Chance me for Duke ED and Cal!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hi everyone! New to reddit but very anxious about college. I plan on ED Duke and applying to Cal and maybe UCLA. Let me know if you need any additional information!

Demographics: Nonbinary w/ male name, Iranian and a little bit Latinx, Canadian-born, Philly suburban student (dual citizenship), Middle Class, Medium sized school

Intended Major(s): Not sure if I want to apply for Chemistry at COC or some sort of applied biology major

SAT: 1550 SAT, one try
UW/W GPA and Rank:

Okay this part is going to be sort of weird and I’m going to explain further at the bottom.

In my freshman year, my mom suffered a stroke and I spent 3-4 hours a day taking care of her. During this time, a student was also harassing me to the point of he was taking pictures of my house and even attempted to enter my property with a weapon. Mind you this all happened during Covid times as well.

My freshman year GPA wasn’t even that bad but it is not competitive compared to these schools. I think I had a 3.5 unweighted and a 3.7/4.75 at the time. weighted.

Since then, I have had perfect grades and perfect grades in dual enrollment at multiple colleges. I am working on an associates degree in science (taking Organic Chem, Neuroscience, Calc 3, etc) of which I have a 4.0.

So my unweighted has been brought up to like a 3.85, and my weighted is a 4.2/4.75. Which is fine. But my UC GPA (not counting freshman year) is 5.0.

The worst part, however, is my class rank. I am in the top 30% (top quartile) of my class due to rampant grade inflation. I believe my counselor will preface this in the rec letter.

Coursework
Relevant Coursework: AP Calculus BC (5), AP Physics C (didnt take), AP Psychology (5), AP Chemistry (5), AP Government and Politics (pending), AP Human (5), AP English Language (4), AP Computer Science Principles (5), AP Bio (3), APUSH (3)

Dual Enrollment courses at Local CC: Biology 2, Neuroscience, Organic Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, English 2, Art (for uc) I also did an Organic Chem independent study at my school bc my school ran out of chem classes (i like chem) and acted as TA for some of my teacher’s AP classes.

Senior Course load: AP Physics C: E&M, AP Lit, AP, AP Stats, Linear Algebra, AP French, uhh and Gym

Awards
Pennsylvania HOSA EMT top 5 placement my advisor didnt tell me lol

Science Olympiad Chemistry 3rd place regional/state

Volunteer of Year Award as a Biomedical Volunteer at my county for the red cross

American Computer Science League, our team had highest score in state

Bunch of STEM research published in high school journals (just for fun)

Extracurriculars
*I’ll start from the beginning to most recent.

So I started a gardening club at my school during 10th grade where we took this abandoned lot in our school that was literally completely rotten and trashed and remodeled it into a garden, building beds and collaborating with the art club to make a mosaic and stepping stones. In 11th grade, I discovered that the lot used to be part of the autistic support class’s space before it was literally stolen by administration, so I helped the teacher of the class reclaim the lot and we do gardening classes for the kids. I was super focused on ACCESSIBILITY and letting people enjoy nature right after school. I also connected with the National Gardening Club and we are on the board of youth for that as well.

Also in my 10th grade year, god I was really frustrated about the lack of ACCESSIBILITY of medical and STEM opportunities (mind you I don’t want to be a doctor, just a scientist). So I create a club where students could access medical professionals, opportunities, and programs that I was aware of and we would do application workshops for those programs, live interviews with doctors or whoever I could get my hands on, etc. I also refounded our schools HOSA chapter and we ran it for the first time, with some students going on to place internationally.

During my freshman year, one of the only activities I found myself able to do with my situation was to act as a red cross blood ‘ambassador’ where I would help check people in, assist staff, etc really basic volunteer stuff. But I did it a lot because I really loved the environment and just how diverse blood sourcing has to be. So I escalated to becoming a volunteer manager and recruiter where I reach out to Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ groups and incentivize them to either become vollies or donate blood. It’s awesome!

Last school thing! During my Sophomore year, my friend introduced me to the world of stage crew. I would spend entire nights building props during the school week just getting stuff done and I really felt like a part of a community. I oversaw the creation and direction of 4 shows, coming to every rehearsal and every event for theatre. Man, I even fell in love in stage crew! It was awesome. I like side tangents. Anyway, This year, the auditorium is doing a complete overhaul and I’m in charge of engineering and fixing all of the lights as well as managing the props and set. Not related to STEM but still awesome thing I did.

