Chance me for Princeton, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill

<p>Chance me please.....I don't know whether to have hope or not.</p>

<p>Rank: 1/105
GPA: 3.96 weighted, 4.83 weighted</p>

<p>Senior Classes:
Honors Biology II
Honors Precal
Honors English IV
AP Art History
AP Government and Poly
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
(I'm taking all the APs that I can given the framework of school scheduling)</p>

<p>AP Scores:
US History - 5
European History - 4
Music Theory - 4
Statistics - 3</p>

<p>SAT Scores:
2080 (600 M, 760 CR, 720 W)
I'm taking 3 subject tests in Jan.</p>

<p>ECs:
Dance (taken for 13 years, won state awards)
Classical Piano (I take from a Duke prof)
Varsity Tennis (all 4 years of high school, lettered, co captain)</p>

<p>Community service: about 100 hrs</p>

<p>Awards:
AP Scholar with Honor
Validictorian
Chief Marshal
various community awards</p>

<p>I'm from a rural part of NC, which will get me into UNC (I'm pretty sure that I'm already in though, got a likely letter a couple weeks ago) and MAYBE help with Princeton since no one else from my region applied; I'm thinking that having a Duke prof as my music teacher (she wrote me a rec) will help with Duke. Sent in music supplements to all, pretty good I daresay.....glowing recs from teachers (one called me the best student he'd ever taught in 20 years), etc. </p>

<p>AM I A DELUDED HOPEFUL????? or do you think i have reason to hope.....</p>

<p>A nearly perfect academic record with AP courses, EC's that involve music, sports, and community service with a rec letter from a piano teacher who happens to work at the school you are applying to?</p>

<p>impossible, I think city college is enrolling right now</p>

<p>Are you retaking the SAT this month? I think you need to for any real chance at Duke and Princeton. Though I know Duke is committed to taking a certain percentage of kids from NC, I'm not sure how much they'll bend on the numbers.</p>

<p>^^^ I agree, a 1360/1600 is weak for duke and princeton....</p>

<p>lukejdavis, to what are you referring???? It IS possible for someone to make good grades and maintain a well-rounded extra-school life. Yes, my piano teacher did write me a rec, she does it for all of her students; I read it, it was good. </p>

<p>to hmom5 and ftx2009: I wish I could take SAT I again, because it embarrasses me to tell Duke and Princeton my math score. But, alas, I cannot...I have to take the subject tests in Jan. </p>

<p>Will my 600 in math COMPLETELY rule me out as a Duke/Princeton candidate? Or will the admissions offices frown a bit then let me in based on other achievements?</p>

<p>These schools have to turn down the majority of fully qualified applicants, meaning those that have at least median stats across the board. You can take a look at the common data sets to see how many get in with your scores. A 2080 is considerably below Princeton's median and below Duke's median. </p>

<p>When looking at the CDS, factor in that 40% of the class is hooked, they are: recruited athletes, legacies, URMs and development. Theses are the kids most likely to be accepted with anything below median.</p>

<p>Therefore, you need higher scores for a real shot. Is there maybe a January ACT test?</p>

<p>hmmm, significant leadership positions(pres, founder of clubs/activities/organization) or summer activities(internship, research, college classes) would maybe makeup for lower scores, but i dont see any on ur list!
but u never know, i dont think its impossible for u to get in, u obvioulsy have academic merit</p>

<p>Oh! I forgot to write that stuff!</p>

<p>I'm president of National Honors Society at school; I organized a community-wide blood drive through the Red Cross. Vice-pres of Latin Club, member of Biology Club, Philosophy Club...</p>

<p>Page for the Governor this summer, internship in the Department of Revenue in Raleigh, NC.</p>

