Chances at Early Decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>I've seen quite a bit of these types of threads on here..so, sorry if I'm bothering everyone with yet another one! It would be great if I could get some feedback on my chances at ED. Thanks.</p>

<p>Asian, Female
Public School in Georgia (a couple students every year make it into top-tier colleges)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.972 (b/c of a B in gym class..); 99.139 on a 100-pt scale
rank: 11 out of 576; the academics here is pretty competitive.
courseload: moved to the state freshman year, so first sem. i wasn't allowed to take the hardest classes; 2nd sem took mostly gifted classes. soph. year mostly gifted w/ 1 AP (world history); junior year 4 APs (bio, physics b, us history, french), and senior year all APs (micro/macroecon, comp gov/american gov, calc bc, physics c, statistics, literature)</p>

<p>SAT: 2270 - 780 verbal, 800 math, 690 writing (lol..yeah..kinda bad); but combined SAT is 2310 (highest verbal and math both 800s, highest writing 710)
SAT II: bio-780, math 2c-780, us history-790
ACT: taking it in oct., but i don't know if that score will get in on time for ED. if it is, and if i do well, i'll submit it.</p>

<p>capt. of academic decathlon junior + senior year, was on aca. decathlon soph. year (i've won some awards for this at regional and state levels)
science olympiad in 11th and 12th (again, won a few awards for certain subjects)
ran track for a year
mu alpha theta (math honor society)
beta club for 2 years
science national honor society for a year
french honor society for 2 years (won some awards on the national french exam, etc.)
history club
involved in the lit. magazine for school
nominated for a state academic program (governor's honor program or something like that..) in math and language arts
several awards for "outstanding achievement" in science and math classes throughout the years (don't know if that helps any, though)
AP scholar
NCTE outstanding achievement award in writing
volunteer at my church for about 2 years
emory university hospital volunteer program this part summer
member of junior board
volunteer at children's museum of atlanta
spent 2 summers doing projects at biomedical engineering dept. of georgia tech</p>

<p>teacher recommendations-should be ok
counselor recommendations-i've yet to get those to my counselor, lol
essays-hopefully they're good enough, prolly need to edit more</p>

<p>question: i don't have a whole lot in leadership, work experience, or athletics; how much will this affect my chances?
and also, i'm pretty sure that being asian just makes it harder to get into good schools, but i don't really know how much it'll affect my chances. any thoughts?</p>

<p>thanks in advance to everyone who bothers with this long post!! :)</p>

2

<p>I think you are in, :)
I had worse stats than you and I somehow got into Duke RD.</p>

3

<p>First Off, im applying ED too so my opinion might not be as good as a current Duke student. I like your chances. I can't find a HUGE weakness in your application that would throw up a red flag. You have already identified your minor weaknesses (asian and little leadership). The fact that you arent an athlete wont hurt as you have been involved in other areas. Duke and other top schools look for people that make a difference somehwere outside their studies. For many this involves sports, but for others like yourself it does not. I can see that you are active in other areas. The only thing that worries me with your ECs is that you don't really have a gleaming leadership role. Personally don't know much about academic decathlon but your captain position there could be a boost if the club is active. </p>

<p>Overall though, your academics (which come first) are stellar. The B in gym class freaks me out because i thought that was an easy 100, but other than that you are good to go. Your GPA and rank is top notch and I would kill for your SAT score. I guess a high ACT score would compliment your SAT but i dont really see a need to take it, unless you think you can pull off a 36 or something.</p>

<p>Hate to sound like a broken record, but as is with everyone: make sure your essays are ballin and have good teacher recs. This is where they get to know who "asian female from georgia" really is.</p>

<p>Now for your actual chances: I think you have a "good shot". If I had to guess, being ED, I would say 70% in. I wouldnt be shocked if you got deffered but I have to be optimistic about your chances. I was critical at points but your app will be very strong. In my opinion, you are qualified in every area considered. Despite the little criticisms you made, you have high academic marks, amazing test scores, and above-average ECs. As I said I'm applying ED too and I think your stats are better than mine. You should "chance" me in return. It will be fun. (And don't be nice just because I said you are probably in..I want an honest opinion if you do it haha)
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/571384-ed-chances-final-chance-thread-before-submitting.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/571384-ed-chances-final-chance-thread-before-submitting.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>