chance me please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hey so I just realized that I REALLY want to go to Duke more than any other school. It fits me perfectly - everyone there is smart, amazing med program and awesome Greek life. I would have applied ED but, I didn't really know what schools I wanted yet and I heard that ED is more about academic stats and my tests scores are below Duke par and my GPA is w/e.</p>

<p>GPA: UW - 3.79 W- 4.3 - top 10 percent of 600 kids in a pretty competitive california school
taken 7 AP's including senior year</p>

<p>Sat:2010
Act: 30</p>

<p>Sat IIs - Math - 750, US history 710, Literature 630</p>

<p>essays - really well written - went through a lot of adversity
Teacher Recommendations - probably good
Counselor - probably amazing (we have a really good bond)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars</p>

<p>Water polo 4 years (starter on varsity for 3)
-captain, league and state recognized</p>

<p>Swimming 4 year varsity
-set league records, competed in southern california section finals</p>

<p>Basketball - 3 years
-captain, MVP, most inspirational player, most improved</p>

<p>Band 1 year
Symphonic Band 2 years (can't do this year because of scheduling)
-Section leader</p>

<p>-Aquatics club - 4 years
-Robotics - 2 years
-Water polo club - 2 years (outside of school)</p>

<p>Community Service (Main ones - 300+ hours)
- Martha's Soup Kitchen (made and served food for unfortunate)
- Home health care (basically helped disabled people)</p>

<p>Work Experience (paid)
- medical clerk
- tutor
- walk dogs
- wash cars
- assisted an elderly lady
- Webchoir (a business that deals with taxomonies and controlled vocabularies)</p>

<p>Awards
- principals honor roll
- CSF - California Scholarship Federation
- National Honor's Society
- Quest Award - most outstanding athlete for my school</p>

<p>Income: 25k-30k
Hooks: first generation college student,immigrant from Uzbekistan(US citizen), Ethnicity: white and Uzbek(not sure if that will help, if Duke had a varsity water polo team I would be a recruit, but oh well..</p>

2

<p>Honestly, I think you had applied ED, you would have had a higher chance. The RD pool is much more competitive because the majority of the applicants have excellent grades, EC's, essays, and scores. Your GPA and SAT/ACT scores are a bit low for an average Duke applicant. Your EC's are pretty good. Overall, I'd say it's probably gonna be a bit of a stretch. But those hooks and a couple of well-written essays can help you. Apply and see what happens. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>yeah I know my Test scores and GPA are kind of on the low side. I am just not a good test taker and since I do sports about 20 hours a week throughout the whole year its kind of hard to keep a high GPA. I have many personal problems in my life, which I talked about in my essay. I hope Duke will look past my academic stats and look at my other stuff.</p>

4

<p>I understand about the scores. I'm also a bad test-taker. When I was applying for ED, I was really worried because my SAT score is not very good (although I had a pretty good GPA). In the end, I was still accepted. If you could explain how your personal obstacles helped you mature through your essays, it'd be great. I think your dedication and commitment for sports will put you under a positive light. The only two things that you can do now is make your essays phenomenal and ace the Duke interview (if you could get one). RD is gonna be really competitive this year especially because they admitted almost 550 students through ED. In this case, showing enthusiasm and talent is crucial.</p>