Chance me for Duke??

Colleges & Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Wondering if I can get into Duke. Opinions please =) I'm an incoming senior.</p>

<p>My stuff:</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 (unweighted) Dont know weighted for sure, i know its above 4.3 something</p>

<p>Rank: 7/about 360 (could be better since the last time I checked)</p>

<p>APs taken/will take throughout HS: World History (3), Environmental Science (4), Spanish (5), Calc AB (?), Psychology (?) I know that 3 is bad but it's fine if I don't get credit.</p>

<p>Dual Enrollment: english 1 and 2, american lit, american history, stats, precalc, trig, economics, government (totals 30 credits) </p>

<p>ACT: 32 composite (subscores: english 34, math 31, science 31, reading 33, essay 10)</p>

<p>SAT: not submitting since my ACT is better and I don't have subject tests yet (opinions on if I should take them?)</p>

<p>National Honor Society Member (3 years)</p>

<p>Spanish Honor Society Member (3 years)</p>

<p>Dance Team & Captain (1 year)</p>

<p>Congressional Awards Bronze and Silver Medals</p>

<p>AP Scholar (shooting for AP Scholar with Distinction)</p>

<p>Dean's List at college where I dual enroll</p>

<p>Computer certifications (idk if this even matters) </p>

<p>Volunteer Honorary Certificate from Elementary School (aide) </p>

<p>300+ volunteer hours</p>

<p>Summer leadership program, drivers ed, Success Skills </p>

<p>Looking into getting rec. from Chamber of Commerce President (do you think this is worth anything? It would be in addition to a guidance counselor and teachers)</p>

<p>Core Classes Break Down (if needed):
6 levels of spanish (including AP)
4 yrs of history
6-7 credits of math (including AP calc)
5 credits in science
4 yrs of english (with 1 of literature)
*all classes were AP or dual enrollment (with a couple honors courses)</p>

2

<p>Hi Christena,</p>

<p>Great scores on the ACT and a lot of extracurriculars (although, they really just want to see you’re involved and ‘doing stuff’ other than school…which you’ve clearly done…but heavy on the extracurriculars will not make you into Duke or most schools, for that matter). Your GPA can’t be better, either; can you load higher this senior year on some APs to drive that weighted up? You’ll need more weight for the competitive GPA going forward.</p>

<p>Duke is just like other elites when it comes to admissions: they want to see that you took the hardest, most challenging classes that you could take at your particular school (taking into account the scheduling challenges/conflicts that ALWAYS happen!); did you exhaust a particular line of study, for example, going all the way to Latin Virgil. What matters most to them is that you worked hard in the hardest classes available and that you did really, really well. </p>

<p>So while you’ve got straight As and that is superb! Your weighted GPA shows less horsepower for now. Go get some more APs!</p>

<p>Hope that helps and good luck. </p>

<p>the kitesurfer.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the pointers!! just wondering why early decision and not regular? I’m not prepared to make a binding decision like that. How much chances do u think I lose by doing reg and not ED?</p>

4

<p>ED helps a little (the admit rate is a bit higher) but a lot those are legacy/athletes in non football/bball sports, but you still have a great chance RD</p>

5

<p>Username29 thanks for the input :)</p>

6

<p>…you gain a tremendous advantage over your Regular Decision chances. The admit rate for ED is about 30%, and that with the RD is about 12-14/15%. Sure, there are legacies that apply during the ED, but if you’re truly sure Duke is THE place, then you should apply ED b/c the statistics are waaaaay in your favor if you do. </p>

<p>You are going to have to work really hard on the essay to differentiate yourself, and with your abilities outside the classroom, you should have plenty of ammunition for the shot.</p>

<p>-the kitesurfer.</p>

7

<p>Christena,</p>

<p>The 3 on the AP exam is not bad; you passed that exam, which was difficult. Is US History your great passion and forte? Probably not. It’s best to TAKE that exam than pass at taking it…sure, you’d like the 4 or the 5, but get this: many colleges out there are only going to give you so many classes you ‘place out of’ anyways…they want you to enjoy the full experience of going to their school. The professors are also motivated to have you in their class, with the background you have, so many of THEM are in favor of really limiting the amount of ‘placing out’ of classes. Davidson College, an elite liberal arts college, limits to four (4) the ‘place outs’, for example. You may come in with 8 APs and 4/5’s on many of those exams, but the most they’ll allow you to take is 4!</p>

<p>The APs really should be looked at as a measure of how well you can do in a college-level class and not so much on how well you did on the AP exam.</p>

<p>I hope this is useful.</p>

<p>-the kitesurfer.</p>