Chances at Duke (& other selective schools)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Looking to see my chances at getting into Duke. Unsure whether to apply Early Decision—it's soooo tempting, but I don't know if I would get enough financial aid. What are my chances of getting in ED and RD? I go to a highly competitive Top 100 Public School in the US. I have a great GPA and great extracurriculars with mediocre test scores. I'm not on an athletic team at school (which I know Duke likes) but I am a member of the local running club, and I run competitively in their long distance races. To give you a better idea of my accomplishments, I copy/pasted some relevant sections from my resume. Any help and advice on my chances and what to do to improve them would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>

<p>ACADEMICS:
Weighted GPA: 4.3526—Unweighted GPA: 3.9524 (we don't rank)
ACT: 32 (Should I take it again?)
SAT: 2040 (I prefer ACT)
SAT Subject Tests: Lit-730; MathII-620; US History-680
Score of 5 on following AP exams: US Government, US History, European History, Environmental Science</p>

<p>CURRENT SENIOR CLASSES:
AP English, AP German, AP Calc AB, AP Economics, AP Computer Science, Honors Physics, Creative Writing II</p>

<p>CLUBS/EXTRACURRICULARS:
Generations2Generations (Nursing Home Outreach) (10-12)—President
Outdoor Adventure Club (10-12)—Founder
Riverbend Review (Award Winning School Literary Magazine) (11,12)—Editor in Chief
Key Club (9-12)—Officer
Iota Sigma (Christian Club) (9-12)—Officer
Political Science Club (11,12)—Officer
National Honors Society (11,12)—Member
Peer Assistance Team (11,12)—Member
Delta Epsilon Phi (National Students of German Honors Society) (10-12)—Member
New Orleans Track Club (11,12)—Member
Church Youth Group (9-12)—Member
Green Society (10-12)—Member
Photography Club (11,12)—Member</p>

<p>AWARDS:
2013 New Orleans Track Club Long Distance Champion—placed 1st in the Youth Division of NOTC 1/2Marathon, 25k, and 30k races
Completed New Orleans Rock ‘n’ Roll Full Marathon in 4:28:29
Principal’s Award (awarded by Principal to a student displaying academic & extracurricular excellence)—10
1st place German Interpretive Reading & German Dramatic Skit at State Literary Rally—10, 11
Attended Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2013 Spring Convention at Columbia University with school Literary Magazine
German Best in Class—9, 10, 11; Math Best in Class—9, 10, 11; English Best in Class—9, 10
National Honors Society
1st place Digital Poster at 2013 Regional Key Club Rally—designed and photoshopped award winning poster for Southeast Key Club Rally, progressed to Internationals
United Way: Mission Ignition Winner—most service hours completed by BFHS student in one month</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
United Way: Mission Ignition (student run city-wide service initiative)—Board Member
Woldenberg Village (nursing home)—talk with elderly, help plan and execute regular events, etc
Believer’s Life Family Church Media Team—operate cameras/projectors/misc. technology about 2.5 hrs/week</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE:
Camp Counselor: 5wks, 2 consec. summers, 11year old campers, horseback instructor
Petsitting/babysitting for 12+ neighbors</p>

2

<p>I’d say it’s a low reach/reach RD and a high match ED. You’re really qualified but they get a ton of qualified applicants. Apply ED, and I think you’ve got a pretty good shot.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1546547-chance-me-these-schools.html#post16317631[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1546547-chance-me-these-schools.html#post16317631&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Duke ED: High match
Duke RD: Reach</p>

<p>Duke’s ED acceptance rate is a staggering 30% compared to their RD rate of 11%. I think you can run a NPC to find out financial aid. If you can make it happen definitely apply ED.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1546433-updated-umiami-chance-thread-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1546433-updated-umiami-chance-thread-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks for the advice! See the problem with ED for me is that my family owns a small business that doesn’t do well financially. But we technically own a lot of “assets” (like the building that was passed down to my dad) so it looks like we have money. Net Price Calculators aren’t very accurate for us because income fluctuates a lot and doesn’t always display what we can afford. My parents have made it clear they can’t afford to help pay for college. Colleges say that the ED binding obligation is dropped if one demonstrates that the financial need doesn’t meet the student’s needs, but how easy is this realistically? Thanks for the help!</p>

<p>Also, would a higher ACT score help me significantly? I am willing to study and take it again!</p>

5

<p>You would have to talk to your counselor about that one.</p>

<p>32 is average for Duke. If you improve it to say, 34, it would help you a lot in RD.</p>

6

<p>A higher ACT score would definitely help your application. The 25th-75th percentile range of ACT composite for Duke is 29-34. It would certainly help to add a few points to that ACT score so that your scores are above average.</p>

7

<p>“Colleges say that the ED binding obligation is dropped if one demonstrates that the financial need doesn’t meet the student’s needs, but how easy is this realistically?”</p>

<p>You don’t need to demonstrate anything; you simply decline the ED FA offer. Here’s the rule:

</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This is how schools try to encourage non-wealthy top students to apply ED when they have a by-far number-one favorite, without fear of being trapped. But you can’t compare FA offers, so you must be prepared to take it or leave it.</p>