2015-2016 Dartmouth College (Geisel) Application Thread

[ciestar]

Just submitted this secondary.

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[Amelie.]

Just submitted, good luck everyone!

 

[Pastamahn]

Submitted yesterday!

 

[gdb]

Anyone know the average age of last year's matriculants? I couldn't seem to find it on their website.

 

[Pastamahn]

Anyone know the average age of last year's matriculants? I couldn't seem to find it on their website.

Check the MSAR

 

[gdb]

Check the MSAR

I did, but couldn't seem to find it there either

 

[Pastamahn]

I did, but couldn't seem to find it there either

Huh, I can't seem to find it easier. All I know is that the median age is higher than most schools.

 

[dopedamine]

I'm late to the party about courses, but why is everyone freaking out about the 4 credits of biochem? Is it because peoples' schools only offered the course for three credits? I guess I was lucky because my school offered a one semester biochem option for 4 credits (all lecture, no lab).

Also, I'm assuming "College" means you put down the school where you took the course and "Department" is the four/three letter abbreviation of the department the course is in?

 

[Pastamahn]

I'm late to the party about courses, but why is everyone freaking out about the 4 credits of biochem? Is it because peoples' schools only offered the course for three credits? I guess I was lucky because my school offered a one semester biochem option for 4 credits (all lecture, no lab).

Also, I'm assuming "College" means you put down the school where you took the course and "Department" is the four/three letter abbreviation of the department the course is in?

A good amount of schools (including a major state school like mine) only offer 3 credit biochem courses

 

[dopedamine]

A good amount of schools (including a major state school like mine) only offer 3 credit biochem courses

Oh okay that makes sense. Just wondering. Wanted to make sure there wasn't something for me to worry about haha

 

[aesklepi]

.

 

[TheRealOJ]

I called the admissions office and the lady said that if we only have three credits that is OK, however we should have enough credits from gen chem/ organic to add up to the credits needed, in addition to biochem. I would recommend someone else call to double-check.

 

[heebeejeebies]

Any idea if a (potentially, as in not 6+) excessive # of LORs will hurt? I fudged my assigning them a little and think I went overboard adding a new letter without considering the # I was already at and Geisel needing only 2...

I forgot I had assigned my PI across the board (grad school), and tossed on a new strong(ish) community letter that put me a little high in letters assigned.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

I called the admissions office and the lady said that if we only have three credits that is OK, however we should have enough credits from gen chem/ organic to add up to the credits needed, in addition to biochem. I would recommend someone else call to double-check.

Confirming this. They called me back and also said that 3 credit hours is fine for biochem, even though the secondary says 4 hours.

 

[Amelie.]

I called yesterday too because my 3 credit hour biochem class converted to 2.7 semester hours in AMCAS, they told me it was fine also.... It sounded like they are getting a huge amount of calls about this...

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Quick question. My PS talked about how my experiences in my first career kind of pushed me towards medicine. And then for the essay I've written so far for the second prompt discusses the things I gained from that first career and the perspective that it gave me that I will apply to medicine. Does this sound like it fits the question? I certainly address my career in the rest of my application, but maybe not the exact outlook that it made me develop. I just don't want them to read it and think that I'm rehashing other application pieces.

 

[CellPowerhouse]

Quick question. My PS talked about how my experiences in my first career kind of pushed me towards medicine. And then for the essay I've written so far for the second prompt discusses the things I gained from that first career and the perspective that it gave me that I will apply to medicine. Does this sound like it fits the question? I certainly address my career in the rest of my application, but maybe not the exact outlook that it made me develop. I just don't want them to read it and think that I'm rehashing other application pieces.

I think that's fine, as you're talking about a different aspect of that experience. I did almost the same thing. As career changers, I think we have a lot to say about the many aspects of what we did before - hopefully that'll work in our favor.

 

[heebeejeebies]

Quick question. My PS talked about how my experiences in my first career kind of pushed me towards medicine. And then for the essay I've written so far for the second prompt discusses the things I gained from that first career and the perspective that it gave me that I will apply to medicine. Does this sound like it fits the question? I certainly address my career in the rest of my application, but maybe not the exact outlook that it made me develop. I just don't want them to read it and think that I'm rehashing other application pieces.

