Dartmouth Announces Test Scores Required Starting Next Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Except JR only has 1 Ivy admit so far out of around 550 kids and it is not Dartmouth.

Folks, instagram is not fact. Stop claiming any school has only X number of kids at any school based on instagram postings. At many schools, even privates, the kids getting accepted into top schools don't post...or will at least wait until May until posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Except JR only has 1 Ivy admit so far out of around 550 kids and it is not Dartmouth.

This is not true. There are more than 1, we know several. Just because not posted on IG doesn’t mean there aren’t others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Except JR only has 1 Ivy admit so far out of around 550 kids and it is not Dartmouth.

JR has only one Ivy admit? I'm surprised by that. Did kids get deferred ED or not apply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Right, the white upper middle class kids get a major admissions bump. but many of them struggle when they're in college. I know a few (a relative and the kid if a good friend) they are both floundering. Others do fine and even great. But 4 years of crap for high school doesn't work for all kids.

Many do not struggle (somehow just mine and the 10 kids my kid knows are doing very well at college, with my own at a Top 5). Just apparently the two you purport to know. You also seem to now have your own research which refutes the entire thesis of this post...that kids with high SAT scores in fact don't do well in college.

Me thinks your kid was rejected from a top school and you are bitter.

DP
public school booster mom:
Methinks your kid did tons of enrichment activities, attended summer camps, traveled, read independently, had test prep + writing tutors, college admissions counseling (applied ED, too), & most importantly, has full-pay parents…

Uh...no enrichment activities (are the clubs at school with leadership enrichment activities?), no summer camps (other than actually working at a STEM camp)...I don't understand traveling...did some test prep...absolutely no writing tutors (what's the point? for a STEM major)...no college admissions counseling...yes ED, so full pay.

But what is your point? PP was saying JR kids struggle at college, so I guess you are trying to imply we spent thousands on outside resources? Absolutely not the case, and usually not the case for any of the top JR kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Except JR only has 1 Ivy admit so far out of around 550 kids and it is not Dartmouth.

JR has only one Ivy admit? I'm surprised by that. Did kids get deferred ED or not apply?

JR has 30 college instagram postings...by this logic, are only 30 JR kids going to college at all?

BTW, of those 30, 1 is Yale, 2 are JHU, 2 are Northwestern, 2 are Middlebury, 1 Bowdoin, 1 Wesleyan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ And it will also stop the insanity of kids with 1460-1520 SATs freaking out and retesting because they feel these incredible scores are not high enough to submit.

+1 This was what was crazy to me. If someone wasn’t submitting a score I would assume it was way lower than those.

[Anonymous]

And here we are back arguing over insta and how many admits Fancy Pants Private has vs. Hardscrabble Public.

Every. Single. Thread. Don’t you ever get bored with this?

[Anonymous]

Dartmouth interpretation: we find some URMs and / or lower income applicants more impressive than some of the boilerplate UMC high stats kids and we WILL admit them with their 1350-1400 SATs. We dare you aggrieved snowflakes to sue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends who read these essays for a living tell me they definitely can tell.

really? How can they tell?

Probably vocabulary. Correct use of grammar. Low naivete. Subject matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article shows why Jackson-Reed HS bats way above its weight class when it comes to elite college admissions.

J-R kids getting a high SAT (1450+) when the school average is closer to 1000 and even worse for DCPS overall are sought after by schools like Dartmouth. Now combine that with some very DC-specific opportunities for interning, leadership, etc and you have a very compelling applicant.

Right, the white upper middle class kids get a major admissions bump. but many of them struggle when they're in college. I know a few (a relative and the kid if a good friend) they are both floundering. Others do fine and even great. But 4 years of crap for high school doesn't work for all kids.

So you're saying lower SAT kids struggle in college? Interesting that the universities aren't saying that.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/07/briefing/the-misguided-war-on-the-sat.html

MIT found that the kids with lower SAT scores struggled or dropped out at a higher rate.

Better tell Dartmouth!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth interpretation: we find some URMs and / or lower income applicants more impressive than some of the boilerplate UMC high stats kids and we WILL admit them with their 1350-1400 SATs. We dare you aggrieved snowflakes to sue.

Idiot. Dartmouth accepted my URM niece with her 1510. F U.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends who read these essays for a living tell me they definitely can tell.

really? How can they tell?

I don't know. I have two friends who read essays (one Ivy and one public Ivy), and they assure me they can detect the essays written (in whole or part) by admissions consultants or parents.

they can't tell fake passion projects from real ones, even when it's quite clear to the rest of us. so not so sure about essays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. There may not be much difference between at 1500 and a 1600, but a 1200 does speak to the ability of a kid with a great GPA to succeed in a competitive college environment

There is no reason a college environment should be competitive.

Did you read the article? It's saying the opposite. Dartmouth wants to find people with SAT scores below 1400, and they were frustrated that their target audience wasn't taking the SAT.

I will say I don’t really get that because a kid who scores 1280 even if a great student at their underperforming high school will likely struggle at an Ivy League school. Will that kid have the resources to major in something that would likely make it that they can make “a difference as a leader” and graduate? There has to be a minimum requirement at some point so that the students picked can be those that are successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends who read these essays for a living tell me they definitely can tell.

really? How can they tell?

I don't know. I have two friends who read essays (one Ivy and one public Ivy), and they assure me they can detect the essays written (in whole or part) by admissions consultants or parents.

they can't tell fake passion projects from real ones, even when it's quite clear to the rest of us. so not so sure about essays

Silly to think they can tell when they don’t know the particular kid. My child can write better than most AO out there. They will likely think she is an adult by your assessment. Another reason to think many of them aren’t very bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A huge blow to the DEI crowd.

And with legacy beginning to be pulled as well at many colleges...hopefully, we can enter a 'merit-based' admissions era.

I feel like people aren’t reading the article.

Dartmouth is basically saying we will take lots of kids with SAT scores in the 1300s and 1400s coming from disadvantaged schools.

I don’t see how that will help the 1580 Asian kid from TJ. Those parents will be crying louder than ever.

That is not at all what the article said.

Ok, what did it say...here is a direct quote:

“We’re looking for the kids who are excelling in their environment. We know society is unequal,” Beilock said. “Kids that are excelling in their environment, we think, are a good bet to excel at Dartmouth and out in the world.” The admissions office will judge an applicant’s environment partly by comparing his or her test score with the score distribution at the applicant’s high schools, Coffin said. In some cases, even an SAT score well below 1,400 can help an application.

No,

You are misreading.

The article said that kids at those lower performing schools (such as a school where most kids graduate at a 3rd grade reading level or no one takes calculus) with scores in that range (1400+/-) are kids who have proven they can succeed at a school like Dartmouth. In contrast, a kid from a wealthy school with every resource at thier disposal who still only has a middling SAT score but high GPA will struggle.

That statement is talking about the potential to resources ratio. It is not a statement about a hard cut off of test scores.

You are completely misreading the entire article.

My comment was in response to someone claiming that now schools will admit purely on merit. Dartmouth's policy will now accept plenty of kids with a 1300 or 1400 from an under-resourced school vs. the TJ kid with a 1580. It's not even about a wealthy school vs. non-wealthy school (at least from the perspective of student-body wealth).

The TJ parents will continue to cry that the world is biased against them because their 1580 kid was rejected by Dartmouth while some 1300 kid from Harlem public schools was admitted.

They won’t just cry. Someone will sue. Watch.

Based on what? Nothing in the constitution says that schools are required to take the top test score. I don't see this lawsuit as having any legs unless they can prove discrimination actually happened. If Dartmouth wants to prioritize lower-income and disadvantaged students, that's totally their right.