r/dartmouth

Did any pick Dartmouth’s online MEng over UPenn’s online MEng? Why or Why not?

hi! i am a current senior in high school, and i figured i would get some unbiased opinions about my stats and my chance at getting into dartmouth.

i’d be applying ED with a major in physics!

for context, i am a low income, white female in rural north carolina. my school has about 950 people in it, and my graduating class is around 230.

these are my stats and ecs:
4.0/4.5 gpa
ranked 1/230
by the time i graduate, i will have taken 15 aps. my school offers 12, and i took the rest online.
i’ve played volleyball for 4 years, varsity for 2
i’ve won state awards in clubs at my school.
i am an officer in 5 clubs at my school, president in 2.
i’ve had a job since sophomore year where i work 15 hours a week.
i also attended NC governor’s school.
founding member of my school’s math club
(there are some other extracurriculars but they aren’t really impactful enough to mention.)

now.. my ACT was a 26. the average for my school is an 18. i was going to retake it, but the drive was 2+ hours and i couldn’t afford it. i wasn’t able to get a fee waiver.

i am a pretty good writer, so my essays should be well written.

how much is my ACT ruining my chances? even if i had a good ACT, im not sure my stats would be good enough, but i am giving myself the chance to apply anyways.

any advice is appreciated :) thank you!

also, ive only ever posted on reddit once, and i wasn’t able to find the “megathread” about applications. pls delete if not allowed!

International student from a traditional Chinese/Asian family, so I’ve grown up caring A LOT about university prestige.
I’m applying to Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Durham, St Andrews, HKU, Bocconi + top US schools. My supervisor thinks I have a good shot at LSE/UCL.
I recently spoke to a Dartmouth student and honestly Dartmouth sounds PERFECT for me in terms of community, social life, academics, financial aid, everything. I’m seriously considering ED.
But Dartmouth being #270 on QS is genuinely bothering me 😭 and I know this sounds SOO stupid but its so deeply rooted in me growing up around prestige.
Part of me wants to wait and see if I can get into Cambridge/LSE/etc. just for the validation, even if I might choose Dartmouth anyway.
Am I putting way too much weight on rankings, or does wanting to see my other offers mean I shouldn’t ED?

Additionally I’ve seen a post about athleticism at dartmouth and how if one doesn’t know how to ski it’s easy to feel excluded - I don’t know how to ski either but I am quite a sporty person and love to learn new things, will that be a huge issue?
Any help will be appreciated, thank you!!

hi! im visiting dartmouth and i really wanna try local places. what are must to have/try in hanover? what cafes/restaurants should i go to and what should i try?

thanks!!

Hi I'm a male 30 at Dartmouth and I was just curious on advice on where/how to meet your people. I joined a bunch of clubs and ultimately think I've settled into the three or four I'll stay in where I've met cool people but just don't know how to make friends outside of that. Sometimes it feels like everyone else already has a group and I have to put in so much work to keep up connections with the few people I have a little bond with. I'm not trying to complain just curious what else I could do.