Chance a Blue Devil Hopeful - Trinity or Pratt!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm a rising senior struggling with the decision to apply early decision to Duke University's school of arts and sciences (Trinity) or their school of engineering (Pratt). I know both will be a reach, but I would like to know which one would be slightly less of a reach based on my stats. The schedule (though not all that impressive) was the toughest available.</p>

<p>PFROFILE:
Gender: male
Ethnicity: white
Region/State: NE Wisconsin</p>

<p>COURSEWORK:
College Credit Coursework:
Pre-Calculus (junior)
Calculus I and II (senior) *will be taken on college campus
Latin I and II (senior) *will be taken on college campus
Philosophy (senior) *will be taken on college campus
Expository Writing (senior)</p>

<p>Advanced Placement Coursework:
Biology (junior)
US History (junior)</p>

<p>Honors Language Arts 9/10 (freshman)
Honors American Literature and Composition (sophomore)
Honors Chemistry (sophomore)
Honors Economics? (senior)</p>

<p>ACADEMIC:
4.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (our school doesn't have weighted courses)
Class Rank: 1 of 312
PSAT 95th percentile
Composite ACT Score: 33 (either within or above mid 50 percentile at all 4 schools for class of 2013)
English - 36
Math - 33
Reading - 34
Science - 29 (not proud of this one)
Combined English/Writing - 31 (8/12 W)
High Honor Roll (freshman, sophomore, junior)
A.P. Biology Exam Score: 5
APUSH Exam Score: 5</p>

<p>HONORS AND AWARDS:
Cross Country Most Improved Award (freshman)
Cross Country Varsity Letter (freshman, sophomore, junior, probably senior)
Track and Field Varsity Letter (freshman, sophomore, junior, probably senior)
Received certification in CPR =) (May 2010)</p>

<p>COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Summer 2009/2010
National Railroad Museum (80+ hours)
Conductor
Inventory Assistant</p>

<p>2008 – present
Student Assistant at high school (15+ hours)
Student Resource Center assistant (2008)
Math Resource Center assistant (15 hours)</p>

<p>May 2010
Helped out at GB Cellcom Marathon Kids Run (~3 hours)
Helped raise money for Malawi Well Project at my school (~3 hours)</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP:
Invited to attend the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) (2010)
Cross Country Team Captain (2010 season)</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
Track and Field Varsity Team
Cross Country Varsity Team
National Honor Society (junior, senior)
Student Assistant (freshman, junior)
Student Resource and Math Resource Centers
Metro Math League
Attended math meets (February – March 2010)
Science Bowl Team (February 2010)
American Math Competition (February 2010)</p>

<p>ACADEMIC GOALS AND INTERESTS:
Pursue a major in Biomedical Engineering or Biochemistry.
Apply for an AFROTC scholarship.</p>

<p>OTHER:
Essays should be decent
Recommendations from APUSH, AP Bio, English, and Math teachers. Maybe one from college professor?</p>

<p>Would no science class my senior year (due to a scheduling conflict) significantly hurt my chances? And if I get rejected by either Trinity or Pratt early decision, can I apply to the other during regular decision?</p>

2

<p>buuummmp:)</p>

3

<p>Anyone???</p>

4

<p>Your ACT and GPA/class rank give you a good shot at Duke. I would recommend applying to the School of Arts and Sciences rather than the School of Engineering, though, because I feel like your lack of a science class senior year and your 29 on the science portion of the ACT would hurt you more for Engineering. Similarly, I think your 36 on the English portion of the ACT would be appreciated more by Trinity.</p>

5

<p>Thanks, that’s kinda what I was leaning towards. Anyone else? </p>

<p>Could it hurt if I’m tied for 1/312 with like 15 other kids who have not taken advanced courses and also have 4.0 GPA?</p>

6

<p>bump…</p>

<p>Is 33 ACT good enough for Trinity?? I’m thinking about retaking in September, but would like to avoid spending the money and stressing out if it’s unnecessary.</p>

7

<p>Don’t worry about the other kids at your school. Class rank is important, but adcoms well understand that rank is calculated in different ways at different schools. Adcoms like to see kids taking hard classes.
Engineering will wonder a bit about the lack of physics - be very sure to explain that.
You might look at taking the SATs - try a sample test and if you think you will do better on that than the ACT,then take it. Your strong English and Math may result in a better SAT score than ACT.</p>