<p>Volunteer at the local foodbank, nursing home. </p>

<p>I also picked tomatoes this summer on a local organic farm, which is unique I guess, and I worked as an assistant dance instructor for two years. I know that's not outstanding when compared to the other Duke/Princeton applicants, but I'm hoping that coming from a rural, southern area of the country will be a plus. Also, I wrote a kind-of-neat essay about CS Lewis, maybe that will help. I mean, I know I'll end up at UNC, my parents went there, gpa went there, ggpa went, my ggggpa went there in like 1875, it's so unbeatably (not a word? who am I kidding, I can't get into Princeton!)cheap....but hey, a girl can always dream! Thanks for the input!</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
lukejdavis, to what are you referring???? It IS possible for someone to make good grades and maintain a well-rounded extra-school life. Yes, my piano teacher did write me a rec, she does it for all of her students; I read it, it was good.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I suppose sometimes it is just impossible to convey sarcasm on the internet. No matter how outrageous you are there will always be someone that thinks you are serious.</p>

<p>hmmm... I wonder why? Could it be that I have no way of observing the facial/verbal nuances that always accompany sarcasm (there! I myself am being sarcastic, and even then it's hard to tell!) when a response is computerized???</p>

<p>That aside, you (albeit sarcastically) wouldn't be the first to doubt my chances at Duke or even UNC ... my counselor, grandma, select relatives (I won't say friends, I have good friends, they support me) all question my sanity when I tell them where I've applied.</p>

<p>I agree that being from rural NC would help a bit. Help a 600 at Princeton? Probably not. But I also think the kind of rural NC kid that would be helped would be first generation to college, low income and a URM,.</p>

<p>That I am not. Oh well!</p>

<p>A little birdie (my piano teacher, who has friends on the admissions committee at Duke) told me when I first applied that I'm in something called the " Duke home district", which means, in essence, that my living in such close proximity to the University has placed me in an elite group of Duke applicants - NC School of Science and Math-ers (arguably the best bunch of students in the state), professors' children. Plus, only about 10% of applicants in the home district are let in. </p>

<p>UNC it is!!! Unless anyone else has another angle to take, another piece of advice to give....</p>

<p>UNC is a great school and Duke could happen!</p>

<p>Who cares if you have a chance? You should have already applied by now so why worry for four months? If you were so nervous about getting in, you wouldn't have applied.</p>

<p>um...I care if I have a chance???!!! Of course I've already applied to everywhere I mentioned, just wanted the opinions of others outside my usual circle of collegiate chatter (a circle inclusive of babbling parents, friends, teachers, etc.). Plus, I think every college-bound student is nervous about getting in, since where we're accepted will kind of set the course for the rest of our lives.</p>

<p>There's no point in worrying about where you'll get in now so why stress about it. Be happy you applied and are done and know you will get into a good school. And I'm pretty sure a Harvard degree (not saying you applied there) equals success. It helps, but college is what you make of it and how you stand out and the connections you make. Your college degree counts for the first job you have and that's it.</p>

<p>I would say obviously in at UNC, possibly in at Duke, since you have an in with your music teacher, and Princeton's a reach. Everything in your stats is pretty good except the SAT score. However, it depends on what you are applying as (like what field you want to go into). You do have a shot though, it's not a lost cause.</p>

<p>chance back please?</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/630727-chance-please-ivies-uc-s-some-others.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/630727-chance-please-ivies-uc-s-some-others.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This is just my way of biding time...I'm DEFINITELY glad my applications are finished and submitted! You made my point for my by saying your college degree counts for the first job you have.....the more prestigious your degree, the better chance you have of landing a good job! If an employer narrows it down to Jack from Columbia and Jill from State College, who's gonna get the job? So all I'm saying is that I'm worried about where I'll get in SIMPLY because I want to be as competitive as I can be when I enter the job market.</p>

<p>Or....you could be jill from state college who has no debt and go on to a prestigious grad school and get two degrees for the price of one!</p>

<p>Well..I want to go to a prestigious grad school anyway. I have reasons for wanting to go somewhere other than UNC - it's not just its lack of prestige (when compared to Duke or Princeton of course; UNC in itself is a fantastic university, only the best students from my school get in each year). See, I have NO chance of getting a certain graduate scholarship if I go to Carolina, simply because the only people who have a shot at getting said scholarship are Morehead scholars. I will not be one. Plus, Duke has the Terry Sanford Public Policy School, Princeton has the Wilson school of Int'l Affairs (I'm interested in that kind of thing). But it doesn't matter, because in the end I won't get in to either place, since my math SAT score smells so darn bad to admission committees.</p>