Brown/Duke Chances Please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everyone!</p>

<p>This year I'll be in the eleventh grade, so I looked at many colleges this summer. What are my chances (so far) of getting into Duke, Brown, or Princeton?</p>

<p>As a freshman and sophomore I had the highest GPA in my class. I go to a private boarding school where I have a full merit scholarship for four years that pays my tuition, as well as room and board. I won our school Citizenship Honors Award freshman and sophomore years. I take the hardest classes available to me. Both years I received an award for excellence in English. I was inducted into the International Thespian Society, Spanish Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society). I have worked on many theatre crews and acted in four plays. Last year I won a theatre award for my time devoted to the theatre department. </p>

<p>I will be an Honor Cabinet member for four years. I will also be a field hockey player for four years. I was treasurer of the theatre department last year and this year will be VP. I'll also be VP of the ecology club and president of the Key Club. I'll be literary editor of the school literary magazine and assistant editor of the yearbook. Senior year I'll be a yearbook editor. </p>

<p>Last year, I got first place in the state of NC for the Spanish II National Spanish Exam. Also, I received first place in an oratorical competition for NC and SC district with a club. </p>

<p>Since 7th grade, I have taken four courses with Duke TIP Summer Studies (Creative Writing, Social Psychology, Cinematography, and Abnormal Psychology). I have stayed at Davidson College, Duke University, and Chapman University for these courses.</p>

<p>I am an Honor Guide and regularly give school tours to prospective students. I will have been on the Orientation Committee at my school for three years. </p>

<p>I have traveled with my school to Switzerland, Italy, France, Monaco, England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, and Wales to tour these places and learn more about them. </p>

<p>My SAT goal is a 2100 at minimum. </p>

<p>What are my chances? What do I need to do to improve? Thanks so incredibly much!</p>

2

<p>Ivies are always a gamble, they turn down perfect applicants for odd reasons, so just keep that in mind.
The only thing I would improve is your SAT goal and take some AP courses. If they don’t have AP courses at your school, or they’re limited, you could also take SAT subject tests as a supplement or dual-enroll. I’d recommend taking your SAT I this fall so you can get an idea of your score and how to improve. If you find that you didn’t do as well as you had hoped, you might want to try the ACT instead; some people tend to do better on one than the other.</p>

<p>Your ECs look very good, and the type of school you attend should help.
Chances right now if you only get a 2100 on the SAT.
Princeton - reach (it is for everyone, though)
Brown - low reach
Duke - high match (taking those courses at Duke helps)</p>

<p>If you were to get your SAT up to at least a 2250, I believe your chances would change like so:
Princeton - lower reach than before
Brown - high match
Duke -match</p>

3

<p>I think if you are a little more specific on your stats (i.e. gender, race, UW/W GPA, Volunteer hours) I could give you a better shot. And getting an SAT score may help, because you have no idea where you could end up on that when you take it. The Princeton and Brown seem to be high matches so you are in the running, just Ivies are all gambles when you apply. But it does help that you live in NC for Duke, that should help you chances a lot (it sucks for me that there’s tons of great schools in NC like Chapel Hill, Duke Wake Forest, Elon, and the only good school we have is Princeton which is too hard to get into lol). Also, congratulations on the 1st place on Nat. Spanish Exam. I took it this year and came in third just in my school haha. It was pretty tough, so you must be great at Spanish. Anyways, good luck!</p>

4

<p>It’s difficult without an SAT score. A 2100 isn’t easy, even though this forum may make it seem like it is.</p>

5

<p>Assuming your SAT is a bit above your minimum (at least 2200+), you should be in at Duke. A full 15% of my class was from North Carolina, so it’s a big plus to be from there.</p>

6

<p>Sorry, but I don’t understand all of the “Must have 2200 minimum SAT” comments on this website. YES it helps, of course it helps, but here’s the average SATs for the different ivys:</p>

<pre><code>Harvard: 2195
Yale: 2195
Princeton: 2185
Columbia: 2150
Penn: 2130
Dartmouth: 2140
Cornell: 2095
Brown: 2130
</code></pre>

<p>Duke’s average was 2140 as well.
So look to score in the mid 2100’s, and unless you are trying for Harvard/Yale/Princeton you should be fine.
Well…fine, as in you’ll have a low chance of getting in just like everyone else who qualifies and applies. There is never a certainty of acceptance to any of these schools, no matter what your scores are.</p>

7

<p>I don’t know too much about this because I’m a senior as well, but being from NC should help you at Duke. Princeton is unpredictable, although I think you have a decent shot at Brown. Good Luck</p>