Chance Me RD Class of '22

Trinity College of Arts and Science

SAT I (breakdown): 720 CR, 800 W, 770M
ACT: 36 (one sitting) 35 E 35 M 36 R 36 S ELA 34
SAT II: 800 Molecular Bio 780 Math II

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 UW 4.7 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%

AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5), Calc AB (5), English Lang and Comp (5), US History (5), Env Science (4), Psych (4)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP French, AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Econ

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Manage a Tutoring Business
Speech and Debate Captain
Volunteer at Hospital (200 hours)
Research Intern at a local institute over summre
Working a job (15 hours/wk) at a nearby restaurant
Some FBLA awards

Other

State: CA
Intended major(s): Bio Science/Neuro
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Semifinaled in an international science competition…
Not much else to be honest, national awards from FBLA, and stuff like that
Made AP Scholar for what it’s worth

Probably won’t be able to go to Duke if I don’t get enough FA-- in that dilemma of needing FA but not qualifying for it…
Duke was my top choice too haha it’d suck to have to stay in CA

Your stats are stellar, there’s no doubting that. I would say there’s room to bolster your extracurriculars, but you still have a healthy amount of great activities nonetheless. I got in this year with very similar stats but a slightly lower GPA, so I think it comes down to essays for you. if you can nail them, you have a really good shot in my opinion

Current Duke student here: Definitely bolster your ECs and work hard on your essays. They’re okay, not stellar. Show your passion for something, your ambition, motivation. Duke is really hard to get in, everyone I know here seems to have run a national non-profit, won some international award, or was the president of 15 organizations in high school. I had stats very similar to yours, but I had more impressive ECs.

I would caution you that your region (California is one of the top five most highly represented states at Duke), potential major, and race (Asians make up close to 30% of Duke), would be notable factors taken into account in admissions. It’s no secret that Asians have to be statistically close to perfect to be regarded as competitive in admissions at any elite school, so just keep that in mind.

I wouldn’t go to Duke. I just transferred out. Go to Berkeley or UCLA - you’ll have a much better time and pay a lot less. You will be miserable at Duke if you’re not white.

@markiv1996 Care to elaborate on that?

Great chance. Keep in mind that Duke is a “test heavy” school, because high test scores raise their rankings. Your extracurriculars are fine. Your chances are very good. Good luck!

BTW: I think @markiv1996 means that the students there (most of them from the south) view Asians differently than how bay area/ CA views Asians. Asians are normal in CA, but in Durham, there might be stereotypes and racism towards Asians because students are not used to asians. OBV. your social life would be better at Berkley since Oakland kids are practically race/ colorblind.