<p>Alright I won't actually pay you, I just needed your attention</p>
<p>Early/Regular decision chances?</p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<p>I think I have legacy at Duke, but I'm not sure (my dad went to Duke law).</p>
<p>-GPA: 3.61 unweighted, 4.02 weighted
-10 Honors classes taken, 5 AP taken (all 4's and 5's on the tests)
-Will run college track if my times permit (14.91 in 110m hurdles, 41.09 in 300m hurdles), both indoor and outdoor</p>
<p>-Senior class president
-Founder and President of Philosophy Club
-Founder and President of Pyschology/Sociology Club
-President of Politics Club
-Diversity Club member- went on school trip to Canada, and hosted a student from Canada for two weeks
-Debate Club member
-"Friends of the Orphans" Club member- went on week long mission trip to an orphanage in Mexico during spring break</p>
<p>-225 Hours Community Service will be completed upon graduation (of 125 required for graduation)
-Varsity Track for school (two years JV, two years Varsity)
-Run club track during the summer and off season (Track Athlete Year Round)- went to USATF Junior Olympics NATIONALS for 110m hurdles
-Very, very good recommendations
-Graduating Summa Cum Laude from a prep school in Arizona
-School does not rank, but about 25 out of around 200 usually graduate Summa Cum Laude</p>
<p>-SAT: Math 710, Writing 780, CR 730, Total: 2220</p>
<p>-?Possibly going on a mission trip to Tanzania to help with cataract surgery for underprivileged children
-?Possibly going to study philosophy at Oxford for two weeks over the summer</p>
<p>-Wrote a very personal essay about my father's alcoholism, and how he took his own life when I was eight years old.</p>
<p>You’re not a legacy. If he wasn’t a Duke undergrad, then it doesn’t count (at least that’s what everyone I know has told me). Have you been actively recruited by any colleges, if you’re talking about track times? Anyways, your profile seems alright. Duke is probably going to be a reach for you, and Emory maybe a high match. I’m not the most qualified to give you chances, so anyone else, feel free to correct me.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t want to sound crude, but did your father really take his own life when you were just eight? It’s a powerful story, but it must also be true. Sorry to hear it though.</p>
<p>I think Duke is a reach for you (but it is for basically everyone). You have a fair shot though. Ill give you some pros and cons of your profile.</p>
<p>Pros- SAT good (any SAT II’s?). Good leadership, and if your essays and recs are as good as you say that will help. Track will help ONLY if you are being recruited and you have the coach on your side. If not, then it will probably just be like another EC on your app.</p>
<p>Cons- No hook (only undergraduates count as legacy, sorry). Your UW GPA is pretty low for Duke. While you do have good leadership, all you really have is President/Founder of clubs at your school. Those are very typical EC’s, and none of them really show that you have an interest in one area. </p>
<p>Like I said, Duke is a reach but you have a chance. I have no idea about Emory, sorry.</p>
<p>JustAnotherTry- I understand your suspicions about the story. Yes, it is absolutely true. I hate to make it sound like I’m using it to my advantage, but I have heard that powerful, personal stories can have a big impact on admissions committees. I have yet to inquire about running track at Duke, but I’ve already broken the freshman school record in the 110m hurdles at Emory, so I doubt that that will be an issue.
I’m fairly new at this whole chance inquiry thing- high match means pretty good chance, correct?</p>
<p>NCBoy- I agree that Duke is a reach for pretty much anyone. I haven’t taken my SAT II’s yet. Those EC’s honestly aren’t impressive? Haha, some people on this forum make me feel like all of my efforts have been trivial. I (sort of, unofficially) plan on double majoring philosophy and psychology, so if I mentioned that in my app, and they saw that I started and led these clubs, could it not show a strong commitment to my area of interest?</p>
<p>Both- Should I even apply ED? Duke is my dream school and first choice, but I have several others that I absolutely love, where my chances are much higher as an ED (Emory, Colgate). Should I risk it at Duke, or play it safe at my second choice?</p>
<p>I’d just bump this thread a little if I were you. There are many more qualified chancers out there; I’m the guy who just goes around giving a generally pessimistic and sometimes inaccurate opinion. That being said, I really want to apologize if it seemed like I thought you were lying or using your life experiences. I think it is a truly powerful story and the fact you have been this successful does stand out. By the way…do you have any other schools? I’d think you’d do alright with Duke ED.</p>
<p>Duke ED seems like a match for you. From what little I know about Emory, I think it’s a match too. But Duke is definitely a risk – I’d definitely evaluate how much you want to wage your ED option. If it were me, I’d go Emory ED which is a much likelier acceptance.</p>
<p>Apply to the school that is your first choice for ED. If you got into all of your schools, which one would you pick? Applying ED at Duke will increase your chances by almost double (based on numbers alone, im not an admissions officer), but your chances are improved for most ED programs. Its totally your decision- apply to a place you know you would be happy attending, even if it meant turning down other schools you might get into. You dont want to get into Emory ED and then have to live with the thought that you maybe could have gotten into Duke. But maybe you want togo with the better chance at Emory. Just be happy with the decision you make.</p>
<p>And on the leadership front, Im sorry if I came off wrong, your EC’s are definitely impressive. Being Senior Class President is awesome, and on top of that being the president of three clubs has to take a lot of time and commitment. I just meant that tons of people are the presidents of school clubs, and they are not necessarily unique. Being unique is not a golden ticket into college, but admissions offices seem to like unique EC’s after seeing the same ones over and over again. </p>
<p>And if you plan on studying the areas that you made clubs in, that would definitely help. I didnt know that fact, and was simply saying that being president of 3 different topic clubs doesnt really show focus on a subject you really love, and may come off as resume padding. But, if you plan to study those areas that it will definitely show focus, I just didnt know you wanted to study those areas before.</p>
<p>And I am not trying to make you feel like your efforts were trivial, your resume is very impressive. I was just trying to give an honest opinion, and point out that Duke is incredibly competitive to get into. I wish you the best of luck, and you have just as much of a shot as anyone else.</p>
<p>What’s your rank? At most schools a 3.6 would not be top 10% which would make Duke highly unlikely and your ED shot would be better used at a lower reach. If you’re recruited, that’s another story, but if you’re a senior amd have not been in contact with the coach, that’s also unlikely.</p>
<p>NCBoy- I totally understand where you were coming from. I’m just going to have to weigh my options and put quite a bit of thought into how important going to Duke is to me. Are you at Duke?</p>
<p>RedRoses- My school does not rank, but it has a “Summa Cum Laude” graduate title. It means that you have to have at least a 3.75 weighted GPA, take a total of at least 10 Honors and 4 AP classes, and write a thesis paper during your senior year. Usually about 20-25 out of around 200-250 graduates graduate with a Summa Cum Laude diploma. Since I will be Summa, I’m thinking I can kind of use that as a way to show that I’m in (or at least very close to) the top 10%.</p>
<p>No, Im applying ED this year. Luckily I know I want to go to Duke, and it is my number one, so the ED decision is easy for me. However, I have no idea if I will get in, so I definitely feel your pain there. Maybe well both get incredibly lucky and see each other there :)</p>