Rejected by Dartmouth but admitted into Yale, Princeton, Brown, UPenn, Cornell, Duke, and UCLA???

[Anonymous]

I'm a Dartmouth alum and I've conducted admissions interviews in the past. I can think of two students I interviewed that got rejected who I later learned got into other much higher ranked schools. I wrote both students lukewarm recommendations because while they both had they were rude and sort of just phoning it in. One told me at the outset he could only stay for 15 minutes because he wanted to go to a party (this after HE chose the interview time.) I usually worked really hard to find positive things to write about students and to give them the benefit of the doubt for being nervous, inexperienced, etc., but if a student was a jerk, I just reported factually on their conduct and the admissions people could read between the lines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, OP, you obviously know nothing about Dartmouth. The idea that Dartmouth is less prestigious than UCLA or Cornell is ridiculous (and I say that as a UCLA grad). Dartmouth is about the same as Brown, Penn, and Duke.

My apologies for that one.

I mainly meant getting rejected by Dartmouth but accepted by Yale, Princeton and Brown. I don't think Dartmouth is the same as Brown. But maybe Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth is in the middle of nowhere.

And?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Dartmouth alum and I've conducted admissions interviews in the past. I can think of two students I interviewed that got rejected who I later learned got into other much higher ranked schools. I wrote both students lukewarm recommendations because while they both had they were rude and sort of just phoning it in. One told me at the outset he could only stay for 15 minutes because he wanted to go to a party (this after HE chose the interview time.) I usually worked really hard to find positive things to write about students and to give them the benefit of the doubt for being nervous, inexperienced, etc., but if a student was a jerk, I just reported factually on their conduct and the admissions people could read between the lines.

Oh, and I should also add that Dartmouth (along with Davidson) is fairly unusual in that it requires a peer recommendation letter. This is a data point other schools don't have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth is looking for a specific kind of kid. They're not interested in the STEM bots that shot-gun all the Ivies.

Okay but surely a child with great grades shouldn't have to lose out because of that? How can that be justified during selection?

A kid who applies to all those schools is probably not all that interested in Dartmouth. Why bother accepting someone who isn’t likely to attend at all, when there are many other kids who are just as bright who really want to go there?

Especially if this kind of derision and condescension came through in the essays. "You'd be lucky to have me" isn't a great way to get a date, and it doesn't work well for colleges, either.

If they're going into the application thinking of Dartmouth as "literally not even in the top 100 schools," then they probably didn't put the same care and attention into it as they did into applying to the other schools. They may have half-assed it, assuming they'd get in anyway because Dartmouth wasn't very "prestigious," and come across as smug or entitled. Or just didn't do enough research on the school, and been vague on "why Dartmouth?"

If the applicant couldn't convincingly demonstrate why Dartmouth would be a good fit for them, then it makes sense Dartmouth would turn them down. That's the point of holistic admissions.

I don't think that is the case because this person is not me. I am the one who is perplexed by the results. I doubt they came across as arrogant in the essays.

They obviously failed to make a convincing case for admission, though, so something must have tipped the balance away from their test scores. They couldn't make the case that they would be a better addition to that year's Dartmouth class than the hundreds of other kids posting the same or very similar numbers.

Call it yield protection, call it Dartmouth getting too big for their britches , whatever, but that's the nature of a holistic admissions system: nothing is guaranteed. Hopefully the kid understands that better than you do.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people do not even see how thoroughly you have consumed the USNWR kool aid!

Every school is composing an incomng class. They consider multiple factors besides GPA and SAT scores.

For selective admits, there are never any guarantees .

(None of this should be news to OP)

Okay, but explain the logic of a Princeton admit not getting into Dartmouth which isn't a better school that Princeton and Yale! It makes no sense! What is up with this school?

Have you heard of the term yield management?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is unhinged. Dartmouth is a great school and there is an element of luck in admissions.

Its good. Okay. But surely someone admitted into Princeton should get into Dartmouth without much effort.

The ENDLESS stupidity of believing these schools have the same or even similar criteria. They are different places entirely. Every university is its own world.

[Anonymous]

This is nothing. My niece was accepted at Georgetown and rejected from American University. Yield protection is real.

