Chance me for BME! Duke ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Heyy so I'm a rising senior and I'm freaking out about the college process...I would really appreciate any and all recommendations as to how I can strengthen my resume to be as powerful an applicant as I can...Thanks! I WILL CHANCE BACK IF YOU POST A LINK</p>

<p>Demographics:</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Race: Asian-Indian
State: NC
School Type: Very Competitive Public (Top 300), 7-point scale. We usually have 5-6 kids get into Ivies and Duke.
Financial Aid: Yes to privates, No to publics
College Major: BME (Aspiring to become a neurologist)
GPA (Projected for end of this year): 4.91 W, 3.91 UW
Class Rank as of 1st Semester Junior Year: 5/445
Essays and Recommendations (AP Biology and AP English teachers along with supplementary rec from the doctor I interned for and counselor) will all be stellar</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2000 (CR: 650, M: 680, W: 670, E: 10) WILL RETAKE
ACT: 30 (E: 30, M: 30, R: 33, S: 27, E: 8) WILL RETAKE
PSAT: 186 ugh… (CR: 63, M: 58, W: 65)
Subject Tests: Math II-760, Biology-680, Spanish w/ Listening-Not Taken
AP Tests (P=Projected):</p>

<p>APES: 4
AP Biology: P5
AP Psychology: P5
AP Calculus BC: P4, AB subscore P5
AP English L/C: P5</p>

<p>Sophomore Writing Test: 4, 20/20</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Honors English 1: A
Honors Geometry: A
Honors Biology: A
Honors World History: A
Sports Medicine/Athletic Training 1: A
Spanish 2: A
Debate 1: A
PE/Health: A</p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0
GPA W: 4.5
PSAT: 167</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors English II: A
Honors Algebra II: A
Honors Chemistry: A
Honors Spanish III: A
Honors Civics/Economics: A
Honors Pre-Calculus: A
AP Environmental Science: A
Debate II: A</p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0
GPA W: 5.0
PSAT: 178</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Calculus AB: B (Final)
AP Calculus BC: B, but a good chance I can bump up to an A
AP Biology II: A (Final)
AP Psychology: A (Final)
AP English Language/Composition: B, but a good chance i can bump up to an A
Honors Spanish IV: 90/B, very little chance I could bump up to an A
Physical Conditioning I: A (Should have taken Honors Debate III but because of budget cuts Debate was no longer a class)</p>

<p>Projected UW GPA (considering I get As in BC Calculus and English): 3.71
Projected W GPA (considering I get As in BC Calculus and English): 5.29</p>

<p>Senior Year:
AP Chemistry II
AP Literature
AP Spanish V
AP U.S. History
AP Human Geography
AP Statistics
Honors Debate IV</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars:</p>

<p>Part of our school’s community service program (requires 25 hours per year of community service each year)
Freshman Year: 25 hours at the YMCA
Sophomore Year: 25 hours at the YMCA
Junior Year: 25 hours in the E.D. at Carolina’s Medical Center</p>

<p>Debate(9-12):
Co-Captain of Debate Team and Public Forum Debate Head Junior Year, Will be All-Team Captain Senior Year
Only active junior to compete in tournaments in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades</p>

<p>HOSA(10-12):Not an officer, but I partake in the officer meetings and help plan trips to regional and state competitions; hoping to be President senior year</p>

<p>Internship:
70-hour academic medical internship at a private neurology practice last summer where I shadowed the head doctor and assisted in the research department. Also, I wrote a paper on the effects of Parkinson’s disease on the body.
Will complete another 70-hour internship at the same practice where I will complete a case study and hope to get a paper published in a medical journal.</p>

<p>Spanish Club(11-12):
President (12), Vice-President (11)
Help in organizing community service events for Spanish club members (over 100)</p>

<p>Spanish Honor Society (10-12):
President Junior year and will remain President Senior year
Have tutored Spanish I and II students 2-3 times/week since sophomore year</p>

<p>Student Humanitarian Organization (10-11):
Co-founder
Secretary 10th grade, President 11th grade
Raised money for countries in need of aid who have been affected by natural disasters
PROBLEM: THIS CLUB HAS BEEN CUT THIS YEAR. Should I still mention this club on my application?</p>

