Can College Kid Catch Committee's Consideration and Convert into Cameron Crazy?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Haha, I know that the title doesn't make much sense, but I recently rediscovered alliteration and wanted to try it out some more. Anyways, I have decided that Duke is now my first choice (rejected by Yale, but I already put it past me). My interest first began watching the basketball team on TV, and always wanting to be a Cameron Crazie (funny article here at <a href="http://espn.go.com/page2/s/cameron/hits.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://espn.go.com/page2/s/cameron/hits.html&lt;/a&gt;). Anyways, last year I thoroughly researched the school and realized that it was an excellent fit for me academically, socially, and many other -ally's. I have a couple of questions. Firstly, would it be looked down upon by the adcoms if I talked about basketball games in my "Why Duke?" essay? Also, what would do you think my chances are?</p>

<p>This is the only forum other than the general one where I ask my chances.</p>

<p>Applying to Trinity
White/male</p>

<p>I go to a prestigious (impossible not to sound pompous here) prep school; in the top 100 in the nation.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.15 (W); don’t know UW
School doesn’t rank, but I’d guess top 25% in a smaller-sized class
6 AP’s, many honors classes; courseload is considered rigorous, but not the most difficult possible. </p>

<p>ACT: Composite-34
English-35, Math-31, Reading-34, Science-35, Comb.English/Writing-32, Writing Score- 9 (What??? I thought it was really good, too!) </p>

<p>Most important extra-curriculars</p>

<p>Varsity Baseball (11-12)
JV Baseball (9-10)
Off-Season Baseball Leagues, etc (9-12)
Varsity Cross Country (10)
Ihigh.com Sports Writer (10-11)
JV Soccer (11)
Class Secretary (9); I also ran for class vice president twice (not that it matters, but at least shows that I tried to be a leader!)
Beta Club
Ultimate Frisbee (10-11); not-quite-official school team, that I play just for fun
Gourmet Club (9-10); wish I still had time for this. Such good food!</p>

<p>As you can see, baseball is my most meaningful extra-curricular. It is by far my most time-consuming and rewarding activity. I was recruited by a few Division III schools (will not help me at Duke, though).</p>

<p>Awards:
1) National Merit Commended
2) Spanish National Honor Society
2) Some honor rolls</p>

<p>That’s it.</p>

<p>Work experience:
No “real” jobs, but a couple of a cool things that I’ve done that I’m proud of.</p>

<p>Intern for production company (Summer before 11th grade): Long story, but I ended up getting to go out to Los Angeles and work on a major film set. Did lots of “interesting” odd jobs, and by interesting I mean mostly getting to move boxes and direct traffic.</p>

<p>Head coach/umpire for baseball (Summer before 12th grade): Very enlightening experience for me. I coached a little league team in a lower/middle class area. I did this completely on a whim; the team was going to have to forfeit because they had no coach. I know its cliche, but it really taught me a lot about being a responsible adult and helping out others. Also umpired games, even though I had no idea what I was doing.</p>

<p>Recommendations: 1 outstanding, 1 pretty good.</p>

<p>Thank you all for any help, and I hope to see some of you next year in Durham!</p>

2

<p>
[quote]
Firstly, would it be looked down upon by the adcoms if I talked about basketball games in my "Why Duke?" essay?

[/quote]

It can be part of it, but definitely not all of it. There is SO much more to Duke than just basketball, and you better be sure they know you know that. (And if you didn't know that, you may want to find out more about Duke before making it your first choice.)</p>

<p>That said, you have a really good chance of admission this spring. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Ay caramba: Sorry for the misleading question. I meant to ask if it would be unwise to just mention basketball games, not write the whole thing about them. I assumed that b-ball is a big draw for many prospective students, and that the adcoms may get sick of reading about how great it is that the Blue Devils laid a beating on Texas last week. As I mentioned, I have spent an ungodly amount of hours on Duke's website, and have found that it would be an almost-perfect fit for me. Now all I have to do is get in! That should be easy right (sarcasm)? I am continually amazed at how many extremely qualified candidates are being deferred/rejected at schools with similar selectivity to Duke. Anyways, thanks checking in ay caramba. Anyone else game for some predictions?</p>

