chance me for duke please? even though its early haha

Colleges & Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>So right now I'm a junior in High school and semester 1 just ended and i just wanted to see my chances so far because duke really interests me. so here it is:
Also, I just moved this year. I went to Newtown High School in CT 9th and 10th grade and now I'm going to Lansing Catholic High School in Michigan.
Freshman Year
Honors Western Studies 1&2 (A)
Honors Geometry (A)(I took Algebra 1 in 8th grade and also got an A)
Honors French 2 (A)
Honors Biology (A)
Business Education 1&2 (A)
PE/Health 9th (A)
Honors English 1 (A)
Honors Asian Studies (A)</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Honors Algebra 2 (A)
Honors English 2 (A)
Honors Chemistry (A)
Honors Physics (A)
PE/Health 10th (A)
Weight Training (A)
Honors French 3 (A)
Honors Sociology (A)</p>

<p>Then I switched schools and there were alot of complications. My old school had about 20 AP's, i was going to take around 11 over junior and senior year(there were no sophomore AP's), but my new school only has 6 AP's total. and only 1 is offered to juniors. Also they don't have honors world language courses at my new school and now I have to take theology as well.</p>

<p>Junior Year(the grades are just for 1st semester so far)
AP Biology(only junior AP) (A)
Honors British Literature (A)
Honors Trigonometry/Precalculus (A)
Honors US History (A)
Church History (A)
French 3 (A) ---->There were two main reasons I retook French 3 at this new school. I talked to the teacher over the summer and she thought that there was some stuff that her french 3 class did 4th quarter that I did not yet do. The biggest reason was that at my old school they had AP French (french 5), and I would have continued to take that senior year. At my new school they only have french 4, so I would not have been able to take French senior year and have 4 years of world language.</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Calculus
AP Government
AP English(most likely, not 100% sure yet)
French 4
Philosophy(either honors or regular for my theology credit)
I need a full year of fine arts(my old school counted business as an applied art, but this school won't. This also messes up my science. I won't be able to take a senior year science class because of this full year of art, my schedule isn't big enough. I already have 4 science credits(I took a senior year honors physics course in 10th grade), but this bugs me because science is my main interest.
Half a year of speech(again another new required class that wasn't at my old school)</p>

<p>Cumulative GPA (4.0/4.0) Hopefully I can keep it again next semester, I think I will based on the fact my first semester grades were mostly high A's.</p>

<p>I havn't taken a real SAT or ACT yet junior year. Sophomore year i took the real SAT and did poorly. 1810 (660 math, 600 reading, 550 writing), but i didnt study at all. Then, I took the PSAT this year and got a 196.(I know its kind of low, but better than my last score) 70 math, 64 writing, 62 reading. But the good news is I also just took a practice ACT(not the PLAN, it was a real ACT test from two years ago that our school gave us) and I scored a 33(32 science and english, 33 reading and math). I'm taking an ACT that will count this March and my counselor thinks that I might even be able to get better than a 33. Before I took the practice ACT i never studied or had taken any ACT problems before. I will still take the SAT, but based on my past performances I'm expecting to do alot better on the ACT and therefore send that instead of the SAT.</p>

<p>EC's(Kind of weak):
9th Grade:
Student Council Vice President
Freshman Boys Soccer Team
Varsity Indoor Track Team
Varsity Tennis Team (Academic All Conference Award)
Member of Relay For Life Team(one of the leaders)-helped raise over $1500 for cancer research, bake sales, food stands at sports tournaments, etc.
30 Volunteer Hours(various events)</p>

<p>10th Grade(my worst year, mostly because I didn't make tennis again and decided not to run for vice president or play soccer. =/ :
Varsity Indoor Track Team
School Store Employee(worked 2-3 times a week)
Relay for Life Team member again, same as freshman year
20 hours of varied volunteer work</p>

<p>11th Grade:
Varsity Cross Country
Winter Running Club
(I will be doing Track this spring)
French Club
Relay for Life Committee Member
May be a part of school newspaper, we are trying to form one right now.
Tutoring in a Homework Help Club
will have 20-30 hours of volunteer work
Also, I'm searching for a job right now and hope to have one.</p>

<p>12th grade EC's will closely resemble 11th Grade</p>

<p>I have good relationships with many teachers and think I will get really good recommendations too.</p>

<p>If anyone read this, thanks so much for taking the time!</p>

2

<p>Wait till your a senior. Take the SAT again (if you still do poorly try the ACT). Run for leadership positions and butcher the essays (in a good way). Do this and you will have a good shot, but out of state may be difficult.</p>

3

<p>Why would in state or out of state even matter?</p>

4

<p>Take the SAT/ACT, get a good score, write great essays, have amazing teacher recs and you should have a good shot at Duke. Best of Luck :)</p>

5

<p>thank you =]</p>

6

<p>anyone else?</p>

7

<p>I had a 33 ACT and got in, so if you do indeed end up with a 33+, your scores will be right in the accepted range. Your extracurriculars are a bit lacking. Maybe try and get involved in something big/take initiative on something big. Remember, Duke rejects many kids with 33’s and 34’s because they don’t “stand out”. There are so many applicants these days academic wise that colleges have so many options to choose from, and they take students that they believe will add something on their campus as well as exceed academically. Therefore, they take the student with the 33 and the good extracurriculars over the student with the 34 and weaker extracurriculars.</p>

8

<p>^^^^^ unlike almost all other public schools, duke is committed to admitting a specific % of it’s freshman class from NC (it’s either just NC, or NC and SC but for our purposes here that doesn’t matter). As a result, this helps instate applicants some, but not quite as much as others think. Basically for instate it is considered to be a little harder than your instate flagship public school, but out of state it approaches the admissions of HYPSMC, but isn’t quite there.</p>

9

<p>^ public -> private. Duke is a private college.</p>

10

<p>^I wouldn’t say that it’s “a little” harder than UNC. In fact I don’t even think being in-state makes any significant difference, given the proportionally larger number of applicants from in state.</p>

11

<p>Its BARELY, if at all, easier to get in in-state. Much harder than the top public school here, UNC.</p>

<p>Around 80-100 kids from my high school (One of the top publics in the state and country) go to UNC every year. Around 4 go to Duke.</p>

12

<p>thanks. and I know my EC’s are weak. do you think if i tried to take on an internship or something that would help? I know my academics and test scores will probably be more than sufficient, but my lack of EC’s really stress me out. it has also been and will be hard for me to get leadership positions after moving halfway through high school i think. =/</p>

13

<p>^ for ecs, try to get more leadership and initiative. If your school doesn’t currently have a club or activity that you want to do, you can create one. Also, make sure that you write about them in your essays. I wouldn’t say they are weak, but for a school of Duke’s caliber you should work on them. You’re also applying to a few safeties right?</p>