Sexy Dartmouth Chance

Colleges & Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Bad News: I am number 46 in a class of 209.</p>

<p>Good News: My School is ranked 35 in the nation and is competitive magnet school, and I took all AP's pretty much all the time</p>

<p>Best News: </p>

<p>TESTS:
PSAT: 216 (10/2009)
SAT: CR: 800 M: 740 W 800 CR + M + W: 2340 CR + M: 1540 taken: (03/15/10)
SAT II: Literature: 750 Math 2: 750 US History: 780 taken: (05/5/10)
AP: Physics: 4 US History: 5 Macroeconomics: Art History: 5 English Language and<br>
Composition: 5 English Language and Literature: 4 Latin Literature Vergil: 4 taken (05/2010)</p>

<p>LATIN CLUB:
Positions Held:
Elected Scriptor (2009-10)
Elected President (2010-11)</p>

<p>National Latin Exam:
Summa Cum Laude (2007); Summa Cum Laude (2008); Summa Cum Laude and Perfect Score (2009); Summa Cum Laude (2010) Maureen O'Donnell Oxford Classical Dictionary Award for Four Years of Summa Cum Laude Scores (2010)</p>

<p>Texas Junior Classical League Regional Convention Awards:
Certamen 1st Place (2008); Certamen 2nd Place (2009); Certamen 3rd Place (2010) Decathlon 1st Place (2008) Pentathlon Summa Cum Laude and 1st Place (2008); Pentathlon Summa Cum Laude (2009); Pentathlon Summa Cum Laude (2010) Mythology 2nd Place (2008); Greek History 1st Place and High Score (2009); Mythology 2nd Place (2009); Greek History 1st Place and High Score (2010); Greek Life and Literature 1st Place (2010);</p>

<p>Texas Junior Classical League State Convention Awards:<br>
Latin Club of the Year (2008) Latin Club of the Year (2009); Latin Club of the Year (2010); Decathlon 2nd Place (2008); Mythology 2nd Place (2008); Pentathlon Summa Cum Laude and 12th Place (2009); Greek History 1st Place (2009); Mythology 3rd Place (2009); Greek History 4th Place (2010); Greek Life and Literature 3rd Place (2010); Pentathlon Summa Cum Laude and 4th Place (2010) Poetry Contest 5th Place</p>

<p>QUIZ BOWL:
Positions Held:
Junior Varsity Captain (2007-08)
Varsity B Team Captain (2008-10)
Varsity A Team Member (2009)
Varsity A Team Member (2010-11)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
NAQT Nationals 76th Place (2008)
NAQT Nationals 11th Place (2009)
NAQT Nationals 11th Place (2010)
Selectee for the HSAPQ Texas All-Star Team (2010) as a specialist in Myth, Religion, Philosophy, Art and Literature
HSAPQ National All-Star Tournament 5th Place
Hunter College National ‘Prison Bowl’ Tournament in New York 1st Individual Scorer</p>

<p>BOY SCOUTS:
Positions Held:
Den Chief (2006-07)
Assistant Patrol Leader (2006)
Patrol Leader (2006)
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (2007)
Senior Patrol Leader (2008)
Chaplain (2009-10)</p>

<p>Awards and Honors:
Arrow of Light (2007)
Eagle Scout (2010)</p>

<p>High Adventure Treks:
Philmont (2008)
Spanish Peaks (2007)</p>

<p>TEXAS YOUTH AND GOVERNMENT MOCK TRIAL TEAM:
District
2nd Place (November 2009)
State<br>
20th Place (January 2010)</p>

<p>THEATRE CLUB:
Member, Founder and President (2010-2011)</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE:
Wilderness Survival Teacher -- Lost Pines Scout Reservation Boy Scout Camp (Summer 2009)
Dining Hall Steward -- Lost Pines Scout Reservation Boy Scout Camp (Winter 2009-2010)
Clinical Internship -- Sumpter and Gonzalez L.L.P. Attorneys At Law (Summer 2010)
Library Assistant -- University of Texas Perry Casteneda Library (Fall 2009)
Algebra, English and Latin Tutor (2009-2010)</p>

<p>OTHER:</p>

<p>Eagle Scout Project -- "Pease Park Arboreal Restoration"
Planned, organized and the directed the execution of a 70 man-hour project planting trees in Austin's Pease Park after a storm, as well as a field of flowers and installing natural counter-erosion terraces along the banks of the creek.</p>

<p>The Finale of Seem
Liberal Arts blog I run with my friend Max Wimberley composed of posts on poetry, novels, classical music, and art. The blog provides information, analysis, opinion and links to further information. Blog has generated over 1000 hits a month. Updated three times a week Dylan Thomas, Poulenc, Ginsberg, Velasquez; Dubliners; Dvorak; Whitman; Magritte; Lyssipos; Mann; Stevens; Housman; Lolita; and many more. Available for access at<br>
THE</a> FINALE OF SEEM. </p>

<p>Hendrix College Odyssey Book Award (2010)
Was the LASA recipient of this award</p>

<p>*Independent Study (2009-2010)
With Mr. Byron Browne, my Latin teacher of three years, I developed a rigorous personal curriculum based mostly in classical studies with a few modern themes that was divided up into components of reading, writing, and delivering lectures on classical philosophy, literature, and history. (The course takes the name "Latin Culture Studies" in my schedule).</p>

2

<p>You have great scores and ECs, but your rank is going to hurt you a lot. What’s your GPA? A rigorous courseload alone isn’t going to help you. You need to take a rigorous courseload AND do well in it.</p>