I was thinking of doing similar, my PS was mostly about intangible personal experiences from a program I'm in, I might tailor the secondary to the tangible skills and perspective it gave me.

 

[wagonwheel23]

Submitted today. I used the essay to talk about a personal interest unrelated to medicine.

 

[hrbird]

Submitted yesterday, onto the next essay!

 

[musicalscientists]

Quick question. My PS talked about how my experiences in my first career kind of pushed me towards medicine. And then for the essay I've written so far for the second prompt discusses the things I gained from that first career and the perspective that it gave me that I will apply to medicine. Does this sound like it fits the question? I certainly address my career in the rest of my application, but maybe not the exact outlook that it made me develop. I just don't want them to read it and think that I'm rehashing other application pieces.

That's basically what mine was, so I'd say you're fine IMO!

 

[Pastamahn]

For the "Please share with us something about yourself that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and which could be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file." prompt I wrote briefly about my wife and kids, growing up in a rural area, and how I want to raise my kids/practice in the same kind of area. (aka a place like Hanover). Came out to 253 words. Sound reasonable?

I feel like that could be a really unique story to tell and would be a good fit.

 

[sandstorm223]

Currently filling out my secondary here. How about that second question! It totally caught me off guard, and to be honest it is the hardest one I've written yet. I'm not sure which angle to use here, but judging from everyone's responses I'd say there is no standard type. Which is good--if everyone has a different idea of what to write, none of us risks writing the wrong thing, eh?

 

[Affiche]

Currently filling out my secondary here. How about that second question! It totally caught me off guard, and to be honest it is the hardest one I've written yet. I'm not sure which angle to use here, but judging from everyone's responses I'd say there is no standard type. Which is good--if everyone has a different idea of what to write, none of us risks writing the wrong thing, eh?

I recycled an essay about a rewarding experience because it touched on my background while also shining me in a nice light lol. I wish I spent more time on it than just copy+paste and tailored it to Dartmouth, but alas, it's submitted .

I am so burned out from these secondaries...

 

[sandstorm223]

Submitted! Now all I can do is wait....good luck to all!!! This is one of my very top schools

 

[sandstorm223]

I recycled an essay about a rewarding experience because it touched on my background while also shining me in a nice light lol. I wish I spent more time on it than just copy+paste and tailored it to Dartmouth, but alas, it's submitted .

I am so burned out from these secondaries...

AMEN

 

[dizzylizzy]

Is everyone referring to Dartmouth as Dartmouth in their secondaries lol? Or going with Geisel?

 

[Pastamahn]

Is everyone referring to Dartmouth as Dartmouth in their secondaries lol? Or going with Geisel?

I went with Geisel, but I honestly don't think it matters whether you refer to the school or the given name of the school in these secondaries.

 

[rocklobstr]

For the "Please share with us something about yourself that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and which could be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file." prompt I wrote briefly about my wife and kids, growing up in a rural area, and how I want to raise my kids/practice in the same kind of area. (aka a place like Hanover). Came out to 253 words. Sound reasonable?

I was thinking of doing something similar. I'm thinking of talking about growing up in a rural area, going to a small high school and small college, and then talking about how I want to eventually settle down, practice, and raise my children in a rural area. Does that sound like a good essay for Dartmouth?

 

[deleted702880]

I called yesterday too because my 3 credit hour biochem class converted to 2.7 semester hours in AMCAS, they told me it was fine also.... It sounded like they are getting a huge amount of calls about this...

Yeah, specifically they said something along the lines of "as long as you have the 2 years worth of organic chemistry+biochemistry classes you're good"

 

[TheRealOJ]

How much do you guys think is too much in regards to these prompts?

 

[gdb]

How much do you guys think is too much in regards to these prompts?

I was reading in the Geisel thread from last year or the year before, and one applicant called admissions to ask. According to that SDN member, they expect around a page if I remember correctly.

EDIT: Obviously, I can't speak to whether that's what they expect THIS year, but just relaying some info.

 

[TheRealOJ]

Thank you, that's about where I am with both of the prompts and I really didn't want to trim too much off of them

 

[iluvmedicine2]

Submitted my secondary today! It's my first of the cycle and I'm excited.

