Also, I think it’s worth mentioning that Duke Program II isn’t as open as they make it out to be. Many students who try to self-design get rejected, from what I hear.
And one last comment: As broad as your qualifications, it is important to stress those which are the most important to you over others. Colleges are looking for passion, as sick as you may be of hearing that. I’d include any high school accolades/activities/accomplishments, but only really put emphasis on one or two, with three being the absolute maximum. Also don’t be afraid to be a little quirky/different; that’s what helps you stand out over the other applicants with nearly the same accomplishments as you.
@HariboGoldBear I’m putting Asian, because my CA essay talks a lot about my developmental pride in my culture
Yeah applying ED as opposed to RD to duke can alter chances significantly. If they were going to wait list you RD, they may accept you ED since it is committal. The exact difference is unknown but we know there is a significant difference.I would place the difference as to being similar to writing a bad essay vs a good essay.
@1golfer1 Will applying ED to Duke really affect my application that much? Like, to the extent that they will accept me ED but not RD?
@renaissancedad @akuflare Thank you guys so much for your responses! They were incredibly helpful. Also, for my supplemental essays, I’m planning to talk about my vegetarianism/environmental consciousness (and how passionate I am about those) to stress my deep sense of empathy (honestly one of my most prominent traits) and therefore tie my broad range of extracurriculars together. The Helping Hands & YBB to help others, Mycology & Fun Runs as nature/healthy living (also the book since donated proceeds to nature organizations, basically), so hopefully, that’ll tie everything together in nicely, especially since the empathy will really help if I pursue the sociology aspect of medicine
@renaissancedad For Stanford, before I never researched it a lot because it is all the way in California and I wouldn’t be able to come home and see my family often. After I did my research, what appealed to me most about Stanford was the freedom that they give. They put so much emphasis on letting everyone be free to pursue all their interests (it’s even in the motto) and Stanford students, like Duke students, seem to be extremely spirited (which is important to me in a school), research-oriented, still know how to have fun, collaborative learning environment, friendly and open. Not to mention Stanford’s campus, area, weather are all perfect. In a way, I view Stanford as basically Duke, but better and only slightly different. You’re right though, if Duke were EA instead of ED, I wouldn’t be hesitating at all. This will sound really bad and conceited (please don’t think badly of me), but what really holds me back from Duke is that fact that many people don’t consider it up to par as an elite school… Where Duke ranks better than UPenn, it’s name recognition is less and everyone will assume schools like Brown, Cornell, UPenn, etc. are more impressive. I worked extremely extremely hard throughout high school, and I really wanted to get into a school and… impress others. If I say “I got into HYPSM” the reaction would be disbelief, shock like “WOW that AMAZING good for you!” whereas for Duke, it would be “oh ok Duke is a pretty good school!” And it doesn’t help that when I told people (initially) that I was planning on ED Duke, the parents, friends, all told me to shoot higher and it’d be a “waste” to go to Duke. Which sounds horrible, I know. And I KNOW Duke is amazing 
But if only just to prove that I could, even if I ended up choosing Duke, that all my hard work wasn’t for nothing.
Wow! I can tell you have really worked hard throughout your high school career! My older brother was similar to you; he scored very, very high on his SAT’s and got a 34 on the ACT, did many extracurricular activities (president of clubs, martial arts for over 8 years etc…), and 5’s on all AP tests. He applied to extremely competitive schools, a few Ivy’s and many others such as Tufts, Duke, Case, Oberlin, UChicago, Pomona, and all of the UC’s. He was accepted into all of the UC schools but rejected by Cornell and Tufts…and accepted into Penn, Duke, and the rest that I mentioned above. Overall, I feel that you are a very competitive candidate for these schools. You are not only a very well-rounded person, who is interesting and unique, but also very bright…your grades, scores, show it all. Seriously, congratulations for all of your achievements and keep up the good work!
