Any chance at Princeton SCEA or Duke RD

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

With early application deadlines approaching I am more confused than ever if where I should I apply early action and early decision. Right now I am deciding between Princeton SCEA and Duke ED. I really like Princeton’s atmosphere and rigor, and same with Duke’s, but I don’t want to give up a chance, for say, I get rejected/deferred from Princeton then I probably have a small chance at Duke since their RD has a significantly lower acceptance rate. But again I do want to take the risk at pton… so should I take the risk or play it a little bit safer with Duke ED? (Applying CS to Princeton’s BSE and to Duke’s Trinity school of A&S)… and also I’ve already written essays for both

For reference:

Objective:
ACT: 35 (35 E, 36 M, 34 R, 36 S, 12 W)
SAT II: Math 2 (760), Biology E (760)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/305
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio(4), World History(5), Psychology(5), Microeconomics(5), Macroeconomics(5), U.S. History(5), Calculus AB(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): isn’t offered
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, AP US Government, AP Comparative Government, AP Literature, AP Statistics, Environmental Science ,Advanced Comp. Sci. at Community College
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): few small awards - AP Scholar with Distinction, FBLA National Competition 5th Place, DECA State Competition 1st Place, State Technology Fair 1st Place, Honorable Mention at State Governor’s Economic Challenge

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Research into an area combining Computer Science with Economics (Working with CTO of DOE for fullscale implementation), Founded a Mulit-State CS Charity, Raised thousands of dollars to improve school’s technology and create a makerspace, President of FBLA Chapter and VP of Region, Lead Programmer for Robotics Team, et cetera ad nauseam
Job/Work Experience: Summer CS and Digital Marketing Internship at a Startup
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer Freshmen and Sophomore Year, Work on Charity Junior and Senior Year
Essays: Pretty Decent and Creative
Teacher Recommendations: Great
Counselor Rec:Okay/Good
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other (where it goes downhill)…
State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle
Hooks: lmao none

2

Why are you interested in Engineering at Princeton and Trinity at Duke??

Your stats are good, but as I’m sure you know the competition is stiff. It will boil down to how well you differentiate yourself using ECs.

3

Duke does not have CS in Pratt only Computer Engineering. And yeah I definitely agree about how stiff the competition is these days…

4

The hook is critical. Your stats are incredible, just try and find a way to bring it all together! Right in there with you on SCEA Princeton bro! :wink:

5

A hook is extremely crucial - I think I’ll apply Duke ED!

6

What events did you do for Fbla + Deca?

7

You look pretty solid to me. Duke is super challenging and is kind of luck of the draw. Chance me? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1930377-what-are-my-chances-for-usc-and-emory.html

8

@helpabro
FBLA - Emerging Business Issues (7 min. speech)
DECA - Entrepreneurship Start-Up Business Challenge (10 min speech with 11 page business plan)
But I kind of regret doing FBLA and DECA since I’m primarily applying to liberal arts colleges… do do FBLA/DECA thou if you want to apply to a business school like wharton