<p>Thanks for taking the time to read all thisss.
About Me:
-I'm a junior and I am currently valedictorian with a 3.9 GPA unweighted, 4.4 core GPA, and 5.1 weighted GPA. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be either valedictorian or salutatorian by the time I graduate. I'm hoping to do something involoving biology, whether it be biochemistry, biomedical engineering, pre-med, etc.</p>
<p>-AP's
Freshman Year- AP Human Geography
Sophomore Year- AP World History, AP Psychology
Junior Year- AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP English Language
Senior Year- AP Calculus BC, AP Gov, AP English Literature, AP Euro
Of the ones I've taken so far I've scored:
AP World-3
AP Human-4
AP Psych-5
I am an AP Scholar and I am hoping to become an AP Scholar with Honors or an AP Scholar with Discinction after my exams this year.</p>
<p>-Test Scores
SAT Score: 1380/1600 or 2160/2400
ACT Score: 32
*I'm going to retake both and I am aiming for a 1450-1480 on the SAT's and a 33 or 34 on the ACT's.
*I'm going to be taking the SAT II's in a few months(probably Biology M and then either Math I or US History)</p>
<p>-Exracurriculars:
*Key Club
1. Member 10th grade
2. Vice-President 11th grade
3. President 12th grade
*National Honor Society Member
*I've been a part of the TV prodution program(class) and club all 4 years of high school.
At the FSPA(Florida Scholastic Press Association) states I won 2nd place in script-writing.
At the FSPA(Florida Scholastic Press Association) districts I won 3rd place in video-photojournalism.
*I was a part of my city's competition cheerleading team during the beginning of 9th grade. (Not sure if I'm going to include this)
*I will be joining my school's varsity swim team in my senior year.</p>
<p>-I held a part-time job from June of my sophomore year to January of my junior year and I have been tutoring in math since January. I will probably also have another part-time job this summer. </p>
<p>** I will have 250+ volunteer service hours (Silver Chord) by the time I graduate.
***I'm hoping to be a Silver Knights Nominee in Social Sciences next year.
(The Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards is one of the nations most highly regarded student awards programs. The purpose of this Awards program is to recognize outstanding students who have not only maintained good grades but have also unselfishly applied their special knowledge and talents to contribute significant service to their schools and communities.)</p>
<p>I really do apologize for putting all of this down for you to read but I want a realistic idea of my chances at Duke. Also, please list anything I could do to increase my chances. Thanks so much!!!</p>
<p>Lots of people have similar accomplishments. I’d say your chances of getting in aren’t any better than anyone else’s. And if you get in, then what? How do you think you’ll pay for it? You’ll be $100,000 in debt by the time you graduate, with no guarantee of getting a job. I will recommend for you the same I recommend to anyone else graduating high school… Learn to trade the stock market like I did, and have been doing for the last 4 years. I quit college after my sophomore year after realizing that I was making more money in the stock market than I ever could working a job. If you still want to go to college, start out at a junior college. It’s far, far less expensive, and you don’t need any accomplishments or SAT scores.</p>
<p>Yes, and I answered her. Read the very first sentence. I was just trying to open up the door to other opportunities in life besides going to college for 4 years, then finding out she can’t get a job but will still owe tens of thousands in college debt nonetheless.</p>
<p>“you chances of getting in aren’t better than anyone else’s” has to be the most vague and unsubstantial answer ever. and besides that, it’s evident you’re just leaving negative posts on everyones’ threads and telling them what a genius you are for dropping out of college.</p>
<p>Thanks hmom5, so you think my extra-curriculars are okay enough for duke? that was the part i was most worried about. and yeah i’m hoping to increase my scores as much as possible.</p>
<p>and leaira, i appreciate your advice but obviously if i’m on collegeconfidential.com i’m going to be someone who wants to go to college. plus, i won’t go to any school where i think i’ll come out of it so in debt that i’ll have trouble getting onto my feet.</p>
<p>Well, I think anyone who can think outside the box and make a solid living on their own without getting a college degree or working for someone else is a genius! </p>
<p>All my friends have just graduated from college, or just about to. I was living with two other girls for the past two years at U of Florida. I just stayed at the apartment and paid my share of the rent. It didn’t matter to the landlord that I wasn’t enrolled for classes like they were. I would stay home and trade the stock market while my roomies went to classes. Now that this chapter of our lives has just come to an end, their college loans are about to come due, to the tune of $60,000 each. They have no idea what kind of job they will get, or if they will even be able to get one. So they’re headed for financial trouble right off the bat, and they haven’t even had their first job interview yet. Myself, on the other hand, I’m about to move to Tennessee and buy my first house – entirely with cash I made in the stock market over the past 4 years. And I will still have plenty of cash left to continue the success I’ve been having. They don’t teach you how to trade the stock market for a living in any college!</p>
