son's chances for Harvard and Dartmouth

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Just curious what you think my son's chances are for getting into Harvard and Dartmouth</p>

<p>White male
weighted GPA: 4.50, UW GPA:3.95
currently ranked 2nd out of 330
SAT I: CR:600, Math:650, Writing:650 (low scores, we know)
SAT II: Biology M:770, US History:790, Math 1:680</p>

<p>Courses:</p>

<p>Junior year</p>

<p>AP Biology: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Language: 3
Honors French 4
Honors Physics I
Honors Pre Calculus</p>

<p>Senior year</p>

<p>AP Calculus
AP French
AP Language
AP Government
Honors Physics II
Honors Anatomy and Physiology</p>

<p>EC's:</p>

<p>Senior year</p>

<p>President of National Honor Society
Captain Varsity Tennis Team
Captain College Bowl Team (trivia team)
Intramural Bowling Team</p>

<p>Freshman, Sophmore, Junior years</p>

<p>Mock Trial Team, Golf Team, Violin String Program, Tennis Team, Bowling Team, College Bowl Team</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>Harvard Book Award Recipient
MA Assoc of School Superintendents Excellence Award
Team Sportsmanship Award in Tennis</p>

<p>Volunteering:</p>

<p>Lynn Union Hospital - two hours a week</p>

<p>Work:</p>

<p>Full time summer intern at Essex County Registry of Deeds</p>

<p>My son also plays the piano. He is applying to the Biology programs at these schools. His two teacher recommendations were outstanding, especially from his AP History teacher who is the department head. Last year the second ranked student from his high school got into Harvard, the third got into Stanford and the fourth got into Dartmouth, the Valedictorian only got into Boston College, but she basically didn't have any EC's.</p>

2

<p>I think this school is a reach for him. Combining average ECs with low SATs significantly lowers his chances. But, you never know, an essay could turn the whole app around.</p>

3

<p>Is he a senior yet? I would strongly encourage retaking the SAT or perhaps taking the ACT (I think it might be better for him given his SAT scores). As is, both will be very hard to get into.</p>

4

<p>yes, he is a senior. I'm thinking Harvard is going to be more of a reach than Dartmouth. His first choice is Dartmouth anyways because he likes the campus out in the middle of nowhere feel of it. I guess will just have to wait and see. He did apply to Boston College as his safety school, I hope he'll at least get in there.</p>

5

<p>Boston College is within reach, my bet that he gets in. Dartmouth will be very difficult, probably out of reach. There is just too much competition for too few spots and at a place like Dartmouth you can't have that kind of weakness in your application.</p>

6

<p>Do you have any safeties that are even safer than BC, just to be on the very safe side?</p>

7

<p>His sat scores are way too low for even BC. So don't be shocked when he doesnt get into any of his schools..His gpa is great but 1000000 other kids have that same gpa and BETTER sat's. His ec's are not absolutly amazing, and he does not have a hook. He has a chance at all, but you NEED to get a real safety.</p>

8

<p>very very slim chances for Harvard and Dartmouth. Most likely a reject. What are his safeties?</p>

9

<p>I'm glad others have said it...imo BC is not a safety! You don't seem to have a very high opinion of BC ("Valedictorian only got into Boston College") but although son's gpa and rank are outstanding, BC has plenty like that with higher SATs...personally I'd call BC a match at best. Harvard and Dartmouth both significant reaches. </p>

<p>Hopefully he has safer schools.</p>

10

<p>What I meant by "she only got into BC" was I thought that it was the only school that accepted her, not that BC wasn't a good school. Actually I just went back to look at last year's graduating class stats and I saw that she also got into Babson and BU, but decided to go to BC. I know that she wasn't well rounded at all and that's what hurt her. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we live in MA, but BC accepted four out of the top ten students from our school last year. He has also applied to University of MA, Amherst, but I really doubt he'll be happy with that. I also know that his best friend got into Dartmouth last year with about the same SAT scores so maybe it's not all about the SAT's. I'll post back once he gets news.</p>

11

<p>I doubt it...sorry!</p>

<p>BUT...always remain optimistic. You never know.</p>