Tips for preparing to apply to Dartmouth?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I'm currently in 7th grade (early to be thinking about college, I know), but I'll be starting to take some high school classes next year, namely Honors Geometry and Spanish 2. </p>

<p>I'm involved in cheerleading, horseback riding, field hockey, theatre, and Power Of The Pen (competition writing team at school).</p>

<p>I took the ACT early last week, but obviously I won't get my scores back for a while. They probably won't be great anyways, seeing as there is material I haven't learned yet in school.</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to help make myself stand out when I apply to college? Dartmouth is my dream school, and I don't know what kind of extracurriculars prestigious, extremely selective schools look for.</p>

<p>What sort of other extracurriculars should I consider if I want to get into Dartmouth? Are there any extracurriculars that colleges would consider a waste of time?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>This might be helpful</p>

<p>[Perspectives</a> from Dartmouth Admissions: “How can I improve my chance of admission?”](<a href=“http://dartmouthperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-can-i-improve-my-chance-of.html]Perspectives”>Perspectives from Dartmouth Admissions: "How can I improve my chance of admission?")</p>

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<p>Dear 7th grader,
I think you should read a lot of books you love and do the best you can in school! The rest will come :)</p>

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<p>Okay, thanks guys :)</p>

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<p>Hi!</p>

<p>When I was in 7th grade, I started to look at colleges :slight_smile: I’m in 9th grade now, but my dream colleges back then are the same dream colleges now. I’m happy because I’m now able to work for my dreams.</p>

<p>Don’t join every single club possible, and don’t do anything to impress colleges… Find a couple of areas of interest, and excel in them. For me, that’s learning languages (Japanese, Korean, and Spanish), acting (hopefully in television shows and movies), and writing (books, short stories, etc). (not including school and community service!)</p>

<p>Find awards that go with your area of interest. If your interested in writing, like I am, don’t just write stories, but write them and enter them into contests and get them published in magazines. It takes just a bit more time, and it seems a lot more prestigious. Once you hit 16 (or older…) you can sell your works in magazines (varies upon the magazine).</p>

<p>Find an organization that’s meaningful to you and spend most of your CS hours towards that. Like, something that you “stand” for. For me, that’s orphans and Canvan because a) I’m adopted and b) an immediate family member died from Canavan when I was young. I also help out a lot with the local Asian society with events and such.</p>

<p>Besides those earlier interest/activities, do well in school. An A should do fine, but don’t kill yourself if you get a B. If you think about it logically, a single test is 10% of all test (usually) in a class, out of 7 class, out of 4 years (for most people… i think). So bombing one test isn’t bad, as long as it doesn’t become a habit.</p>

<p>I suggest finding Cal Newport’s Study Hacks in google. It’s an amazing site, no matter how old you are, for school advice and life in general. I highly recommend the site.</p>

<p>I know I’m only a freshman, but hopefully what I posted helped a bit. Of course I haven’t gone through the application process, but what I read from this site (and study hacks) and my older brother’s experience, I think what I mentioned above is pretty good advice.</p>

<p>Good luck! And don’t stress yourself this early on!</p>