Science internship 1 - I did this program with Temple University and Fox Chase Cancer Center called the Teenage Research Internship Program (TRIP), Philly teens, please apply! Anyway, it was a science introduction essentially every Saturday and I created my own project using fruit flies as a medium. I specifically did a 8 week project on Kratom’s effect on development and fertility, as it is an EXTREMELY!!! undocumented drug that is often just pumped out into poor areas with no thought. I presented this research to Temple University staff and I’m trying to publish it in the Journal of Emerging Scientists.

Science Internship 2 - Monell Chemical Senses Center internship for minorities in Science. This is also really awesome for Philly teens! This program is all about ACCESSIBILITY in science. I’ve done 8 weeks of paid, independent (amazing!!) research with a PI and a professor at Rutgers (he’s crazy) and have worked on continuing some of his old (he calls it ‘young love’) research on taste integration with aroma and we have literally made a discovery on aroma perception. Awesome!

Science Internship 3 - NASA SEES program, SEES stands for something something Earth Science. I’ve explored 8 weeks of satellite research where I would go out on the field and compare the data of a satellite in my hand with that of space, to test ‘citizen science’ basically regular people supporting NASA. I completed a final research project developing an app to further citizen science by making it more ACCESSIBLE to everyone (basically unheard of) while also streamlining the very complicated process of modeling data. I also am pursuing a possible STS submission where I am analyzing the relationship of low-income with susceptibility to fly outbreaks (public health) under this internship.

Novel tutoring program - I hope this doesn’t come across as a stupid ‘passion project’ nonprofit. I noticed that a lot of students in my school were afraid of taking AP courses, especially chem and apush, so I started a little tutoring group within my school for students transitioning into AP courses (very busy beginning of year and during AP exams). We have a website and have a group of like eh 20 tutors from two schools, one in NC (my old school) and one in PA. Personally, I’ve tutored about 20 kids atleast once and created 30 Chemistry review videos for students to watch before tests. I’ve also had 6 regular kids over a year to tutors.

EMT training, current vollie - I got bored of being a red cross volunteer so I’m training to be an EMT :). I’m also trying to partner the training program w/ my school to get more involved

Science Internship 4 - Working at a chemistry/physics corporation this coming Fall. I am working as a part time Chemical Engineer and Data Analyst. Very exciting!
Essays/LORs/Other

Personal Statement: 9/10. I’m not sure if its unique, but it’s very special to my heart. It’s about my mom’s heart attack and my dread of her dying and my complete lack of control. I discovered that learning about her condition and understanding it was a way of clawing back a bit of control and confidence in parallel with her.

LOR 1: 8/10 Chem Teacher - Right now its a 6/10 but my Chem teacher told me she was being lazy about my summer program rec and she will really try to write a good one about our story together let’s pray.

LOR 2: 8/10 AP Lang Teacher - :slight_smile: I love her. She is a very articulate writer and will talk about my love of literature and how she grew up around chemists and how she recognizes me as one.

LOR 3: ~8 or 7 /10 PI from Monell Internship - I have been super on top of that internship and he is consistently impressed with me. I always surprise him with new ideas and I’m secretely pursuing a Psychology research project in his lab without him knowing as a surprise birthday gift.

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Keep in mind that Cal will not see your SAT score, nor do they accept LORs (unless they initiate a request). And they require 4 personal statements called PIQs (which are different from the Common App personal statement). The UCs also don’t provide any need-based aid to out of state students, and very little merit aid is available. Just make sure you go into that with eyes wide open that you may well have to pay around $80K a year. You seem like a great student - just make sure you know what you’re getting into with the UCs.

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Thanks so much! Will consider that. I am first gen so my entire family doesn’t quite understand the system yet.

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Well, and I obviously don’t know your family’s financial situation - but that’s a great place for you to start as you begin putting together a list. Have an honest discussion with your parents about what they can afford and make sure you are targeting schools in a comfortable price range. The UCs are a great deal for in state students, but they are pretty expensive if you’re out of state. That may be fine with your family - but, again, now is a great time to have the conversation so that you can really zero in on colleges that will be affordable for you.

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Good news is that UCs do not include freshman grades in their GPA calculation. You should be competitive for Cal although both Cal and UCLA are tough admits for anyone OOS.

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what about rank?

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Do you have any idea about duke? Im really worried about the class rank thing.

