Chances at Trinity ED?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
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<p>I put this in the Chances Forum, but thought I would get more people with Duke knowledge here.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any help!</p>

<p>Applying to Trinity ED.</p>

<p>White male (Thats unfortunate) from Charlotte, NC </p>

<p>---Academics---</p>

<p>4.0 Unweighted GPA, Top 5% of Class (550 students, School is a top Public School, named 43rd in the country by Newsweek in 2009)</p>

<p>33 ACT Composite</p>

<p>IB Program Fresh and Sophomore Year</p>

<p>Junior Year: AP Chem (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc AB (4), AP English (4)</p>

<p>Senior Year: AP Stat, AP Econ (Macro and Micro), AP English, AP Spanish V, AP Environmental, AP Computer Science</p>

<p>---Extra Curriculars--- (major stuff only so as not to bore you)</p>

<p>-Lacrosse- 9th Grade JV Leading Scorer, 10th Grade JV CAptain, 11th Grade Varsity NC State CHampions</p>

<p>-I have done extensive work with electric guitars, including building custom guitars and doing extensive work restoring old ones</p>

<p>-I give and take guitar lessons</p>

<p>-Through work with guitars I invented a new guitar part and applied for a patent at the USPTO. Idea is currently Patent Pending.</p>

<p>-Club Lacrosse Teams, Church Basketball</p>

<ul>
<li>Lots of School Clubs (NHS, HOSA, etc) but wont bore you with them</li>
</ul>

<p>---Community Service----(Around 300 hours in all)</p>

<p>-Founder and President of Tutoring Club at a local Elementary School</p>

<p>-Raised $1600 for Manna International in 10th Grade Summer</p>

<p>-Wont drag on with others</p>

<p>---Job Experience--- (loads of it, near 1400 hours in all)</p>

<p>-Owner and Founder of Tree Banding Company (Job local to Charlotte, PM if you really want to know more about it ) in which I manage 5 employees and 40 clients each year.</p>

<p>-Data Research and Entry Specialist for Website Marketing and Management
(Helped create a new user-generated content website that will be launching in a little, I will let you all know what its about when it launches, but Im sworn to secrecy now)</p>

<p>-Installation Specialist for SILVER CROSS (Installed mobility equipment for elderly and disabled)</p>

<p>-Guitar Instructor</p>

<p>-Work on customizing and restringing Guitars (Improve and set up friends guitars, started through my work on my own)</p>

<p>-Babysitter, Petsitter, etc, etc</p>

<p>---Awards---</p>

<p>National Merit Commended (Not yet announced, but based on past years im in that range)</p>

<p>A Honor Roll</p>

<p>Top World History Student</p>

<p>Top Medical Science Student</p>

<p>National Honor Society</p>

<p>Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society</p>

<hr>

<p>Currently working on essays, should be very good. My Trinity Supplement really shows my enthusiasm for Duke.</p>

<p>Recs should be good (Hopefully getting one from a member of Duke's Board of Trustees)</p>

<p>I have a sister currently enrolled at Duke (Does Duke consider that a legacy?)</p>

<p>Reason I have so much Job Experience (instead of typical, school-related EC's) is my father purchased a new business right as the economy collapsed and I have had to help support myself and my family.</p>

<p>I am debating my chances at Duke, but I really want to go there. I feel like I have unique and good ECs (Guitar Work, Patent, own my own business, lots of job experience, etc), but my class rank and ACT could be better.</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Any chancing is much appreciated!!</p>

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<p>Very good chances for Trinity ED. Competitive stats, unique work experience and ECs, NC resident, and legacy.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That certainly wouldn’t hurt. ;)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes.</p>

<p>“A legacy student is an applicant who has grandparents, parents, or siblings who have attended or are attending Duke.”</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>[Duke</a> University Admissions: Ask a Question](<a href=“http://www.admissions.duke.edu/faq/indexb571.html?iQuestionID=518%20&iCategoryID=1]Duke”>http://www.admissions.duke.edu/faq/indexb571.html?iQuestionID=518%20&iCategoryID=1)</p>

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<p>Thanks a ton, that was very helpful!</p>

<p>Do you know how seriously Duke considers a legacy in the application process? I know they get “an extra look” but what does that actually mean? I know at some schools if you have a legacy and somewhat good stats then your in, but at Duke it seems to matter a little less if you have a legacy. Maybe its just because everyone else is so qualified ;)</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Nobody can say for sure, but I will say that your application AUTOMATICALLY gets read by an additional person. There are several stages in the admissions decisions that Duke goes through. At first, there is “first read” from somebody trained to read applications, and then a second read from the regional admissions director from your region. Based on those two evaluations, they put you into a pile of recommended deny, likely admission, or further evaluation needed. This is generally based on a scoring rubric of like 1-5 on six different categories: curriculum, achievement, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities and personal qualities, essay and standardized testing. Likely admissions (a very small number, like 2% of applicants) go straight to Guttentag (the Dean of Admissions) to sign off on. Recommended denys (~50%) are signed off by a senior associate director. The rest of the applications (~48%) go to committee rounds where they one-by-one discuss the applicant. </p>