<p>@ Leaira: Let’s try to assist the OP in their original pursuit: learning about their chances at Duke.</p>
<p>@ paigetherage: If you can raise your SAT a bit I think you stand an excellent chance. What other schools are you looking at? I would suggest you look at UNC and Vandy if you are looking into schools in the Southeast.</p>
<p>Looks like you have a good chance, but admissions to any top college is somewhat of a crapshoot. Try to get a higher SAT score and make a great essay, and you should be fine. If you’re dead set on Duke and money’s not too much of an issue, ED admissions this year was 33%–nearly twice the RD rate of 17%.</p>
<p>To add to the previous poster, you could also look into Emory. An SAT above 1500 there will get you into the running for merit scholarships through the Emory Scholars program. Duke is something unique though…I’m amped that I’ll be there next year for premed!</p>
<p>“Well, I think anyone who can think outside the box and make a solid living on their own without getting a college degree or working for someone else is a genius!”</p>
<p>You are an idiot. I don’t care how much money you make on the stock market, telling other people to follow this path is just about the most unintelligent advice anyone could give. The stock market is largely a crapshoot–sure, you can “predict” rises and falls in prices or perhaps the best times to buy and sell, but it is never a guarantee. In fact, I would feel comfortable saying that most people following this path end up failing and have to look at other options.</p>
<p>College, on the other hand, can act as crutch for the future. Yeah, maybe you won’t end up being Ms./Mr. Multimillionaire when you are 30 or so, but the lessons learned and experience is invaluable. They say college is the best four years (or more) of your life; I find it hard to believe that the majority of college-graduates that say this can be wrong. College grants access to skilled and advanced careers that offer a steady pay-check that will keep you out of the streets for life. You can choose either lifestyle, but college is the most steady and unarguably most valuable of the two.</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, you are not “[someone] who can think outside the box”. Many, many people have chosen your path with varying results. Therefore, by your definition, you are not a genius, or anywhere close to one.</p>
<p>But seriously, I’m not talking about just a one-time windfall from a lucky trade. Anyone can have that. I’ve been trading for 4 years, and have had consistent, profitable results over the period from trading skills. The skills are not only trading strategies, but proper money and risk management skills. It is the latter that will keep you from failing in the stock market. You don’t learn any of these skills in any college. With the methods of trading I use, I don’t need to “predict” anything.</p>
<p>On the other hand, with college, the only thing a degree guarantees you is tens of thousands in debt after you graduate. College may grant access to skilled and advanced careers that offer a steady paycheck, but these careers also offer tons of stress that will likely give you ulcers or a heart attack by age 50.</p>
<p>A “career” in trading the stock market offers time freedom. I only trade or manage my trades for up to an hour a day. And many days I don’t need to do anything. Most people think of trading is simply buying and selling stocks. There’s a lot more to it than that. I trade mostly options using advanced option strategies.</p>
<p>Actually, many people can go to college with little to no debt, do your research before you make accusations. And I have a hard time believing that the stress from maintaining a steady job is any more than the stress you face when you lose all of your the cash that makes you so “rich” when you take a huge risk on a single stock.</p>
<p>We’ll see who succeeds later in life. Also, I have a hard time believing that having a house makes you rich. It’s funny because, like, no one else has a house, right? Only, like, five people in the US have houses, right? I guess it makes you special. Or maybe a moron.</p>
<p>Maybe you are a special moron. Special in the worst possible sense.</p>
<p>Leaira, please stop trying to press your advice on my thread. make your own thread if you really wanna try and convince people not to go to college but multiple attempts on my thread is getting a little annoying, i asked for my chances and that’s all i want to hear. thanks.</p>
<p>& to everyone else that is answering, thank you for your input! SAT does seem to be my weak area so i’m going to probably study a lot this summer and take it one last time next school year and hopefully go up some. :)</p>
<p>smart.cookie, yeah i am looking at schools in the SE and vandy and duke are my 2 dream schools so i think i would be happy at either one!</p>
<p>&money would be a bit of a problem but i’m hoping both schools would give my sufficient financial aid but i’ve heard both schools are great w/that.</p>
<p>What does that xxxx (mwl - 2.19.2009) –> thing mean?
idk what that is where do you see that?</p>
<p>& yeah i also found the ACT’s easier i might be retaking those too but i feel like my ACT score might be okay for duke and vandy it’s my SAT scores that need to go up.the ACT has much easier questions, it’s only challenging because they give you less time and more questions.</p>
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