<p>I just got a letter in the mail today from Dartmouth. They encouraged me to apply even though their RD deadline is January 1 by extending it to January 15 for me. Do I have a good shot at being accepted at Dartmouth and is the letter a good sign?</p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<p>3.79 UW GPA, 4.54 W GPA
1410 SAT 1 (720 M, 690 V)
SAT II (Math 2C 760, Writing 680, Physics 630)</p>
<p>Full International Baccalaureate Student
-Higher Level, English, History of Europe/Russia, Computer Science
-Standard Level, Physics (5), Spanish (5), Math Studies</p>
<p>AP Courses
-American Gov’t and Politics (4)
-Calculus BC (2)
-Computer Science (3)
-Physics C
-United States History
-Statistics</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University - Summer 2003 and Summer 2004
-Summer Academy for Math and Science
-Introduction to Chemical Engineering
-Introduction to Electrical Engineering
-Differential Calculus (Course 21-115, 5 units) - Grade: A</p>
<p>MuAlphaTheta Math Honor Society - Math Tutor/Co-President
Student Government Association - Treasurer
IB Student Support Group - Co-Founder/President
Academic Team Member
Leadership Council - Student Member
Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track Team (Shot Put, Discus)
Digital Art Club</p>
<p>National Achievement Scholarship Program - Semifinalist
Maryland Distinguished Scholar - Honorable Mention
Washington Metropolitan Scholar
Student of the Quarter
W.E.B. DuBois Academic Excellence Award
African American Festival for Academic Excellence</p>
<p>There really aren’t that many people who are shoo-ins at Dartmouth. You are definitely in-range for admissions and have favorable chances, in my opinion.</p>
<p>To be honest about the letter, a school such as Dartmouth would never notice or care if your application materials were postmarked by January 15th if the official deadline was January 1st. I think Maria Hernandez, a former member of the Dartmouth adcom, said so in her book “A is for Admission.”</p>
<p>ummm…thats very strange…judging from your application, you’re not that special to make Dartmouth take such an initiative…did you write them a letter asking for an extension or is this just out of the blue?</p>
<p>Hey willywonka, you mean Ivy League schools wouldnt care if your application came late?</p>
<p>Well…-- as any wise parent would say in this case, MUCH better to be safe than sorry. Try your hardest to get it done by the new year.</p>
<p>However, I do remember the author (Michelle Hernandez? I realize I keep picking first names out of the blue) of A is for Admission saying that it is unlikely for anyone to touch your application until a few weeks after the deadline, and then it will just be for organizing. If I may say so, the thing is that schools want as many applications as they can get, probably mainly for the application fee and stat-booster. It may bother a member of the adcom or an admissions office worker if you send it late, but if you honestly can’t finish by the deadline, it’s better to take the chance that you’ll make someone mad (and still be reviewed for admission) than burn your application over a trashcan on January 2nd.</p>
<p>Again, to cover my own tracks-- I’m just a high school senior who read a book. Ignoring me and getting the apps out would be the safest route.</p>
<p>Well if you were to send in your app late, you would have to call or email them and explain. Ditto for financial aid. I got some of my financial aid stuff rather late into some schools last year, but I still ended up being fine. Like willywonka said though, better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>I dunno man i hate to burst your bubble but it sounds kind of awkward, i mean like willly wonka said they’re an ivy, and not to be offensive but unless you had a 4.3 a 1600 and won a national award for something you invented or something i really don thtink they would want you that bad, you probably just got put on a mailing list some how and got that letter</p>
<p>I got the same letter a few days ago extending the deadline to Jan 15th. It was from the minorty recruitment office, and I guess they need more minority applicants or something. well, i decided to apply, except i wont be sending it in for a couple more days, primarily because i cant get the peer evaluation immediately. risky, or no?</p>
<p>Many colleges send out letters like that due to your performance on the PSAT/SAT and if you checked that you wanted info from colleges. Dartmouth may be extending the deadline to improve/increase the applicant pool… in any case, I would encourage you to apply asap.</p>
<p>Probably was a general mailing to everyone who had a pre-app in and did not send in the application, students who signed up for their mailing list and others who have expressed interest in Dartmouth.</p>
<p>You have to remember that 2204 was a hetic year, with all of the storms in florida and the panhandle at the beginning of the school year, flooding and snow in the midwest and california and now thr tragedy in Asia. I just beleive that they have taken all of these issues in consideration and just extended the deadlines to everyone so tht no one region has a favorable advantage.</p>
<p>However it is better to be safe than sorry to get your applications in before the deadline.</p>
<p>I just got a letter from Dartmouth asking me to apply within two weeks. This is confusing and I have never heard of such thing… is this a good sign? I mean, it’s pretty late in the game, and I guess they still want me? I had similar stats to oakey above, in regards to SAT score and GPA, so I’m really unsure. With so many applicants this year, why would they still be reaching out for more applicants? Anyone wanna comment?</p>
<p>In the book by the Dartmouth admissions person, she writes that it was important to Dartmouth to have lots of applicants because it made them look more exclusive- ie with a low admission rate. They would encourage everyone to apply “because you never know”. Good book to read. You may indeed be what they are looking for. But, as all the schools like to look “elite” and “choosey”, who knows what is happening. And as she said, “you never know”!</p>
<p>And do it ASAP…send it overnight as well…at this poitn, what’s a few extra dollars?</p>
<p>Since you got National Achievement, I am assuming you are an african american applicant. African Americans are in small numbers on campus and Dartmouth is always trying to expand this number. My friend last year got a likely letter with a 1300 so I would say you are highly wanted by them. I am going through the same thing now so I know.</p>
<p>We like to think that these schools are adamant about admissions - I mean, I’d be jetting over to the post office telling the people at the desk “THESE HAVE TO BE POSTMARKED TODAYYYY!” In fact, one of my best friends’ parents works at the post office and I even waited for her to get to the desk because I knew I could trust her. lol. Yeah I’m weird like that.</p>
<p>But the thing is, when I had trouble with my artwork slides, I called Dartmouth and asked them if it would be okay to send prints rather than slides, b/c the slides wouldn’t be available until mid-January. And they were like “Yeah sure. Just send the slides whenever you get them.” I was like…uh…should I send a note with them, saying that someone in the admissions office okayed this? she was like “Uh…if you WANT…” Clearly they don’t care so much. I mean, they may have been a bit more stringent if this had been my recommendations or transcript, rather than supplemental art/music materials, but the fact is, no one is going to evaluate your application in January. And they really do want to get more applications in - they want a wide applicant pool so they can pick the best, and the more selective they are, the higher their ranking is.</p>
<p>stanmaster, actually I’m Asian, but I’m from Socal. The deadline to apply is Feb 17 so I still have a bit of time to decide… either way, it’s a tremendous opportunity that caught me off guard. I wasn’t ever thinking about Dartmouth but I’m edging towards applying because of the other thread that I started. I guess Dartmouth isn’t all Rich White Preppy New Englanders… =P</p>
<p>i got the same letter that oakey got. My academic record is not exceptional at all, and I am Asian, too… Well, I was pretty happy to recieve that letter tho.</p>