[Anonymous]

I think Dartmouth's RD admission rate was around 3.5% this year.

OP, if you're not a troll, please look at some of the admissions results threads here, Reddit, or College Confidential. When it comes to the most selective colleges (sub-10%), there is no reliable linear hierarchy of admissions results. For example, my high stats DD was rejected by her ED school but admitted to five schools with lower admit rates in RD. The point is that there's nothing surprising about an insanely selective school like Dartmouth rejecting any particular student.

Also, more than any other Ivy, Dartmouth wants students who understand and are interested by Dartmouth's unique qualities among the Ivies: It's the smallest, most rural/outdoorsy, and more like a liberal arts college than R1 university. Dartmouth is kind of an outlier among the Ivies. It's perfect for some but it would likely be a terrible fit for many students who might apply simply because of the Ivy label.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth has been having a very heavy DEI, gender diversity push lately.

Not true. Class of 2027 is 60% white. 60%. In AMERICA.

It takes effort to be an elite school with 60% white kids. And more boys than girls too.


https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/apply/class-profile-testing

I’m confused. What do you mean by that? 70% of the American population is white. What should Dartmouth’s percentage be?

Do you think that this means 70% of the people in every elite setting should be white?

No, I think it means pp shouldn’t be shocked that 60% of Dartmouth’s class is white. Sounds about as expected to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is nothing. My niece was accepted at Georgetown and rejected from American University. Yield protection is real.

But like pp’s have said, Dartmouth is pretty unique amongst the Ivies. I think it’s far more likely to be about fit rather than yield protection. A kid who wants to go to Columbia isn’t going to be happy at Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Dartmouth alum and I've conducted admissions interviews in the past. I can think of two students I interviewed that got rejected who I later learned got into other much higher ranked schools. I wrote both students lukewarm recommendations because while they both had they were rude and sort of just phoning it in. One told me at the outset he could only stay for 15 minutes because he wanted to go to a party (this after HE chose the interview time.) I usually worked really hard to find positive things to write about students and to give them the benefit of the doubt for being nervous, inexperienced, etc., but if a student was a jerk, I just reported factually on their conduct and the admissions people could read between the lines.

Hmmm.. Interesting.
How much weight do interviews carry? Because from what I have seen of their profile, this is the only section where they could get low marks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is nothing. My niece was accepted at Georgetown and rejected from American University. Yield protection is real.

But like pp’s have said, Dartmouth is pretty unique amongst the Ivies. I think it’s far more likely to be about fit rather than yield protection. A kid who wants to go to Columbia isn’t going to be happy at Dartmouth.

I already talked about this.

Not every kid has the luxury to accept a school because of its location. Many kids just want to get into a college that won't leave them with massive debt.

Screening kids because you think someone who applied to Columbia won't be happy at Dartmouth is elite talk. And respectfully, BS. You think a 1st gen kid with no funds cares about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth has been having a very heavy DEI, gender diversity push lately.

Not true. Class of 2027 is 60% white. 60%. In AMERICA.

It takes effort to be an elite school with 60% white kids. And more boys than girls too.


https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/apply/class-profile-testing

I’m confused. What do you mean by that? 70% of the American population is white. What should Dartmouth’s percentage be?

It actually IS shocking that a school like Dartmouth has 60% caucasian kids. Especially as white kids don't perform as well as other races.
Do you think that this means 70% of the people in every elite setting should be white?

No, I think it means pp shouldn’t be shocked that 60% of Dartmouth’s class is white. Sounds about as expected to me.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is at Dartmouth and had the stats to apply to any college (understanding that it can be a crap shoot at the highest level). She chose to ED to Dartmouth. She's very outdoorsy and liked that it was more isolated than an urban school. She wanted a real campus feel.

She's very outgoing but wasn't crazy about the idea of the Greek scene. She talked to some upperclassmen who she knew who helped alleviate her concerns. She was shocked to find that she wanted to pledge a sorority in sophomore year, when Dartmouth does rush.

I think the most important factor to her was the focus on undergraduate teaching. It's hard to find that at an Ivy. She also felt that she could handle the intense quarter system.

This is a long way to say that for some students, what Dartmouth offers is more important than the prestige of an "upper" Ivy. She will likely consider those schools for grad school.