em>] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays:I thought they were really good... I felt great about them.
[<em>] Teacher Recs:Hopefully good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec:Should've been great
[<em>] Interview:None
[</em>] Major EC's:dance 7 days a week, Field Hockey in the fall, Track and Field in the Spring. Photography/Art.
[<em>] Work experience:2 Part-Time Summer Jobs
[</em>] Hook (if any):Well-rounded. I have several activities that I've committed a TON of time to. I also hoped to walk-on the Field Hockey team.
[<em>] Notable weaknesses (if any):Middle Class White from the South... nothing special enough.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country:TN
[<em>] School Type:Small very competitive private
[</em>] Ethnicity:White (a curse apparently)
[<em>] Gender:Female
[</em>] Income Bracket:Upper Middle Class
[<em>] Financial aid?:Probably not
[</em>] Intended Major:Economics/Government (Political Science)
[li] Other schools in mind:Cornell, UNC, MIT, UPenn, UVA, Columbia, Vanderbilt[/li][/ul]Other Factors:</p>

<p>General Comments:I wish I were a minority? Maybe I'll take a step back and look at my application and see what else I'm forgetting. Also, my grades have improved this semester significantly (as in my first A in English since freshman year) so maybe that will help a lot.</p>

<p>I don't know why i didn't get in!!! I know it's 'cause I am white and from connecticut.</p>

<p>I really hate being deferred... I've literally been counting down the days until I knew since I submitted my application in early October. Now it looks like I get to count down the days until April. Did anybody else who got deferred like the part in the letter where it mentioned how few people who are deferred actually get accepted? Is that supposed to comfort me? thanks... I officially hate college admissions.</p>

<p>At least you're not Asian.</p>

<p>I feel ya Kat... white and from the south...</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT/ACT: 2400
SAT IIs: Biology M 800, Math II 800, Chinese 800, Spanish 800
GPA (w/uw): 4.5/5.0 (out of 4.5)
Rank/Percentile (# out of #) or %: Valedictorian
Total AP's/IB's taken (score): Biology 5, English 5, Chinese 5, Spanish 5, Calculus BC 5
Course load: AP Stats, AP Physics, AP French, AP Chemistry, AP English, AP Economics, Arabic II
Other stats:
Subjective:
Essays: i thought they were pretty good
Teacher Recs: amazing
Counselor Rec: great, my counselor and I are close because she is the advisor for a club
Interview: excellent
Major EC's: president of: Model UN, FBLA, Key Club. Varsity: Tennis, Indoor Track, Soccer
Work experience: I Volunteer at homeless shelters in new york city every weekend
Hook (if any): none
Notable weaknesses (if any): none I can think of
Location/Person:
State or Country: CT
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $500,000+ / yr
Financial aid?: none
Intended Major: Mathematics, Chinese
Other schools in mind: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford</p>

<p>people like you make me hate the world. how do you get perfect scores in everything? that's just ridiculous. and Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic... what else?</p>

<p>Wow, kovax, I'm impressed! Congrats!!!</p>

<p>that wasn't supposed to sound mean by the way lol. so any help on what to do about being deferred? I could use all the help I can get. Oh I forgot to mention National Merit Semifinalist on my stats.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Did anybody else who got deferred like the part in the letter where it mentioned how few people who are deferred actually get accepted? Is that supposed to comfort me? thanks... I officially hate college admissions.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I feel your pain. This sucks. I really can not wait until April to find out. I'm going to die.</p>