<p>Also, your high school ranking doesn’t really mean much. What does matter is acceptance history. If top schools historically accept students deep into your school’s rankings, then you’ll have an easier time getting in. If not, then it’ll be pretty hard. Remember that at top schools, you can’t be lacking significantly in one area. It’s hard to cover up grades with scores and activities even if they’re excellent like yours.</p>

3

<p>IMHO schools OUGHT to take people like you who have demonstrated true intellectual passion and enterprise rather than simply grubbing for grades within the set curriculum of the HS. But most of them (including most of the Ivies, alas) would rather take the grade grubbers. Because what they want is not the true intellectual, but the hard charger who is going to go out and make a lot of money and contribute to the alumni fund. </p>

<p>You will get in to some great schools, despite your class rank, which is indeed a significant handicap. Look at some truly intellectual places such as the University of Chicago and Reed in addition to Ivies and the like. You may even get into D. <g> You have a mixture of activities and qualities that is likely to appeal to them. Write a great essay. Hope that your Latin teacher says that you are the best student he’s ever had. Best of luck.</g></p>

4

<p>Apply and find out.
The combination of 800s on the CR and Writing is very impressive. The Texas location is a plus for Dartmouth. All northeast elites would like to improve their take from Texas. I would admit you.
That said, I’m guessing that a large percentage of those admitted outside of the top ten percent of their high school class are legacies, recruited athletes and URMs- and that is only 10% of a recently enrolled class. I have a very difficult time figuring out how this will break. I hope Dartmouth admits you.
By way of background, I am a parent of a Dartmouth graduate back in the day (2006) who also hit 800 on the CR and Writing, but had no school paper trail, as a home schooler.</p>

5

<p>Danas - Being from TX doesn’t help. TX, like CA, is a huge contributer to the Ivies. If you were from SD or ND, then that would be a help.</p>

<p>Metaphy6 - Sounds like your public school is a lot like St John’s in Houston, which is a top 25 school in terms of kids sent to the Ivies. Kids outside the top 10 make it in to the Ivies from St Johns. That said, I think you are at least on equal footing with a “typical” public school top ten percent kid.</p>

6

<p>thank you all for your input!</p>

<p>dear katytx:</p>

<p>I hope you are right!</p>

<p>I am VERY familiar with St. Johns! I have several friends there!</p>

7

<p>I have taken my daughter, a 12th garder, to visit HYPSM, Columbia, etc. and I can tell you the single most important thing when considering admission, according to the admissions people, is not class rank, but rather your transcript. So what you have taken and the rigor thereof. As you may be aware, Stanford and Princeton ignore your first year. Perhaps you had a rough adjustment to HS in your freshman year? Alternatively, maybe a sport dilutes your GPA (as is the case with my D). These are the things to ask Dartmouth.</p>

8

<p>Solid essays and letters could go a long way to mitigating the class rank. I think you have a better than average shot, but no one is a probable.</p>

9

<p>Gonna disagree with katytx on a couple of issues.
First, by talent, Texas students are underrepresented in the Ivy League. Yes, they love folks like my son’s two Dartmouth girlfriends, who were from Missoula, Montana, and Bemidji, Minnesota (surrounded by Indian reservations). But Texas is a state the Ivies would love to tap more than they do.
The second is the primacy of the transcript. I had one son graduate from Dartmouth, and my daughter is a current student at Princeton. Neither had a transcript. They had no courses and no grades. If you believe what admissions officers say for public consumption, good luck to you.</p>

10

<p>I’m not sure I can give you an accurate chance, metaphy6, but I do want to say that I love some of the works you’ve included in your blog. I happen to enjoy Mendelssohn and Vivaldi, and I can tell you’ve got a good eye for the really nice postmodern and classical paintings. At the end of the day, I think you’ve got definitely got a chance of admissions. You know what aspects of your application are strong and weak, and it’s too late to dramatically change these things. I highly recommend you consider applying Early Decision if you’re serious about Dartmouth, as you’ve got an application that would require a bit more time to decipher and appreciate on the admissions officer’s part. </p>

<p>I’m also going to have to point out in katytx’s post. Grades received and class rank are generally part of the transcript as well. When an admissions officer says the transcript is the most important part of your application, they’re referring to more than just the course difficulty. I might also add, that I find it very interesting that you attend a highly ranked high school that also ranks. None of the rigorous public high schools in my area rank, as the competition would certainly be far too brutal.</p>

<p>Anyways, Good luck!</p>

11

<p>So you are telling me TX is not usually in the top 5 to 8 states sending kids to the Ivies? Not sure your data is right. If you mean as a percentage of kids graduating from high schools (we are probably top 3-5 with FL, CA, maybe a couple of others), then I agree. We may be the third highest with graduates, but could be the 5th or 8th feeder state.</p>

<p>I believe the poster goes to a public school. I have never heard of a public school not keeping a transcript. For that matter, I would guess schools that don’t keep transcripts are well under 10%.</p>

<p>Thanks for picking on me. Hope you feel superior. Maybe now you can look for typos in my posts to bring yourself up some more and put me down.</p>

12

<p>If you’re aiming for the Ivies, I think you need to apply to one of them ED to have any semblance of a shot. In the RD round, your rank will probably wreck your application.</p>

<p>To briefly weigh in on the TX debate, I agree with katy that hailing from TX will not improve your chances. She’s right in arguing that TX is very well-represented, and as much as college admissions officers might want to admit more students from TX – just like they want to from CA, MA, NY, etc. – the priority will go to the severely underrepresented states, like MS and ND. The unfortunate reality of college admissions is that admissions officers cannot admit everyone they would like to; it’s a process of (arbitrary) prioritization.</p>