<p>Awards:
Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society): 11-12
Spanish Honor Society: 10-12
National Honor Society: 11-12
Junior Marshall
HOSA (10): Placed 9th in Kaiser Permanente Health Care Exam and 10th in Nutritional Knowledge Test at State Competition
HOSA (11): Placed 9th in Job-Seeking Skills (Regionals) and 3rd in Nutritional Knowledge Test at State Competition (Qualified for Nationals)</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>With those math test scores, I’d honestly say it’s a reach. Being from North Carolina helps, but the 25th percentile for accepted students to Pratt for the Math SAT is 750 and you’re a 70 points below that. Raise your math to 750+ or 33+ on the ACT, and I think your chances improve considerably. You certainly have accomplished a lot though and should be proud of your accomplishments! But I’d focus on raising those test scores, particularly for math. (Although the 650 for CR is below the 25th percentile of 690 as well…)</p>

<p>[Duke</a> University Admissions: Class of 2013 Profile](<a href=“http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2013profile.html]Duke”>http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2013profile.html)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Yeah my main focus right now is getting those SATs and ACTs up (I’m taking the SAT next weekend and ACT right after that). I’m hoping to hit a 730 in CR, 750 in M, and high 700’s in W, because that seems realistic. Will the fact that I took Calculus BC junior year help also?
And I MIGHT take Physics C next year in place of AP Chemistry, if we get enough students to request it.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>It certainly shows a commitment to math, and if you do well in the class that might somewhat negate your (relatively) poor math SAT. It clearly doesn’t hurt. If you can get an A/B in Calculus BC you honestly should easily get a 750+ on the Math SAT if you study. Unless your school grads incredibly easy. The level of math on the SAT is not even remotely close. I don’t mean this to be judgmental, but rather to provide encouragement that if you can do so well in an advanced math course (Calculus) your junior year, with a bit more studying you should definitely be able to attain your goals in SAT/ACT math.</p>

<p>In regards to AP Physics C vs. AP Chem, it won’t really make a difference which one you take. Either is solid so take which one you think you’d enjoy the most.</p>

5

<p>Scores are low.</p>

<p>For example, class of 2012 had a 32-35 ACT. Factoring in the nearly normal distribution, there is a considerable difference between 30 and 32.</p>

6

<p>So considering I get my scores up, what would my chances be?</p>

7

<p>Duke admitted 14.86% of applicants this year. So let’s say a 15% chance.</p>

8

<p>Why did the acceptance rate become so much lower than last year? It was about 21% back then.</p>

9

<p>Yeah…that’s kind of odd. And I’m applying to Pratt, so that’s a different entity?</p>

10

<p>The rate is a lot lower because more people are beginning to realize that Duke is an elite university (ranked 14th best in the world [World’s</a> Best Universities: Top 400 - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html]World’s”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html)) so more and more people apply- over 33% rise in applications this year, for example. Therefore, with more people applying for those ~1700 spots, the acceptance rate would obviously be lower. There’s also this interesting NY Times article out there talking about how the economic climate right now has caused more universities to accept less people and rely more off of their waitling lists (Duke had 3000+ kids on their WL this year).</p>

<p>EDIT: Yeah Pratt is a part of Duke, but it essentially is a different entity because the applications there obviously focus more towards engineering/math/science. The good news in your case is that Pratt has a slightly higher acceptance rate than Trinity (<a href=“http://admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2013profile.html[/url]”>Apply - Duke Undergraduate Admissions) yet the bad news is that Pratt’s SAT/ACT scores are higher than Trinity’s. But, good luck and just work hard in school/ECs/college app and you might just end up here next year!</p>

11

<p>Alright, that makes sense now, thanks. Yeah I’m really working like crazy to get my SAT and ACT up, because right now i’m not faring too well. But everything else looks up to par right?
I appreciate all the feedback!</p>

12

<p>Oh btw, I’m attending Summer Ventures in Science in Math, which is a state-funded month-long science and math program over the summer where I stay in a dorm at a college (not gonna say which for privacy reasons lol) and study science and math, basically haha. It’s pretty prestigious considering roughly 1500 kids applied and only 300 got in (this is what a rep told me).</p>

<p>So yeah, anymore feedback? :smiley:
I’ll chance you if you post a link!</p>

13

<p>The worst part for next year is that Duke will see a surge in application (average of 8% based on a study some years ago) due to the NCAA BBall Championship.</p>

14

<p>Seriously? Ugh, I never thought I’d say this, but I think I hate basketball now haha (been playing my whole life).
So what do you think my chances would be, noobcake (relatively, considering one can’t give accurate chances)?</p>