Chance me for Duke (Double Legacy)?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello! I'm a rising senior planning to apply to Duke, and I'm pretty sure that it's my first choice. I'm not sure if I should apply ED, so any advice on that front would be greatly appreciated. I would love to go to Duke and it seems like a really great fit, but the whole "binding-contract" thing kinda scares me. If you could also chance me for Kenyon and Wesleyan, that would be great :)</p>

<p>Note: My schedule is either the toughest or nearly the toughest available at my school.</p>

<p>PROFILE
Caucasian Female
Region: Southern Illinois/St. Louis Area
School: Very large public
GPA: 4.839w (on 5.0 scale)
Class Rank: 19/592
Potential Hook: Double Legacy through both of my grandparents on my father's side
Note: GPA/class rank increased substantially after freshman year. My only B's were in two courses my freshman year and I've gotten straight A's ever since.</p>

<p>ACT Composite: 30 (going to retake in September after seriously studying math/science)
English: 35
Math: 26
Reading: 34
Science: 25
Writing: 11</p>

<p>FRESHMAN
French 1-2 ("1-2" etc denotes the semesters of high school for which the course is offered)
Honors Algebra I
Honors Biology 1-2
Honors World History 1-2
Honors English 1-2
Symphonic Wind Ensemble </p>

<p>SOPHOMORE
French 3-4
Honors Geometry
Honors English/Honors Oral Communications
Honors Civics/Economics
Honors Chemistry
Wind Ensemble (Best concert band at our school)
Top Vocal Jazz ensemble</p>

<p>JUNIOR
Honors French 5-6 (languages become honors courses junior year)
Honors American Studies (combined Honors Eng/Am. Hist course)
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Physics
Wind Ensemble
Top Vocal Jazz Ensemble</p>

<p>SENIOR - REGISTERED
Honors French 7-8
Honors Trig/PreCalc 7-8
Honors/AP Biology
Honors Writing/Honors Eng. 8
Honors Psychology/Honors Sociology
Wind Ensemble
Top Vocal Jazz Ensemble</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR
Marching Band (9, 10, 11, 12)
Concert Band (9, 10, 11, 12)
-in top concert band/wind ensemble (10, 11, 12)
-1st chair French Horn
Top Vocal Jazz Ensemble (10, 11, 12)
-will be an 8 person group (12), I will be one of 2 altos
-made ILMEA All-district (10, 11, 12?)
-made ILMEA All-State for Vocal Jazz as a junior (only offered to upperclassmen), one of 9 altos in entire state of IL
French Club (9, 10, 11, 12)
Newspaper (9, 10, 11)
Theatre (9, 10, 11, 12)
-multiple starring and supporting roles
Member of French Honor Society, English Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Thespian Society, NHS (all 11, 12)
Cantor at my diocese's Cathedral
Student Teacher/helper for local Catholic PSR Program (10, 11, 12) (like a sunday school)
Employed at local Dairy Queen (11, 12??)
Take piano/music theory, french horn, and voice lessons
In a 2-person band, Archimedes Fan Club</p>

<p>AWARDS
*Won National Anthem Competition for State of IL through rigorous ILMEA Auditions, one of ~10 vocalists in entire state. Will sing the National Anthem for the IHSA '14 Girls Volleyball State Finals to crowd of ~10,000. The principal and the music teachers will attend with me as an honor
*High Honor Roll </p>

<p>LEADERSHIP
Mellophone/French Horn section leader for marching band (12)
-organize sectionals to help other members improve music and marching, responsible for actions and performance of section
Vocal Jazz Alto Section Leader (11, 12)
-lead altos to correct ILMEA location, sign them up for ILMEA audition times
President of French Club (12)
-spearhead meetings, organize fundraisers and group activities, lead club on field trips, order club items, lead other officers
Features, Centerspread, and Editorial Editor for Newspaper (10, 11)
PSR Student Teacher (10, 11, 12)
-assist adult teacher in explaining theological points, gathering documents, errands
Leader of a Luke 18 group (official title: Disciple)
-organize/teach/guide group of middle schoolers in a Catholic church retreat
Invited to sing at local Cancer Benefit Concert, performed original songs</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER WORK
Server/cook at Cathedral Parish/St. Vincent dePaul free breakfast for the needy
-provide a free hot meal to needy/underprivileged locals every Saturday
Assist in babysitting local girl with Autism</p>

<p>Essays: good
Recommendations: good/excellent (from music teacher/band director, French teacher, guidance counselor, possibly English teacher)</p>

<p>OTHER
Intended major: English as a Pre-Law, minor in French
Intended career: Attorney (not sure which area yet)
Plan to apply for many, many scholarships
Plan to do post-grad English teaching in France through a specific program</p>

<p>OTHER COLLEGES
Kenyon, Wesleyan, NYU, UC Berkeley, CU Boulder, UChicago, Creighton, possibly Millikin (RD for all)</p>

<p>Final thoughts: How much will my double legacy help me out? Do you think that I should apply ED for Duke or just go with RD? Where do I stand with the other colleges listed? Where are my weaknesses and strengths?</p>

<p>Thank you so, so much for your time. I really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>ED if you can raise that ACT score since it will make use of that legacy status</p>