As far as word count, I had just over 500 words for the first prompt and just under 400 words for the second prompt.

I have a question regarding the pre-reqs...Does anyone know if Dartmouth calculates a separate science GPA just from those courses?

 

[Svenson]

I have two options for my additional information essay, both already written. The first discusses problems I plan on encountering as a physician and how to approach solutions, gained from my healthcare experiences. The second is a little more fun, a diversity essay of sorts talking about my hobby of collecting Legos and how it has given me insight related to becoming a more unique and receptive individual. Which do you guys think would be a better choice? To me, they both seem informative - the first shows I have realistic expectations and the second allows the ADCOM to get to know me more.

 

[gdb]

I have two options for my additional information essay, both already written. The first discusses problems I plan on encountering as a physician and how to approach solutions, gained from my healthcare experiences. The second is a little more fun, a diversity essay of sorts talking about my hobby of collecting Lego's and how it has given me insight related to becoming a more unique and receptive individual. Which do you guys think would be a better choice? To me, they both seem informative - the first shows I have realistic expectations and the second allows the ADCOM to get to know me more.

I think the Lego essay sounds pretty awesome myself.

 

[rocklobstr]

If I'm in school next year, and I already talked about my job in my primary application (listed as most meaningful and talked about in the personal statement), do I really need to re-hash all of that? I basically listed my courses for next year and said I'd still be at my job. I gave a one very brief description of the job. (140 words total)

 

[jagster92]

If I'm in school next year, and I already talked about my job in my primary application (listed as most meaningful and talked about in the personal statement), do I really need to re-hash all of that? I basically listed my courses for next year and said I'd still be at my job. I gave a one very brief description of the job. (140 words total)

Fwiw I did the same

Edit: just to clarify, I did what you mentioned in the last sentence, not the rehashing haha.

 

[Svenson]

If I'm in school next year, and I already talked about my job in my primary application (listed as most meaningful and talked about in the personal statement), do I really need to re-hash all of that? I basically listed my courses for next year and said I'd still be at my job. I gave a one very brief description of the job. (140 words total)

I would definitely not talk about it again, especially after already discussing it twice. You could try a diversity or "Why Dartmouth" essay.

 

[HawksWin]

I'm recycling my "describe a challenge and how you overcame it" essay from many other secondaries to answer the second question. It wasn't mentioned in my app otherwise and it fills the space so...not great but I guess it works.

 

[gdb]

Did you guys include a picture in your secondary?

 

[CellPowerhouse]

Did you guys include a picture in your secondary?

I did, because I thought it was required.

 

[gdb]

I did, because I thought it was required.

My secondary entry page says it's optional.

 

[Svenson]

My secondary entry page says it's optional.

They're gonna see your face eventually - why not just play it safe by uploading one and not risk annoying them on interview day?

 

[Teddy Skubes]

Am curious to hear another individuals take on my chances at this school before spending money on the secondary, as I am aware of their median accepted MCAT score. I am a Canadian applicant with a 4.0 cGPA/sGPA and a 32 MCAT. I would also be considered a traditional applicant, and am younger than 24. Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this question, just looking for an honest opinion before spending the extra money.

 

[gdb]

They're gonna see your face eventually - why not just play it safe by uploading one and not risk annoying them on interview day?

Yeah, I went ahead and submitted a photo. I was kind of just wondering if everybody else did.

 

[gdb]

Am curious to hear another individuals take on my chances at this school before spending money on the secondary, as I am aware of their median accepted MCAT score. I am a Canadian applicant with a 4.0 cGPA/sGPA and a 32 MCAT. I would also be considered a traditional applicant, and am younger than 24. Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this question, just looking for an honest opinion before spending the extra money.

I would say go for it, if Geisel seems like a school you would love to be a part of! I have worse stats than you, and I'm applying (32, 3.7).

 

[sandstorm223]

Geisel is quite possibly my #1 school....right up there with Brown and Michigan.

 

[iluvmedicine2]

Yes, I submitted a photo. In other news, I received a complete email today!

 

[SuperSlim]

is Dartmouth heavy on research or clinical? 90-100% on mcat a lot of clinical, minimal research..