Decision: Accepted
Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34 composite (35 English, 35 Math, 36 Reading, 29 Science)
SAT II: 740 Bio E, 760 Math II (proof that you don’t need an 800 for acceptance to an Ivy League… )
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.1
IB (place score in parenthesis): HL Math (6), HL Psychology (6), HL History (6), SL Chinese (6), SL Biology (7), SL English (7)
Senior Year Course Load: all above + TOK
Major Awards: 1st in Chinese Speaking Comp (school), MUN Honorable Delegate, several book awards, several art awards (local, regional, semi-national), Scholastic Gold and Silver Keys, NHS Secretary
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President), Art Club, MUN (Secretary General), School Gazette (Co-Founding Editor-In-Chief), Piano, Voice, ultimate frisbee, running
Job/Work Experience: worked in microbiology lab (studying sustainability) over senior summer
Volunteer/Community service: museum work, local library art teacher, school office student clerk
Summer Activities: volunteered at local museum a few hours a week, worked in research laboratory at local university 40 hours a week; previous summer I went to South Africa.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Personal: 9/10, wrote about passions, was well written but message was a little unclear.
Dartmouth prompt: 10/10. The creativity one; really emotional and VERY personal, about eating disorder and art
Why Dartmouth: 8/10 there just wasn’t enough space to really paint the picture of myself I wanted to, but I was very specific.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, history teacher, good relationship with teacher, I do ECs with him as well so he can really explain my strengths
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, psychology teacher, work a lot together in and out of school, but she can be a little snippy
Counselor Rec: 7/10, not a great writer, pretty generic, but does reference a lot of my strengths.
Additional Rec: PEER REC 10/10 love her, definitely portrayed me realistically (though not highly personal)
Interview: 11/10, really connected, she knew a lot about my school and we had similar interests
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: hell yeah
Intended Major: linguistics, international relations, Chinese
State (if domestic applicant): MA
School Type: Charter
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: under $90,000 a year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): parents are South African, I speak a few languages, go to unusual school
Reflection:
Strengths: strong writing, coherent application, unique background, I really tailored my application to what I envisioned myself doing at Dartmouth, and made sure it was honestly reflective of me.
Weaknesses: scores, awards
Why you think you were accepted: I honestly don’t know. I don’t deserve the acceptance, and so many people were rejected who were so much more qualified than I am. (I’m so sorry.)
General Comments:
First, expect rejection so that if you actually are accepted you’re pleasantly surprised. This was the best advice ever.
Secondly, always explore your passions, and make this really clear on your application! This, in turn, makes your application more coherent, and you’ll look more “together” as an applicant if you have a clear interest in something that you’re making a clear effort to pursue.
At the end of the day, Dartmouth is one incredible school of many. Have faith in yourself and in the universe, because you will end up in the place you were intended to be. Much love.