3

<p>A few years ago I would have put your chances at Duke ED very high, and everywhere else would have been moot. But in the last couple of years I have seen double legacies with stats similar to yours (always hard to compare EC’s) get turned down, although I cannot remember if they were ED or RD. And these were parents as alums, not grandparents. There was even one triple legacy in there that got turned downs, although in that case the stats were all in the bottom 25% for Duke. I am not sure how much it matters if your legacy is parents or grandparents. They might look to see how much your grandparents have donated over the years, since let’s be honest. The only reason legacies get any preference is because of the increased giving they expect when a family is connected to a school. Your GPA is higher than the ones I can recall, although theirs were good too. I am assuming that when you say a 5.0 scale you mean an A=4.0 for a non-honors and non-AP course, and you get a bump for grades in those classes. It is also a small advantage that your grades since freshman year are all A’s, although you really didn’t need any further help in the GPA part of your stats.</p>

<p>So while I think you have a good chance, there is no doubt that if you could get that ACT up even a point it would help. Also I think the fact that the math/science subject areas are dragging your score down will work in your favor, especially since your intended major is far from these. Have you tried the SAT as well? If you could get 2100+ on that it would also be better. 2100 SAT = 31 ACT more or less.</p>

<p>So having said all that, applying ED should help your chances at Duke, if that is where you really want to go. But you should be sure that is where you want to be. ED is binding, not legally but definitely ethically. Especially since your GC and your school suffer if you were to back out for any reason other than financial, which seems unlikely to be an issue.</p>

<p>ACT is only weakness I can see, and that is only relative to Duke. A 30 is very strong in the bigger picture. Obviously your EC’s are centered around music, and schools often like that since you appear to have excellent vocal and other musical skills.</p>

<p>You should have no trouble at all getting into Colorado (this school in particular seems like an outlier on your list. Any particular reason you are applying here?), Kenyon, Creighton and Milliken. Chicago and Wesleyan are a lot like Duke in terms of selectivity, and you have no legacy at either, I presume. Somewhat lower odds for those schools, maybe one in three. NYU I would think is likely to be a yes. Berkeley is a bit harder to say because you are OOS, but again I would say more likely than not. Maybe 50-50 there. As your stats currently stand, of course. If you get a 32 on the ACT and your grades stay the same, your chances obviously improve. Do Duke, Wesleyan or Chicago become better than 50-50? Probably not, simply because they are so hard to get into anyway. But obviously the chances improve.</p>

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<p>Can u afford duke w/o a lot of financial aid?</p>

5

<p>Thank you guys so much; these answers were so helpful.</p>

<p>Duke is definitely my top choice, esp. in terms of environment, programs (related to major, etc) and opportunities. I think that I would belong on the campus. Finances shouldn’t really be a huge problem. Looking at other financial aid packages would be appealing, but I love Duke and the cost is. </p>

<p>Duke’s website says that each legacy (parent & grandparent) gives the application an additional review, and siblings are just noted through the admissions office. So I’m assuming that parents & grandparents have near-equal weight (at least in theory) but who knows.</p>

<p>I definitely plan to get that ACT score up. Do you think that the 11 on the writing will count for anything?</p>

<p>CU Boulder because we have a lot of family out there, some property, I really like the area, etc. It would be convenient, but that’s really more of a safe school than anything else. As is Millikin. </p>

<p>What would you say, in terms of percentages, are my chances with current stats, ED, and double legacy?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>bump for last reply</p>

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<p>@lsmith1594‌ - Wow, percentages are pretty worthless. There are wayyyy too many variables we cannot know. I mean even besides the things we cannot see in your app, such as the essays and the recommendations, there is the quality of the applicant pool that year, as well as the number of qualified apps they receive.</p>

<p>But actually I do have another question I missed before. Does your school offer other AP courses besides biology? If so, how many?</p>

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<p>@fallenchemist‌ It only offers AP Chem and AP Bio. The rest are honors with the exception of a few classes (such as American Studies, Eng. 8, Honors Writing, Junior and Senior level languages, Advanced Physics) through which you can receive college credit via a partnership with SLU. So those aforementioned classes are roughly the equivalent of additional AP courses. </p>

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<p>@lsmith1594‌ - OK, that’s good. Otherwise the lack of AP courses would have been a big negative, but it sounds like you have taken about as rigorous a schedule as your school offers. You just want to make that clear to all the schools you apply to, although your GC is supposed to do that. It just never hurts to be sure.</p>

<p>So with the caveat that this is just “for fun”, the last year Duke gives statistics for, 2011-2012, they took 645 students out of 2227 that applied for ED. That’s 29%. Given your particular parameters, my own guess is that you are slightly less likely to have those odds, so maybe 20-25%. However, i think those odds shoot up a lot if you get the test score up. With a 32 maybe up to twice that likely, or about 40% or so. Again, that’s knowing nothing about your essays, your recs, or the number and quality of applicants you will be competing against. Just to be clear.</p>

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<p>I think this OP should take SAT I & II for Duke. ACT shows weak math and science scores. SAT route requires showing only a math score. Grandparents must count less than parents.</p>

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<p>@rhg3rd

Not necessarily. In fact if you operate under the premise that legacy admissions are more about money than anything else or even all about money, then it would be easy to postulate that grandparents would count more, since they are more likely to have money to donate, assuming they have done fairly well in life as far as accumulating wealth. After all the parents are about to spend buckets of money sending their child to school, and most likely at least one other. And the grandparents would be very proud to have a grandchild attending their alma mater, especially since they both went, and especially since their child obviously made a different disappointing choice of which college to attend ;)</p>

<p>Now I don’t really think legacy is 100% about money, I think there is an element of tradition and loyalty involved, but I do think it is more about the money than those reasons.</p>