<p>If you’re a legacy, you cannot be put in the recommended deny pile after just two reads. You automatically get a third person to read your application that could potentially disagreee with the first two readers. It is generally accepted that the legacy boost at Duke is greater ED than RD. In addition, parents mean more than siblings (especially if your parents are active alumni or have donated money). Legacy status will NOT make an unqualified applicant suddenly qualified (unless you’ve donated $1M+ ;)), but will often serve as a tipping point (esp in the ED round) assuming you’re a competitive applicant. Hope that helps! </p>

<p>Just found this article saying the same things I said above:</p>

<p>[Application</a> increase overwhelms review system | The Chronicle](<a href=“http://dukechronicle.com/article/application-increase-overwhelms-review-system]Application”>Application increase overwhelms review system - The Chronicle)</p>

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<p>That was very helpful, thanks!</p>

<p>Anyone else have an opinion on my chances?</p>

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<p>Bumppp…Any other opinions?</p>

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<p>Bump Bump Bump</p>

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<p>I totally concur with the previous posters - legacy or not, you have a great chance b/c your EC’s are unique, you’re an NC resident, GPA/scores are good, and job experience - good lukc man - I’m also applying to Trinity ED and I’m also a guitar fanatic :)</p>

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<p>I like how you said unfortunate after White male. The other gender and another race have an even harder time getting in.</p>

<p>Anyway, I think you have a really good chance.</p>

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<p>Lol Deter, I guess your right. I was comparing myself to URM’s, but I guess the glass could be half full or half empty :). </p>

<p>Thanks for the opinions, and conscience444, maybe if we both get in we can jam sometime ;). </p>

<p>I also just found out some stats from my school and Duke applicants last year - 30 applied, 8 accepted, 4 attending. Makes me feel a little better as that is fairly high acceptance rate, but its still Duke…</p>

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<p>Fine chances. Using your/you’re correctly in essays will boost you’re chances even more ;)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the tip ;). </p>

<p>I promise, I take more care on my essay than an online forum :)</p>

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<p>Bumpp…Last one, I promise ;)</p>

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<p>man you’ve got a ridiculously good shot…if you dont get in, the rest of us are screwed haha</p>

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<p>Thanks pikachu. Im about done with my application, so its about to the point where I just press submit and hope for the best…Im about to go through the longest two months of my life, along with everyone else…</p>

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<p>Bumping this thread because, well, Im bored. And Im not sure how Im going to survive this next month plus a few days. Chance me if your feeling up to it, and good luck to everyone!</p>

<p>Anyway, a few updates to my “profile”…</p>

<p>Finished first Quarter this year with a 4.0 UW (6 AP’s)</p>

<p>Official reported class rank is 33/572 (top 6%). If anything, this is what will hurt me I think. Its top 10%, but its low because of my electives choices. Took classes like Medical Science and Sports Medicine because I was actually interested in them, instead of taking IB Info Tech and such to boost my GPA. Hope it doesnt bite me in the butt. Anyone know how seriously Duke takes Class Rank, especially when Ive clearly taken hard core classes and pursued my interests with my electives? </p>

<p>My patent is now officially Patent Pending, submitted the application and all that a month or so ago. </p>

<p>Now Vice President of my schools Ski and Snowboard Club. Probably doesnt make any difference at all, that very minor, but thought I’d add it.</p>

<p>Decided to send in my SAT II’s along with my ACT. Got a 740 on both US History and Math II. Neither are stellar, but I thought I would just send them, especially since they are not even necessary with the ACT. Thought it couldnt hurt, but could maybe help.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

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<p>You’re from Myers Park if I remember correctly, so 33 is pretty solid especially with full IB; however, the regular classes may kill you because they’re not “challenging”. According to Duke’s Common Data Set, they value your course rigor over your GPA/rank, so I’m not sure if that works in your benefit or not.</p>

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<p>Yeah Im not sure either. I took full IB fresh/soph year, then I took 4 APs last year (one was AP Chem which is double blocked) and 6 this year. Those APs were all my core classes, it is just with what I did with my electives that could hurt me I guess. The classes like Med Sci are actually harder than the IB/AP electives at my school, even though they are not given extra quality points. Go figure. Anyway, hopefully Duke realizes I was using those extra slots to pursue my interests, not boost my GPA like a lot of people (nothing wrong with that), and not hold it against me. I guess we’ll see what they think!</p>

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<p>One final bump before I let this thread die forever…</p>

<p>One month to go! Any other thoughts?</p>