**Also, I was just wondering how you prepped for the SAT? I really want to improve my score, so any tips would be great…also, what was your first score on the SAT when you took it for the first time without practicing? Thank you so much:)
@Nick2190 Thank you so much!! That means a lot to me and it makes me feel better that your brother was so similar and got into Duke RD. I didn’t study at all for my PSAT and I got a 235 (much to my surprise!!) For my first SAT, I studied reallllly hard for a really long time… So many SAT classes and switching to different tutors/organizations. I got a 2230 on my first time, and I was okay with that score but I knew I could do better. Sometimes, it is a lot on luck - it depends the months you take them on and how much each section will be curved. My second score on the SAT, I was so busy (junior year, man) and I honestly did little to no studying at all (didn’t go to any more practice sessions) I just practiced for the essay more/looked up tips and I ended up getting a 2310. Superscored, that was a 2340. I have some tips for the reading and writing sections (those were my strongest I didn’t do as well in math bc of careless mistakes haha) and I’ll message them to you
@jwang217, speaking as a proud Stanford grad who loved it, I consider Duke every bit the equal of Stanford, and very similar in many respects - very interdisciplinary, open-minded, and engaged, with a lot of balance between academics and other aspects of student life. In fact, if I were picking a school today, I might well prefer Duke to Stanford, as the latter has had such an explosion of engineering and comp sci that it is throwing off the over balance of the university. I’m personally incredibly impressed with the creativity of some of Duke’s programs and its innovative and interdisciplinary approach.
When I applied to colleges in the late 1970’s, Stanford was not nearly as recognized on the east coast as it is today. I was the only person from my school to apply, and many people thought it was in Connecticut (Stamford) and were shocked when I turned down Harvard and other Ivies for it. It was a great decision for me, personally, and I never worried at all about whether it was perceived to be as prestigious as HYP. I knew it was every bit as good. I never applied to Duke, as in the late 1970’s it really didn’t have a national presence. But it certainly does today. From my perspective Duke today is every bit the equal of HYPSM and I wouldn’t be surprised if it joins their ranks in terms of elite prestige before too long. It certainly gets plenty of respect in terms of job and post-graduate opportunities for its graduates.
Only you can decide how important street prestige is to you, but from my perspective, if Duke has everything that you want and your only quibble is you don’t think it’s prestigious enough, you’ve got a screw loose. With that said, there’s nothing wrong with applying to Stanford as well, and only you can decide how to use your ED vs. REA chip. I’ve already given my suggestions in regard to that issue.
@renaissancedad Okay, thank you so much, you’ve been an incredibly help!
@jwang217 Please don’t apply to Duke. Go to Vandy or Stanford instead.
I don’t want people that say things like this: “This will sound really bad and conceited (please don’t think badly of me), but what really holds me back from Duke is that fact that many people don’t consider it up to par as an elite school… Where Duke ranks better than UPenn, it’s name recognition is less and everyone will assume schools like Brown, Cornell, UPenn, etc” at my alma mater.
Thanks.
^ Ouch. But probably deserved - it was offensive.
You really couldn’t have more stellar accomplishments, congrats! Assuming you write some kick ass essays i believe you have a good shot at any school.
Good GPA and SAT is considered feasible in your top schools. Unless you have any state recognitions in flute, admission officers can’t tell if you’re the best out of bad people or best out of good people.
Other than Vandy, all of your other schools are a reach. Full Fees at your top schools.
Yale/Stanford-reaches for everyone lol
UPenn-low reach
Duke-high match/low reach
Vandy, Rice, Emory, UVa, WashU, Brown-match
UVA UMD-safeties
we’re kinda similar imo, chance me back?http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18849288#Comment_18849288
@renaissancedad: how is it possible to apply REA to Stanford and then ED to Duke, Yale, Vandy and Rice? Wouldn’t this violate the terms?
@PinkManatee I think you’re application is much stronger than mine so I’m very flattered you think we’re similar!! Hopefully, I’ll see you at Duke?
@sgopal2 I’m pretty sure it was a typo and he meant to say RD*
^ Thanks. Yes, it was a basic typo.