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I don’t personally know much about Duke. I do know your rank is lower than most selective universities generally accept. However, what you have going for you is that your (possibly inflated?) grades are well validated by 1. Your SAT score 2. Your AP exam scores and 3. Your dual enrollment grades. I think those are all pluses for you. Will they be enough to compensate for the rank? That I couldn’t tell you. And, as I said, I don’t know much about Duke admissions - possibly someone else here will be able to provide greater insight.

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Oh what I meant by inflated is that our school does not boost AP classes that much more than honors. So our valedictorian has not taken an AP course. That all will be included in the school profile submitted to Universities.

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Ah, I see. Well, then it’s good that 1. Your counselor will address that in their rec and 2. You do demonstrate rigor through your choice of both AP and DE classes - which is what selective colleges are looking for. Hopefully those two things together will give you a second look by the AO.

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Clearly you are an awesome applicant. 1st gen should give you an additional boost.

There was recently a thread about Duke and merit $:

Does applying ED really affect Merit Scholarship chances? - Colleges and Universities A-Z / Duke University - College Confidential Forums

I’m sure there are others here with more info on Duke in particular, but @worriedmomucb is 100% right to advise you to FIRST talk to your parents about what they can afford. The UC’s will not give you any money, so can they afford $80k/year? Have you run the NPC for Duke?

(Finally, your UC GPA does not seem right - paging @Gumbymom - did you calculate using Roger’s Hub?)

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It’s a 4.8.
12 As
10 Honors
image
I am not including DE courses in this metric.

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Thanks for the clarification!!!

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I am an only child and I believe my extended family is invested in my education. I have also saved up ~13k. I know it’s not enough but I feel like Cal is the best place I can get into considering my rank.

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It doesn’t matter. Look at the 13 factors considered by the UCs as part of their holistic review. #9 is particularly relevant to you.

https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/how-applications-are-reviewed.html

  1. Academic grade point average in all completed A-G courses, including additional points for completed UC-certified honors courses.
  2. Number of, content of and performance in academic courses beyond the minimum A-G requirements.
  3. Number of and performance in UC-approved honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Higher Level and transferable college courses.
  4. Identification by UC as being ranked in the top 9 percent of your high school class at the end of your junior year (Eligible in the Local Context, or ELC).
  5. Quality of your senior-year program as measured by the type and number of academic courses in progress or planned.
  6. Quality of your academic performance relative to the educational opportunities available in your high school.
  7. Outstanding performance in one or more specific subject areas.
  8. Outstanding work in one or more special projects in any academic field of study.
  9. Recent, marked improvement in academic performance as demonstrated by academic GPA and the quality of coursework completed or in progress.
  10. Special talents, achievements and awards in a particular field, such as visual and performing arts, communication or athletic endeavors; special skills, such as demonstrated written and oral proficiency in other languages; special interests, such as intensive study and exploration of other cultures; experiences that demonstrate unusual promise for leadership, such as significant community service or significant participation in student government; or other significant experiences or achievements that demonstrate the student’s promise for contributing to the intellectual vitality of a campus.
  11. Completion of special projects undertaken in the context of your high school curriculum or in conjunction with special school events, projects or programs.
  12. Academic accomplishments in light of your life experiences and special circumstances, including but not limited to: disabilities, low family income, first generation to attend college, need to work, disadvantaged social or educational environment, difficult personal and family situations or circumstances, refugee status or veteran status.
  13. Location of your secondary school and residence.
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Trust me - your chances of getting into Cal will not be "better’ with a higher class rank.

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I mean that my class rank would hold me back at other schools, so I think Cal is my best chance, which makes it unfortunate that the price is so high. I gues we’ll see about duke.

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For the UC GPA, someone else posted this helpful calculator in another thread: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub Note that UC caps honors/AP classes at 8 officially (appears you are counting 10), though certain campuses might look at the uncapped GPA as well. I don’t think class rank will be a big deal for UC’s, especially Cal. My kid’s high school (in CA) doesn’t rank students and they have a good acceptance rate for Cal. I think Cal really does try to focus on a holistic review of applicants to increase diversity so be sure to focus on the PIQ’s and there is also a question that allows you to explain special circumstances. Actually now that I think about it, I think the UC’s don’t even ask about class rank.

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I don’t have the answer to your question, but I was wondering if you had considered Carnegie Mellon. I couldn’t find it stated on the website from a cursory search, but they have historically not considered freshman year grades. Plus, unlike the UCs, they will appreciate your tests scores…

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I got rejected from one of their program (governors school) and its a popular program for my school. I really do want to go to Duke ED but I think I will RD.
Thanks!!

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