What are my chances of acceptance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
1

<p>Hey everyone, I'm a new member on the boards and I'm sure you've all seen countless threads similar to this one. Anyway, I'm planning on applying Early Decision to Dartmouth, and would like to know what you all think my chances are. Please be brutally honest.</p>

<p>SATs:</p>

<p>CR - 710 (I will be taking SATs once more)
M - 600
WR - 660</p>

<p>SAT II:</p>

<p>World History - 640
US History - 690
Literature -720</p>

<p>AP TESTS:</p>

<p>AP World - 5
AP US - 5
AP Language - 4
AP Literature - ? (These last 3 are senior year courses which I have not started yet)
AP Biology - ?
AP Macroeconomics - ?</p>

<p>Honors courses:</p>

<p>English 1 Honors
English 2 Advanced Honors
Greek 1-4 Honors
Chemistry Honors
Physics Honors
Alg 2-Trig Honors
Calculus Honors</p>

<p>Extra circulars:</p>

<p>1) San Ken Ryu Karate School
10 years (Expected Black Belt Summer '10)</p>

<p>2) Editor-in-Chief of the School Newspaper
4 years</p>

<p>3) Habitat for Humanity Tennessee Service Trip/ Ecuador Rostro De Cristo Immersion Trip<br>
(Both about 1 - 1 1/2 weeks in length)</p>

<p>4) Model UN - Country Representative, Newspaper Correspondent and Board of Directors member
2 years (11,12 grade)</p>

<p>5) Drama Society - Ensemble Cast Member, Supporting Lead Role
2 years (11, 12)</p>

<p>6) High-school Club Association - Newspaper Representative, Board of Directors member
1 year (12, the first year it is active)</p>

<p>7) Freshman Swim Team (2nd place CHSAA champions)
1 year (9th grade)</p>

<p>Work & Internships:</p>

<p>1) FoodTown - Cashier
Summer '08</p>

<p>2) Westchester Magazine - Intern
Summer '09</p>

<p>3) PolArbor Tree and Shrub Experts (Family Business) - Ground Worker
Summer '08 and '09 (predominately '09)</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>Member of the NHS (inducted as a Junior)
Member of the NSHSS (inducted as a Sophomore)</p>

<p>Junior Year GPA: 3.9
Cumulative GPA: 3.8 (roughly)</p>

<p>1 completed College credit for Loras College (from LeadAMERICA trip)</p>

<p>I am a first generation, Polish-American. My father is an arborist and my mother in unemployed (house-wife). We make under $75,000 a year, and it is my understanding that students whose families make under that amount are accepted with free tuition into Dartmouth.</p>

<p>So, what are your opinions?</p>

2

<p>I think you’ve got a lot going for you, but I think you need to get your SAT scores up by about 150 to 200 points. That seems to be your only apparent weakness.</p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>

3

<p>:) your ec’s are very nice…like veryhappy i would like to see that sat score a little higher…</p>

<p>AND DAMN i’m jealous…I didn’t know there was a dojo here in Westchester! I had to quit when I moved here…:(</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

4

<p>Get your SAT’s up, and as long as you have a competitive courseload compared to what is available at your school, you’ve got a good shot. Go for it, man.</p>

5

<p>thanks so far for all the insight and encouragement guys. Yeah, I’m aware my SATs are a bit weak when compared to the…norm (2100-2250 O_o). I will try again, and hopefully I will break 700 in writing as I should have the second time I took the test. As for math, I can only expect a minimal increase if anything. Hopefully though, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.</p>

<p>Oh, and to bsD, there are actually many, many dojos in Westchester (atleast the southern half of it), with styles ranging from Shukokai to Shotokan to even Brazilian Jujitsu. Take a look on google or in the phonebook, I’m sure you’ll find a dojo near you.</p>

6

<p>I’d say your chances are poor given your current stats. Being brutally honest, as requested.</p>

<p>Not that you shouldn’t apply. Clearly, you do have things going for you.</p>

<p>Factors that might positively/negatively influence your chances that aren’t clear from the info you’ve given include relative course rigor (it looks okay but not “most” rigorous), class rank (even if your school doesn’t rank, they will be able to figure out roughly where you stand from your school profile…and is that GPA weighted or not?), whether you actually did anything of note at Westchester Magazine and whether you can get a good rec from your supervisor there, whether your ECs are more significant than they appear from this list, essays, and of course recommendations.</p>

7

<p>Consolation, the GPA (3.9) is unweighted, and I’m not sure how to figure out what my weighted GPA is. My school also doesn’t provide class rank, but I’m fairly certain I’m in the top 10%.</p>

<p>As for Westchester Magazine, I did receive a letter from my supervisor, stating how long I worked there and what type of work I did, along with some praise as well. Can I send that to Dartmouth too? I have 2 teacher recommendations already. If I send my supervisor’s letter, would that be too much or just the right amount?</p>

8

<p>An unweighted GPA is fine, and it’s good that you have such a strong GPA without weighting. If your school weights, they will do so on the transcript they send out. Some schools weight and some schools don’t. In either case, it’s not your job. </p>

<p>If you want to get some idea of the context in which schools will view your transcript, I suggest that you go to your school’s website and look up the school profile. This is the self description that your school will send out with your transcript. If it’s like most profiles, it will describe the grading system, describe the course offerings, say how many AP exams were taken by how many students, and give some idea of GPA distribution. This enables colleges to get some idea of where you fall within your school in terms of rigor and grades. It’s never perfect, because typically is uses the stats of last year’s class, and they can be quite different. But you’ll see whether your GPA looks as if it is in the top 10%.</p>

<p>I would definitely send the supervisor’s letter, especially if it is positive and if journalism is one of your main interests (which it would appear to be). When you put that together with 4 years on the school newspaper plus the editorship plus the correspondent function in Model UN a strong picture begins to emerge from what could be a random list of ECs. That’s the way you need to present yourself.</p>

<p>You could also get a rec from some other aspect of your life that is very important to you, although it certainly isn’t necessary. For example, if you have spent a lot of time on karate (perhaps equivalent to being a 3-season athlete, an area in which you seem weak on paper), are really devoted to it, have pursued it to a high level and stand out from the typical kid your age–and have a long term relationship with a teacher there–you might want to ask him for a rec.</p>

9

<p>I would have to agree with Consolation. The competition from Westchester and NY in general is brutal, and most unhooked candidates are likely to have above median stats which means SAT scores well above 2200. I think all of the SAT I and II scores would need a major rise for any real shot.</p>

10

<p>You might also try taking the ACT. If your ACT score is higher than the equivalent SAT I, Dartmouth will only look at the ACT. There are charts that you can use to compare the two tests. For some students, including my son, the ACT is easier- it has fewer vague or what my son called “trick questions”.</p>