4

<p>I WASN'T FINISHED YET haha jk
Have you ever visited? I think the admissions committee likes to hear that you have. But yeah, you're very qualified anyway. Definitely try to visit before choosing to come here though, not to raise a red flag or anything, Duke's campus is amazing and shouldn't turn you off to the school. Just remember that endless hours on a website isn't always the best way to get to know a college... What major are you considering?</p>

5

<p>Ay caramba: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to visit; I am trying to set up a visit, but so far have been unsuccessful (family issues). Don't worry, I do realize that websites are not the best way to get to know a college, but that and word of mouth are all I've got right now. As for a major, that's a whole different story. I've managed to narrow it down to anything other than pre-med related, solely because hospitals make me queasy. If you put me on the spot, though, I'd say an economics-related field.</p>

6

<p>Don't worry too much about visiting; I didn't visit until Spring Break of my senior year.</p>

7

<p>Mentioning basketball doesn't seem like a good idea to me not because it's a little tired, but because unless you have plans to be part of the b-ball program, it doesn't really tell anything about you. A lot of apps "demonstrate interest" by rattling off all they know about Duke, but adcoms already KNOW all about Duke--they want to know about you. You want your essay to convey how you'll benefit and contribute at Duke, ideally by tying it into your HS record and ECs. Example(s): Your coaching/community involvement experience is something you hope to continue/expand on in Durham. The "go for it" attitude you took to umpiring you want to apply to [blank] at Duke. You're interested in Duke in LA (the film/tv program with USC), etc... </p>

<p>I want to be a Cameron Crazie is a dud.</p>

8

<p>Greenshirt: Thank you for your comments. I also got the sense that they would get upset after hearing about basketball over, and over, and over again; kind of like how a place like NYU would get sick of, "OMG I LOVE THE SHOPPING IN NYC!!!!" I just thought that it would be a plus for me, because I have a history of being a "vocal" fan of my high school teams, though I won't get into that. My only problem now is that I want to write so much, but have so little space. What would be a reasonable amount of words to go over the limit (assuming there isn't any filler)? Also, I want to talk about doing community service like I did this summer, but I have heard that the relationship between Duke and Durham is "strained". Would it be unwise to talk about the community when many people consider it a low point of Duke?</p>

<p>Wow, that's a lot of questions! It's understandable if no one can answer them.</p>

9

<p>"Would it be unwise to talk about the community when many people consider it a low point of Duke?"</p>

<p>Just the opposite! Check out the Duke & Durham link on the Duke web page. The Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, the Community Service Center, etc...</p>

<p>I don't know if other colleges feature the same sort of thing as extensively. If not, then it seems like a great thing to fix on as to "Why Duke." </p>

<p>Relations are strained because nearby residents aren't down with loud, large off-campus parties and, more largely and generally, because of a socio-economic divide between school and community; this, of course, also presents opportunity for involvement and experience that you're not going to find so easily in Princeton or Palo Alto. </p>

<p>Anway, School'fool, I don't know you, so I don't want to push you in this direction unless it makes sense for you. In other words, don't b.s. on your essays--it's dangerous.</p>

10

<p>"Anway, School'fool, I don't know you, so I don't want to push you in this direction unless it makes sense for you. In other words, don't b.s. on your essays--it's dangerous."</p>

<p>Greenshirt: Actually, what you said is exactly what I'm looking forward to in college (among other things, of course). It's about time that I got more involved in the community. I've definitely lived a fortunate life, and have been surrounded by other fortunate people for as long as I can remember (this happens when you live in a wealthy suburb). The problem with this is that it is easy to forget just how lucky I am to have everything I need to live a happy life; I feel that working with under-privileged people Durham will keep me well-grounded and serve as a constant reminder of what's really important in life. Sorry if that was too preachy/emo/condescending, it's just the way I feel.</p>

11

<p>Well in my Why Duke? essay, I had a brief part on basketball. It connected in, and was a true anecdote, although I bet they won't think it's true. I guess the basketball part is way overdone in all the apps, but I think the rest of the essay is really really good, personal and creative (i hope it will help my essay stand out), in my opinion. I'm proud of it. I really want to go to Duke, so I tried to make it shine in my essay.</p>

12

<p>I'm gonna bump this up. I also want to know, what do you students at Duke think of the courseload? How many hours of homework per night? How many nights per week are you studying? Weeks per year? Years per century? Century per millenium? I'll settle for an answer to the first two, if necessary.</p>

<p>Edit- 50th post!!!! WOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO</p>