Chance me, please (2014)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>General:
Born in Beijing, naturalized US citizen. I speak fluent Mandarin and decent French (having spent several weeks with a French family in Angers, France).</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA - Unweighted: 3.85
GPA - Weighted: 4.47
Class Rank: 9 (weighted)
Class Size: 307
My only B's were in freshman year; I've had A's in sophomore and junior year</p>

<p>Recommendations:
To be written by my AP Euro teacher (and Social Studies head at my school), AP English Language teacher (and English head at my school), and AP Physics B teacher, as well as my counselor (all of whom know me fairly well)</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>PSAT: 226
SAT I: 2330
SAT I Math: 800
SAT I Critical Reading: 760
SAT I Writing: 770
ACT: 35
SAT II Literature: 740
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 800
SAT II Physics: 760
AP European History: 4 (should I include this?)
AP English Language: 5
AP Physics B: 5
AP US History: 5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: Karate, Math Team, Honors Band (clarinet), Academic Bowl, Speech Team, Student Council, National Honor Society, Teen-Aiders
Leadership positions: National Honor Society Executive Board (Communications Coordinator), First Class Executive Board, Student Council Class Representative
Athletic Status: Tennis (varsity), karate (first-degree black belt)
Volunteer/Service Work: Help instructors at lower-belt karate classes, teach middle-students during summer music camp, Teen-Aiders (fundraising for and visiting children at local homeless shelters)</p>

<p>Thanks very much!</p>

2

<p>solid ecs and gpa. are you ED/RD?</p>

<p>with your ECs… they could go either way. it depends on how well you incorporate your passions into your essays and how much your teachers may talk about your involvement. you have a shot, but as always, it’s a crapshoot. ED is significantly better chance :slight_smile: gj on your achievements.</p>

3

<p>I’m probably going RD. Thank you for your help :)</p>

4

<p>I agree with eatsalot. Obviously your test scores are great (absolutely no reason not to include that 4 on AP Euro), GPA is solid, ECs are decent in my opinion. In a list, your ECs don’t look too impressive just because nothing shows a strong passion or clear focus. But again, I think it’s really difficult to judge ECs without seeing how much time you’ve dedicated to them, awards, etc. Incorporating them into your essays will be very important for every school you apply to. Chances for RD are solid (a friend of mine who had kind of average ECs but similar test scores/GPA was admitted - he did have amazing writing skills though, so I’m sure his essays were great), but again, it’s really a crapshoot.</p>

5

<p>Very strong, but Duke hates violence. You might want to take out all the Karate stuff. Middle America loves that, but most competetive colleges hate anything like that.</p>

6

<p>^…</p>

<p>what.</p>

7

<p>I don’t think I would exclude everything about karate because it’s such a huge part of my life (and because Duke’s extra-curricular activities include Duke Shotokan karate…)</p>

8

<p>Dear Gildo,</p>

<p>That was an unbelievebly idiotic statement.</p>

<p>Sincerely,
Maizeeagle86</p>