How to maximize my chances at DartmouthAnswered
Hi!
So my new dream school is Dartmouth, and CV says I have a 27% chance of admission. I am thinking about applying early decision to Dartmouth (or Wharton or Duke), and I believe I have very strong material for my "Why Dartmouth" essay. Would applying ED to Dartmouth significantly increase my chances of admission? And how can I determine if I should apply ED here and not take a shot at Wharton ED?
Thanks so much!
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2 answers
Unless you are 100% sure about committing to Dartmouth ED, I would take a step back and ask yourself if the 20.1% ED rate vs. 6.2% RD has a significant impact for you personally. Both schools are very similar in that they accept and lean towards ALDC applicants and "hook" applicants during both cycles, but more so during their ED cycles.
I would contend that if you are not a Dartmouth legacy, a recruited athlete, development candidate nor a "fac-brat" (child of faculty or staff), nor a BIPOC, nor low income, nor first generation college student, nor someone from a marginalized background, then the ED bump is merely the intrinsic value for a early commitment to the school considering the opportunity loss of not being able to apply to any other colleges after the decision comes out favorably. If you have none of these attributes, it might be 8-10% vs 6.2%.
Applying UPenn Early has the same considerations and the ED vs. RD spread is like 10% between 15.9 and 6 ish percent. But again with ALDCs and "hook" applicants the spread might be 2-3% Wharton admission rates are about 33-50% lower than other UPenn colleges so keep in mind that a Wharton ED rate might be 10% and a Wharton RD rate might be 3-4%. This seems understandable because its the #1 undergraduate business program in the US.
Of the 3 schools mention in your inquiry, Duke would be the least difficult to get into ED. 885 admits for 4015 applicants at 21%.
The regular decision acceptance rate at Dartmouth is 6.2% while the early decision acceptance rate is about 21%. So if you are absolutely sure you want to go to Dartmouth, you should definitely apply early decision as you have a much higher chance of getting in. In terms of Wharton, if your sure you want to go into business then apply there. However, Wharton is much harder to get into then the other UPenn undergraduate schools. So you might have a better chance of getting into Dartmouth then Wharton. But if you have legacy at UPenn, and you know for sure you want to go to Wharton, definitely apply early, as that's the only time they consider it. As for Duke, apply there early decision only if you would prefer it over Dartmouth and Wharton. Your chances of getting in there are similar (in terms of acceptance rate percentage) to getting into Dartmouth, so only pick it if it's the one you really want. There acceptance rates are doubled for early decision, so if you know for sure you want to go, do it.
I hope this helps you out, good luck!
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