<p>I don't have the wonderful class ranks that most of you seem to have, and my gpa is not the best which is really worrying me. </p>
<p>Rank: none (top 20%). I'm at a really competitive HS which colleges seem to recognize based on how many students end up at HYP per year (at least 10).
GPA: 4.12 w, 3.5 uw (save me)
AP: 12 by the time I graduate (mostly 5's so far)
IB: Full diploma program</p>
<p>EC's:
- President of Service in Communities
- President of Fit and Fun (Club where we go to elementary schools and teach kids how to live a healthy lifestyle)
- VP of Peer Tutoring
- Best Buddies
- Red Cross
- Historian of Make-a-Wish
- Piano for 9 years
- Violin for 5 years
- Student council rep</p>
<p>Community Service:
- Library Reading Centers
- YMCA
- Center for underprivileged children (tutored and read to them)</p>
<p>Internships:
- Editorial job at an agency in LA</p>
<p>I don't have many clubs but I found that I'd rather spend a lot of time on a select few rather than spread myself out too much. I'm afraid I don't really measure up to the standard of most Duke applicants. </p>
<p>Be honest please! I'll still apply either way and do my best. I'm just curious as to what you guys think.</p>
<p>Good Essays - ED probably a great shot. Regulary admission - probable, but i woudl get teh GPA up a bit. As far as scores are concerned anything over 2340 and your app. gets placed in a different stack with a much higher statistical chance of admission or at least a much closer read of your app. I think the yield problems created by some colleges retaining ED and others not cause problems for well qualified students as well as some spaces may not be offered becuase statistically the school questions whether the student is serious about attending or believe they are not likey to attend or are a poor fit. I may be wrong on this but it seems logical. My son is there now and loves it- lots of kids from California attend and I think Cal is second only to NY in number of kids from states other than NC. The only issue could be GPA and I would try to get it up a bit, but in as competetive a school as you attend this may not be a factor. Good luck.</p>
<p>Mondo: It's between Duke and Brown (I think I put Pomona in another post but that was a typo.. my friend was over and she goes to Pomona). It's likely that I might apply to Brown ED... the only thing I don't like about it is that it's ivy status. I know that sounds really weird but I don't like going to colleges simply for the name/prestige. I've wanted to go to Brown since 8th grade, but the more I research Duke, the more I fall in love with it.</p>
<p>By the end of this week I'll know for sure which school it is. </p>
<p>bfg: I'm sure my essays will be great (excuse my immodesty). I've already written out a few and I'm trying to decide which one is best. My 'why duke' is also very sincere and detailed; none of that vague 'the campus seems like a good fit for me' stuff. Your son is so lucky to be there! My friend went this year and she claims its everything she's wanted from a college. I'm quite jealous.</p>
<p>Good luck with making your decision! Both are great schools.
Go with your gut, :)
The 1570 alone gives you a really good shot with Brown or Duke ED.</p>
<p>For encouragement, one of my friends, who had a so-so high school GPA (I think 3.65..) got in ED to Duke with a 1550. He said that's all he had to offer to Duke, lol.</p>
<p>Funny that you mention Brown...becasue the one of the class student body Presidents went to the same high school as my son, as have a number of other kids in the class. Brown, Penn, Cornell seem to like our HS - Stanford has not taken a kid from our school in over 10 years even though we have sent some to Harvard and Princeton. As for your selection- you really can't go wrong. Both schools are great and I would suggest a visit. Ther Duke Campus is reallly very pretty. Like you, my son had a choice of going to the Ivies, but in his case chose Duke and loves it. The deciding factor really has to be which school offers programs that best suit what you want to do in later life. We visited the schools that my son was most likely to attend and in our case the decision was clear, but you have to decide what is right for you. In the matriculation ceremony the Dean made one comment that I really liked. He said that to often we tell kids that College is the best years of their life, and the messageshould really be, yes those years are great and you goal is to work to make each successive year in your life better rather than just see college as the apex and everthing else never quite measuring up. What ever you do make sure it gives you the foundation for where you want to go in life. Good Luck</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement mondo (: I should keep my hopes low though, cause you never really know. Imagine if I did get in though...</p>
<p>And I really love the Dean's comment, bfg. (I'll try to remember it when I'm enjoying my time at college!)</p>
<p>qihqi: I thought it was suicide at first too, but surprisingly you can get used to anything. If you look at some of the other kids on CC, they have my schedule x100!</p>
<p>isabellaaa and schoolsearching, good luck with getting into Duke, :D
I trust that since both of you are applying Early Decision- you both know that it is a good fit for you.</p>
<p>"As far as scores are concerned anything over 2340 and your app. gets placed in a different stack with a much higher statistical chance of admission or at least a much closer read of your app. "</p>
<p>Is this TRUE? I have like a 2260 gahhh i knew i should have done better. Sucks cuz people have always told me that anything >2250 was treated almost the same way.</p>
<p>Duke doesn't care much about the Writing section so it really matters by how you did on Math and Critical Reading.
Duke told me straight up when I asked that it weighted Writing as an SAT II but I applied two years ago.</p>
<p>As for blueducky's question, I think that a 1500 (2250) and 1600 (2400) are viewed very differently but a 1500(2250) and 1520 (2280) are viewed in a similar light such as a 1580 (2370) and 1600 (2400) are viewed in a similar light.</p>
<p>Haha yay hookem168! Seriously, everyone here seems to be about the engineering stuff but I've always been more of a humanities person. Hopefully I can get in!</p>
<p>And don't worry blueducky. I'm sure SATs don't really count; it's the rest of the app that really show who you are. I received your essay so I'll send it over soon (:</p>
<p>But the only thing i have are academics, so it looks kind of bad. I mean, my SAT II scores are perfect, but that compared with a mediocre 1470 makes me seem diligent and hardworking but not that smart. </p>
<p>I swear if i knew they had that 2340 rule, i would have TOTALLY tried to do better. Too late now.</p>