<p>I'm a rising high school senior from East Lansing, Michigan(although i have only lived here one year because i moved last summer and lived in connecticut for ten years just before that)
Newtown High School-CT(pretty highly rated public high school) 9th-10th Grades
Lansing Catholic High School-MI- 11th-12th Grades
ACT: 34 (35-science, 34-math, 34-reading, 31-english)
i took the SAT subject tests in Biology and Math 1 and im awaiting my results
GPA-4.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
Class Rank-tied for 1st out of about 120. (at my old high school i was about 4th out of 400)
Took every Honors class available freshman and sophomore year(no ap's were offered to underclassmen)
One thing that really bugs me is that my old school had about 15 AP classes and my new school only has 6. (5 for me because one is spanish and im a frenchie lol)
I took/will take:
AP Biology
AP Gov.
AP English Lit
AP Calc(AB, its all that's offered)
so 4/5 AP's that were available to me
I should have good recs. and a good essay
EC's:
Volunteerism: 106 total volunteer hours during high school, including helping at nursing homes, food drives, Relay for Life fundraising, and helping at school-sponsored events such as freshman orientation and at the school store.</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities List:
Freshman Class Vice President
Freshman Boys Soccer Team
Indoor Track Team (9th-10th Grades)
High School Tennis Team (9th Grade)
USTA tennis team and private tennis lessons (9th-10th Grades)
School Store Employee at Newtown High School (10th Grade)
Cross Country Team (11th-12th Grades)
Winter Running Club (11th-12th Grades)
Outdoor Track Team (11th-12th Grades)
French Club (11th-12th Grades)
Relay For Life Committee and Team Member (9th-12th Grades)
Summer Running (9th-12th Grades)
Babysitting (9th-12th Grades)
Student Senate President (12th Grade)
Special Awards:
Highest Grade in AP Biology, Theology, and Honors Precalc(all during 11th grade)</p>
<p>I feel like my ECs are a little weak and I'm scared that transferring halfway through high school with the different class offerings and only taking 4 APs will hurt me. </p>
<p>Thank you! any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>bump =]. please does anyone have any opinions. Duke is probably my top choice. I visited this spring and absolutely loved it!</p>
<p>I think your chances are decent - you’re definitely a competitive applicant from a GPA / ACT standpoint, so it’s just a matter of your esssays / recs / how they view your ECs. It looks like you’ve placed yourself in a favorable position for acceptances to some top notch schools though. First, you won’t be penalized for the fact that your school only offers 5 APs. Duke wants you to take the most difficult course load available to you. They know and ask for this information from the high school’s profile, so they’ll be well aware that you couldn’t possibly take other AP courses. Plus, that schedule sounds plenty challenging anyways - it’s much better that a lot of schools.</p>
<p>I’ll also say that Duke prefers extensive participation and demonstrated LEADERSHIP in 2-3 extracurricular activities (or even 1) rather than simply dabbling in 10 different activities. Based on your list, I can’t tell what has really taken the majority of your time and where have you made an IMPACT. I’d highlight this in your application and/or essays to convey how you’ve shaped an organization or played a key role to a successful program. You can list your other activities, but downplay them a bit in other parts of your application. They don’t want to simply see that you’ve done 10+ activities without much passion or time commitment. They want to see that you can really dedicate and make a difference to a cause (using “cause” loosely here, it could be dedication to a sport.)</p>
<p>All in all, it seems like you’ve positioned yourself well, but admissions is often a crapshoot. Early Decision to Duke would give you a bit of a bump if you decide to do that. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks! any more thoughts?</p>
<p>Is there an instance where you took your leadership position and used it to accomplish something that you can illustrate?</p>
<p>Well, in the past not really. As an underclassman I really didnt have a lot of ECs besides sports. And junior year, it was practically impossible for me to get a leadership position, being it was my first year at a new school. I will have some opportunities during senior year as President of the executive council, besides running dances and socials, I am going to try to develop a fundraiser that the whole student body can be a part of. and as a relay for life member my teams over the three years have raised over $6,000 for cancer research.</p>
<p>I know that my EC’s are weak for Duke, however, I was hoping that my slightly above average academics and test scores could make up for it. I should have really good recs and I am hoping to write a really good essay about the move and how it has changed me for the better, etc(this can highlight some of my difficulties of transferring). When I visited Duke they said that they have 6 sections they consider. Do you think that not being good in one will destroy my chances? would it change if i applied ED?</p>
<p>I think you have a pretty good chance. Your academics do make up for your lackluster ECs. And ED always increases your chances. If you’re passionate about Duke, I’d say go for it and apply ED.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t write your essay about that though. Its hackneyed, I’m sure they get plenty of essays about “difficulties”. But in reality, how much did that move really impact you? From the looks of it you fared just fine.</p>
<p>I think you have a high chance of getting into Duke. All you need to do is work on your essay</p>
<p>Going off what’s been asked, have you won awards in your ECs??</p>
<p>Well I have received 4 Academic All Conference Awards
My XC team last year won regionals and came in 2nd in the State
I received the best sportsmanship award or team sport thing for XC.</p>
<p>Awesome. Your chances are good. There’s focus in the ECs and academically you’re sound. I don’t think your ECs are weak really, and quite simply you sound like somebody that can get into Duke. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Hey, So I got my subject test results:
Biology M-790
Math Level 1- 730</p>
<p>Since I am sending the ACT as my main test, I am not required to send these. Do you think that these would be worth sending to Duke as is, or would they hurt me? I have a feeling Bio would help a little bit, but that math would hurt more than bio would help.</p>
<p>Also, I’m considering retaking Math 1 and also taking Math 2 this fall. Would Duke care if I retook a subject test?</p>