<p>I want to go to Dartmouth, but I have okay/bad stats (94.5 GPA and have not taken my tests, but my tests will probably be ACT 30 or 31 and SAT 2100 or 2000) and I was just wondering if great teacher recomendations from college professors and high school teachers, an amazing interview, and passionate compelling essays can allow okay students to get into great universities (CC top LACs, CC top universities, and the ivies).</p>
<p>Yes, they make a big difference. They give the admissions office a view of you that is not just a number or a list of activities.</p>
<p>They may not be able to save a very bad applicant, but this is not your case.</p>
<p>With you GPA and if you can get an SAT of 2000+, and have amazing recs/essays, I would say you have a chance at Dartmouth. But Ivies are a crapshoot for everybody, you never know.</p>
<p>And interviews usually don’t count for much. An amazing interview won’t give you much of a bump at all.</p>
<p>You mentioned college profs writing a rec for you. May I ask why? Unless you’ve done research work for him/her, you’re better off having a HS teacher who is very familiar with your work write the recs. That voice is much more compelling. Plus, the HS teacher can reasonably compare you with other HS students. If you happen to take a class at the community college and ask that instructor to write a rec for you, I’d say it would be rather shallow. Go for the teacher in the class you had the most passion and the teacher knows the quality of your work and classroom interaction.</p>
<p>Your interview ususally confirms other items in the rest of your file. Occasionally, it might be able to illuminate holes in your paper file: e.g. didn’t have many ECs due to the fact you babysat your 3 younger siblings and worked 15 hours in PT job. That will give more info to the adcom which can be favorable. However, you might tank the interview too. What if you show extreme shyness, show arrogance, aloofness and pride – that’ll be reported in the report as well.</p>
<p>HTH</p>