<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I applied regular decision to Dartmouth, decided afterwards that it was the perfect school for me, and just got rejected.</p>
<p>My info:
4.2 GPA, strong APs, 1570 SAT, very good SAT IIs
Extracurriculars: just sports, but captain of soccer and baseball teams.
Lots of school/community awards</p>
<p>In my opinion my essay wasnt spectacular but it was definitely good enough. Teacher recs definitely good.
I don't think my interview went all that well, but it was by no means bad.</p>
<p>How did I not get in?
Is anyone else in the same situation?
Is there anything I can do about it?</p>
<p>I've been pretty distressed the past few days now...any responses are appreciated</p>
<p>I have no idea why they accept/reject/waitlist the people that they do. I got rejected from Yale after being deferred EA, and my friend who has worse stats and ECs than I do not only was accepted, but she got a likely as well. From the outside, admissions seems completely random. But you are a really good student and maybe you can look into appeals or transfer?</p>
<p>its good to know that theres people in the same boat...</p>
<p>im not sure about appeals, but I know that transfer is very selective.</p>
<p>I was thinking of maybe taking a year off, applying early decision next year.</p>
<p>that could work too. i've got a friend who is doing that with Columbia. If you're absolutely sure Dartmouth is the perfect school for you, then that is an option you should definitely consider. but if you can be happy at some other school, i would look at the transfer option.</p>
<p>Also, ask if they have spring admits...a number of students leave in the fall, for a variety of reasons, see what Dartmouth has. Do you have a school to go to in the fall?</p>
<p>"I was thinking of maybe taking a year off, applying early decision next year."</p>
<p>Tommers, I just called up some people in the admission office and asked about that since I am a year younger than most of my high school class anyway. They said, they would strongly discourage it since there is absolutely no guarantee that you would be accepted under the early decision plan next year and thus really wouldn't want to hold you back a year if you don't get accepted. They said the crudentials don't show significant increase and thus the chance of changing their mind is pretty slim. They said that if you're absolutely sure that Dartmouth is the perfect match for you, attend one of your backups and apply as a transfer student, regardless of the competitiveness because that is a better option than staying out of school for a year just to re-apply to your dream school. I took their advice and I'll be attending Boston College (Honors Program most likely) and decide how much I like the school and whether I will transfer. Probably isn't the answer you were looking for, but hoped it helped.</p>
<p>Dartmouth does not have spring admits. Your best bet would be to apply again as a transfer student</p>
<p>Tommers, I feel for you. A close friend was similar and dinged for no reason I can figure. There is no making sense of this process; don't take it personally, you can't. (Of course, once I realized that, it meant I couln't take GOOD news yo be a big success or compliment, either.) I'm sorry for you, cuz you are obviously in the game. Write a letter, it can't hurt.</p>
<p>Advice: if you are asian, change your name to "Bob White" or name of a minority person, don't check off the racial box</p>
<p>I am kidding, the only thing you can do is to write a better essay and prepare a better app for transfer, i got rejected also :(</p>
<p>Hey man,</p>
<p>Serously think about transferring. I did, Dartmouth is such an easy community to assimilate into. One of my best friends had similar stats to you and went to Bowdoin his first year because he didnt apply to many other places. He got into a ton of schools as a transfer and chose Dartmouth. It sucks, but work hard first semester, do a cool EC like starting a community service day or something, and I think you have a great shot.</p>
<p>Tommers:</p>
<p>Sorry you didn't get in. I'm a Dartmouth Alum ('76) and I can tell you that you will survive. Believe me, life is much more than where you go to college. None of my kids wanted to go to Dartmouth -my oldest loves being at McGill, my son just got into UCLA. </p>
<p>Take the year off - but don't do it to get into college. Do it to find something really interesting to do, or to visit some interesting part of the world - and in either case, do it to help someone else. A year of service - in any way, shape or form - will make this Dartmouth rejection seem awfully small and make you a big person.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.</p>
<p>I asked an admissions rep if it was preferential to take a year off (staying active, of course) over applying for a transfer. Apparently it doesn't matter either way, but she noted that if I didn't get in the first time, the chances of a change were slim.<br>
I couldn't help but disagree. It seems to me like so much of what they base their decision on is subjective enough that a strong interview or essay could have a lot of impact.
Anyways, I'm choosing to attend Penn next fall, and if its not perfect, I can always consider transferring.
Thanks for helping me out, guys.</p>