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My Stats:

Black male from Mississippi
Average public high school
3.32/4.0 (will be higher about 3.5)
Have taken toughest classes available(so far 3 AP's with Advanced, Honors and Regular)
School offers 6 AP's

Test Scores:
SATs: 1300(700v 600m)-will retake in Oct
SAT IIs : Writing and Lit - 750+
ACT-30

EC's (In School)
Key Club
-Member 9-12
-Treasurer 11/12
-Service Awards 9/10
-100s of hours of Comm Service
Student Council
-Treasurer 11/12
-Essay Committee Chair
Speech and Debate 10-12
-NFL Member with Distinction
-National Competitor
-Accepted into Barkley Forum at Emory
-Member of Forensics Board
-Co-captain
-National CFL Qualifier 10/11
-MS State Youth Congress Delegate 10/11/12
Teens Getting Involved for the Future 11/12
- Teach abstinence to 8th graders
FBLA 11/12
-President 12
-National Qualifier 11(first year/self coached)
Principal's Leadership Team
-Appointed by Principal and Teachers
-Mentor Freshmen
-Mentor Elementary school students
-Teach Elementary school students about drugs
Science Club
Mu Alpha Theta
Starting a Young Independents club

Outside of School ECs
-Salvation Army Volunteer
-Red Cross Volunteer
-Starting Scholarship for Disadvantage Youth
-MPAC Tutor(job)-11/12
-Clothing Drives for Abuse Shelter
-Starting a tutoring service for elementary school students

Awards and Honors
-Speaker at University of Southern Mississippi's Black History program
-National Achievement Award in Science: Biology/Physics
-Leadership Award 9-11
-Citizenship Award 9-11
-Key Club Service Award 9/10
-3rd place in Biology category of Science Fair
-Awards for Speech and Theatre
-Special Award from Mississippi Theatre Association -1st in reg. and 2nd state
-Hopefully will be Salvation Army volunteer of the year.

Rec's from Speech coach, AP Eng Teacher, and Key Club Advisor

Essay will be good if not great.

Possible major Near Eastern Studies or something dealing with Public Affairs and Education

By Willywonka (Willywonka) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 12:01 am: Edit

Obviously you need to have a full (another SAT II) and completed (your retakes/takes) set of scores to judge chances as closely as possible, but I'll tell you what I think.

Your GPA is a little low, and so are your given test scores. I don't know what being a URM will do to the equation, honestly. Your ECs are strong if you can prove that you cared about what you were doing and didn't do it to just have such a long list. And, Dartmouth gets 20,000 applications every year, so I'm sure great essays have seemed less than great to the adcoms before.

I think that if you can a.) show genuine interest in the school other than the Ivy brand recognition and b.) show you have a passion for your ECs and c.) deliver with the essay and make them see you as a human being, you have a 50/50 chance. Chances are never guaranteed at schools like Dartmouth, but you obviously have strengths and weaknesses as an applicant; weaknesses that I think would be mitigated by leaving good impressions, once again, as a human being and not a piece of paper.

By Willywonka (Willywonka) on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 01:06 am: Edit

Er, make that 12,000 applications a year, sorry.

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Friday, August 06, 2004 - 07:15 pm: Edit

Bump

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Saturday, August 14, 2004 - 11:53 am: Edit

Living in the South the ACT is the standardized test here. However, since i am applying to a few schools in the Northeast I need to know if submitting my ACT score is going to be detriment although I have a 1300 on the SAT I just cannot sit for the exam again. I much prefer the ACT and I am fairly certain that I can get a 32 on it which puts me in like the 95th percentile or something and is a lot better than a 1300 on the SAT.

By Sybbie719 (Sybbie719) on Saturday, August 14, 2004 - 12:29 pm: Edit

According to the college board, your 32 ACT score will convert to between 1411-1450 . since you can use the ACT in place of the SAT and the SAT II your subscores are going to really be important. if they are consistent in each sub score you should be ok.

By Sybbie719 (Sybbie719) on Saturday, August 14, 2004 - 12:29 pm: Edit

forgot the link
http://www.collegeboard.com/sat/cbsenior/html/stat00f.html

By Susu (Susu) on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 06:27 pm: Edit

Remember that hardly anyone on this board knows what he/she is talking about.

Your chances are as good as anyone else's, and better than most. It helps that you're black and from the South, although apparently not very sports-oriented. I'm told some colleges really value that sports/team experience--don't know whether Dartmouth does.

If you're really a verbal sort of guy (which I assume from your SAT scores and the AP English) you should also look into Amherst (a REALLY verbal school), Georgetown or GWU (Washington's a great place for a smart young Af-Am), etc. Northern/midwestern LACs like Carleton might even give you a big scholarship to snag you (you didn't mention whether money isa factor, but wouldn't it be nice to be COURTED instead of merely ACCEPTED?)

By Cangel (Cangel) on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 08:26 pm: Edit

Deloren, I asked the adcom at Amherst the same question about the ACT - we're from the South too, and he was from the Midwest - he said it made NO difference which was submitted.

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Monday, August 16, 2004 - 09:55 am: Edit

I agree with sybbie. Dont send the SAT, only the ACT and you are in!

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 08:27 pm: Edit

Bump

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 09:59 pm: Edit

Would an on-campus interview be better than an off campus one? How do I contact Dartmouth to set up an interview?

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 09:35 pm: Edit

bump

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 09:35 pm: Edit

bump

By Sdfsd (Sdfsd) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 06:47 pm: Edit

In my opinion, an on-campus interview will probably look slightly better than an off campus one, because it will show your interest, but quite frankly I think interviews have little real bearing on your application. Case in point: I didn't get an interview at all from Dartmouth and I got in, whereas I had two interviews for Yale, one on-campus and one off (and the second time the guy told me he thought I would be a really good fit) and I got rejected.

By Kblodge (Kblodge) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 08:25 pm: Edit

I know they do consider interviews to some extent, but I agree that they don't make a whole lot of difference. If you get a local alumni interview and it goes well, I think that it would have about the same effect as if you flew to Hanover. Dartmouth understands that not everyone is going to want/be able to fly all the way out there for something that really won't increase his or her chances that much.

By Deloren986 (Deloren986) on Sunday, September 05, 2004 - 09:24 pm: Edit

Thanks guys. I think I'll do 3 interviews and some more campus visits just to make sure of my top 3 before app time.
I have another ? if you would so please. I am have taken 2 SAT IIs and need the 3rd since my major will be Middle Eastern Studies or something to that effect what 3rd SAT II should I take W. H. or math/science. I am leaning toward world but may take a math/science just in case. What do you think?