Duke has been my dream school for so long. I know it’s definitely a reach school for me, but I just want to know what other applicants/current Duke students/others think on where I stand. I applied ED and I’m so impatient haha
GPA: 3.85 UW 4.2 W
ACT: 35 one sitting
AP Scores: didn’t submit any/put any on my common app…my counselor said not to and colleges apparently don’t look at them that much but I’m worried about Duke
AP Classes: Took AP World (10), AP Chem, Calc AB, and Lang (11) (My school only lets kids take 1 AP their sophomore year then lets them take more junior year+)
Senior Year Classes: AP Physics 1, AP Calc BC, AP Gov, AP Stat, AP Art, Yearbook, Dual Enrollment English
Awards: GPA 4.0+ all four years, Girls State City Council Delegate, School Woman Scholar Athlete Award, Honor Societies (Art, Spanish, National), and #1 Voted poem on an online magazine
ECs: Started a club/nonprofit at my school (very unique & different…I work with a lot of people in my community), started a jewelry business and all proceeds are donated towards gun reform, summer internship at law firm, internship at a district court in my city, captain for softball and golf team, tutor elem/middle school saudi arabian immigrant students, softball umpire, softball asst. coach, some other clubs and volunteering at my church
Essays:
Common App - v unique and really showed my personality and who has shaped me into who I am today (9/10)
Why Duke - personal and specifically targeted what I want to do at duke (8/10)
Optional Diversity - talked about my mixed background and was v unique…I talked about a hamburger lol (10/10)
Teacher Recs:
English Teacher - i didn’t read but she really loves me and said I’m the best writer she’s had in years
Spanish Teacher - i didn’t read but I participated in a lot of things in the class and was her favorite lol
Counselor Rec - i didn’t read but she knows me pretty well
Interview: (10/10) Couldn’t have gone better! She loved me and we talked for almost 2 hours. Said Duke looks for people like me and that I’d be a real asset to Duke’s community but I feel like a lot of interviewers say that
BTW I’m an Asian female from a really competitive hs/area and I plan on majoring in Public Policy and minoring in Middle Eastern Studies. Highish income bracket. Duke took 5/14 applicants from my hs last year