Chance me for Duke, JHU, Columbia and Rice!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Background: Female, Asian, attend a public school that’s fairly decent

SAT: 2300 superscored (720 CR, 780 Math, 800 Writing)

SAT2: 800 Math 2, 690 Bio (will be retaking)

ACT: 34 composite (but 31 in Math and 29 in English :/)

GPA: 4.4/5. School doesn’t rank, but guessing top 3% in my class

Honors classes freshman and sophomore year

Junior" AP Calc BC, AP Bio, APUSH, AP Lang and Comp, Latin (honor-level). Grades all in the A range.
Senior: Multivariable Calc, AP Modern Euro, AP Lit, AP Physics, AP Latin

Awards:
Columbia Book Award
National Latin Exam (silver medals 9, 10, 11)
More Latin crap that isn’t too important

ECs:
Treasurer of TriM (12)
VP of National Honor Society (12)
Captain of Girl’s Varsity Swimming (12)
Varsity Swimming (9, 10, 11, 12)
President of Latin Club (11)
Latin Honor Society (11, 12)
First flute in school ensemble (11)
Youth orchestra (6 years)
Wind quintet (11, 12)
First flute in Principal orchestra (in youth orchestra, 11)
First flute in All-State Festival (11)
NAfME All-National Ensembles flute (12)

Work Experience:
Lifeguard at a lake (10, 11)
Coach for lake swim team (10, 11)

Volunteering:
45 hours at a hospital
Performed at fundraisers and senior homes

Research:
Worked with a professor at a nearby university on a paper with surfactants and EOS.

I am going to be applying to engineering (for BME, specifically) schools. I want to be involved in STEM fields. I do know engineering schools have higher requirements, but I’m a girl too…? So I don’t know how that will play out. Also, I did apply to Duke ED.

Thanks!

2

Strong stats overall. Make sure to find a way to make all those different ECs fit into the story you want to tell. You want to go into STEM, but none of those are directly STEM-related (except Trim? I dunno what that is). If you can write a killer essay you can stand out, but make sure it helps to paint the picture of who you are and what you’re passionate about. The very top schools will be a reach, like they are for 99% of people, but absolutely still apply. Make sure you have safeties.

3

Thanks for the reply!
My ECs are mainly music-focused, so that’s would be my ‘contribution’ to the school (aka why those schools would want to take me). I did do a minor research paper, and take the most rigorous math (and science) courses at my school

4

Btw will chance back! Sorry didn’t mention it above :slight_smile:

5

Pretty good chances at each of them, but if I had to be more precise:

Duke - low reach
JHU - low reach
Columbia - low-mid reach
Rice - high match

Best of luck!!!

6

I think you look great for Duke ED! Stats are great and ECs are solid as well. Good luck!

7

With a 31 in Math and a 29 in English the highest composite score you could have gotten was a 33. Double check what you put down on the Common App if you self-report. Good luck with Duke!

8

@falcon1 I’m sending in both SAT and ACT. I got 34/35s on the other sections, and the English doesn’t affect the composite (I think I put down the wrong section. Im talking about the essay/writing part).

9

Hello: Duke rates along 5 points, as detailed here:

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2015/03/ferpa-request-gives-inside-look-duke-admissions-process

Here is what I guess you will be rated:
Curriculum: 5
Achievement: 4
Recs: 4
Essays: 3
ECs: 3
Test Scores: 4

For Pratt, this would put you in the competitive range for ED. To be in the range for auto-admit at Duke you will need at least 3-4 out of the scores with a 5 rating. You’re slightly below that, but still competitive. Good luck!

10

@sgopal2 Thank you so much for the insight and the extremely helpful link!
I do believe I get at least a 4 for ECs. I am very musically involved and have a national-level achievement. Also I don’t think my essays are too average haha

11

This is the only national level EC that I saw listed above. Are there other ones I’ve missed?

12

@sgopal2 Yup! I’m mostly passionate about music; that will be my ‘contribution’ to the school. I really want to start a quintet of my own when I’m in college.
Also, I notice you’re a Duke alum. What year did you graduate?

13

@jan117, did you submit a music supplement?

14

@renaissancedad yes, I did!

15

Your academic background is strong in math and science, your math subject test scores are solid, and you have some research, so I think there is plenty of STEM strength. I think that your flute and latin are both nice complements to your biomedical engineering focus. I think that will help you stand out, and I would portray yourself that way in interviews.

16

@renaissancedad Thank you for your feedback! It was detailed and helpful. I appreciate your spending time on my post!

17

^ And you are very polite, too! That’s also important for interviews!

18

@octopushead Thanks for the tip!
I also did have an underlying theme that tied my life and all my main ECs together too. I think I did fairly well on my essay; right now I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! :slight_smile: