Chance me, Duke ED please :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Ethnicity: White Male
GPA: 3.8 (Attending one of the best private schools in America, and the biggest in the US)
(Very distinct upward trend in grades and rigor)

ACT: 33 S, 31 C (35 Sci, 34 R, 32 M, 31 E) 9 W

AP’s: Chem (4), APUSH (4), AB Calc, Physics, Econ. (My school places you in AP courses, so they are not totally available. You can’t just sign up for and take them. You have to qualify based on the school’s requirements.)

Senior Year classes: AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Econ, Honors English 4, Honors French 5, Honors Symphonic Winds. (First quarter grades are all A’s)

EC’s: Varisty Soccer (9, 10, 11, 12, State Championships in 9th, and semifinalists 2 other times)
Club Soccer (Captain, and playing in the most competitive division our state offers. 9, 10, 11, 12)
Symphonic band (top band in our high school, 1st chair alto sax, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Jazz Band (first chair alto sax, 11, 12)
Work Experience: Waiter/Host (10, 11, 12)
Had other small EC’s that I did throughout high school but these are the most impactful and time consuming ones I think

Essays: I feel that I did very well on them including the supplemental essays and had several qualified people say they were really good (9 out of 10).

Rec’s: I feel both of my teachers wrote really good recs (8 out of 10)

-Feedback appreciated! I’m just trying to get a feel of my chances. Thank you in advance! Try not to be too harsh on me please :). Good luck to everyone who applied this year!

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Ps: I applied to the Trinity school

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I take it you’re not being recruited for soccer which is your main EC?

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No, I decided that I wanted to do bigger things. I did report that I wanted to continue it with one of their clubs, which is just as competitive but not as time consuming. @Falcon1

5

Is your GPA weighted or unweighted

What state?

Intended major?

How many APs are offered at your school?

What is your approx class rank?

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@sgopal2
Weighted out of 4.5, Georgia, Neuroscience, Computer Science, or Economics. A good amount of AP’s are available, but they are not available to everyone meaning probably only the top 10ish takes them I’m guessing. (I see the same people in most of my AP classes). And our school does not rank.

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Duke rates each student along a scale with 6 dimensions as outlined here http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2015/03/ferpa-request-gives-inside-look-duke-admissions-process

Based upon what you’ve provided, here is my best guess at what you’ll be rated

HS Curriculum 4 or 5
Achievement 4
Recs 4
Essays 4 or 5
ECs 3
Test scores 4

For Trinity, your total score will probably be in the range of 46 to 50. This is on the borderline of being competitive. If you end up getting a rating of a 4 on your essay and another 4 for curriculum you run the risk of being auto-denied. My guess is that you will be deferred in the ED round to RD. Students who get accepted ED generally have at least 3 ratings of 5.

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@sgopal2 If one is submitting just the ACT, what score would get him a 5? Also, how would Duke interpret @Dndaniell16 's strong upward trend in his WGPA? (In a similar situation)

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@sgopal2 How can you get a score in the range of 46-50 if there are 6 components each with a maximum value of
5? Can you explain please?

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@resonated the ACT score cutoff for a 5 is probably 34 or 35. This varies from year to year. They simply just take all of the prior year applicants and divide into equal quintiles. The lowest quintile gets a 1, and the highest is a 5. Strong upward trend will probably be taken into consideration at time of committee deliberation.

@penny47 the scoring is not a simple sum. The test scores are doubled for Trinity and tripled for Pratt. I believe Pratt also triples the grades. This is all outlined in Rachel Toors book if you want more details.

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@sgopal2 How does one grade EC’s? Just curious.

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I agree, how can EC’s be graded? If you do what you are passionate in, your EC’s are already the highest ‘grade’ in my book.

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Again take a look at Rachel Toor’s book if you want more details. But briefly a 5 would require significant achievement at the international or national level. 4 is slightly below that. 3 is for state level or regional distinction and so on.

I am not a Duke admissions reader so I have no idea how you will be rated. But I don’t see anything that would warrant higher than a 3 for ECs. Passion is good, but unfortunately it can’t be assigned a number. This will be taken into consideration at time of committee review.

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What is the difference between EC’s and Achievements?

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Achievement is more like and award, honor, publication etc. that you would receive for an extracurricular activity.

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I believe Achievement refers to an applicant’s academic success (Grades/Rank).

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Oh got it… Thanks Guys…
You guys all applied to Duke?

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Achievement refers to academic achievement. Read the Duke chronicle article carefully for details