Chances for duke ED please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Brief description of myself: I am a senior at a semi-comptetitive public school, am a first generation college student, and will be needing no aid. Duke is my dream and has been as of about a year ago when a friend first told me about it. Ever since I have been doing ANYTHING whether it's reading books or studying for standardized test's to not only increase my meager chances for duke ED, but also to give me confidence and pleasure. I went from D's and an F frosh year to straight A+'s with a full IB schedule senior year. Pretty crazy upward trend that I will write about in my essay. Please give me in-depth, realistic chances of ways to improve my chance of getting in and whether or not you think they'll accept me.</p>

<p>Standardized Test's:</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2320 Total, 1600 Composite (May take again in Oct. for better writing)</p>

<p>Math: 800</p>

<p>Critical Reading: 800</p>

<p>Writing: 720</p>

<p>SAT II's</p>

<p>Math 1C: 780</p>

<p>Biology-760</p>

<p>Literature-720</p>

<p>High school GPA- 2.9 UW Probably 3.6-3.7 W HORRIBLE frosh and soph year (Laziness kills!) , 7 IB's Total. 5's on most exams. IB Diploma Scholar.</p>

<p>EC's:
1)Mathletes
2)Habitat for Humanity in Costa Rica building homes
3)Volunteer tutoring at my local Boys/Girls club (approximately 200 hours)
4)Track and Tennis mostly throughout high school. Lacrosse one year.
5)Tutored math to several sophmores for the PSAT in my home.
6)Ran/Designed my own website for two years. Very experienced with web design.
7)Took Physics and Calculus 1 at a local CC during the summer.
8)Went to UCLA for an extensive SAT program. (Ehh)</p>

<p>If you believe my chances are slim to none, do you think I would be as competitive as possible if I were to go to a CC for a year or two with a 3.8-4.0 and transfer?</p>

2

<p>Great scores. What happened to your GPA! </p>

<p>I'd say your chances are pretty good, but have you shown a definite upward trend with straight A's junior year?</p>

3

<p>he explained what happened to his GPA - a lack of ambition. but his recent gpa is ridiculously good, showing definite maturity and a definite potential. Who knows, though. This is a strange case, and I'm not qualified to chance you on this one. </p>

<p>best of luck, man. cheers!</p>

4

<p>Duke likes students with high GPAs.
And I don't think writing about your upward trend in essay is a good idea. The adcoms will obviously see your GPA trend, and there's no need for you to elaborate it in your essay.</p>

5

<p>I think an upward trend like that demands explaining (and the story behind it probably tells a lot about the OP). I think it's a good essay topic. My upward trend wasn't quite as dramatic, but I still wrote about the why's of it, and I got into Duke and a couple of Ivies. </p>

<p>I'd be concerned about the ECs. #6 is the only one that might stand out as innovative or interesting. And if it isn't either of those things, get on it this Summer.</p>