Chances for Duke ED - Pratt

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hey, I am a rising senior interested in Civil and Mechanical Engineering (hoping to double major) and plan on applying ED to Duke's Pratt School of Engineering this Fall. I was just wondering what my chances are looking like right now and I also have a few questions if anyone would like to answer them. Thank you for any comments, advice, concerns. Here are my stats as of now:</p>

<p>ACT: 31 Composite
GPA: 3.96 UW/ 4.92 W
Rank: 7/510</p>

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<p>School Grading Scale
A - 93-100
B - 85-92
C - 77-84
D - 70-76
F - Below 70</p>

<p>9th Grade<br>
Honors World History - A<br>
Honors English I - A<br>
Honors Geometry - A<br>
Honors Earth/Environ Science - A<br>
Honors PLTW Intro To Engineering – A<br>
Comp. Apps – A<br>
Health/PE – A
Spanish II - A</p>

<p>10th Grade
Sports Med - A
Computer Engineering and Tech. - A<br>
Honors Biology - A
Honors PLTW Principles of Engineering - A
Honors Algebra II - A
Honors Civics and Econ - A
Honors English II - A
Honors Spanish III - A</p>

<p>11th Grade
Drafting I - A
Honors Pre-Calc - A
Honors Chemistry - A
Honors PLTW Civil Engineering and Architecture - A
Honors Spanish IV - A
AP US History - B
AP English Language - A
AP Human Geography - A</p>

<p>12th Grade (projected)
AP Calculus AB/BC
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B<br>
Honors English IV
Honors PLTW Engineering Design and Development</p>

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<p>Extracurricular Activities
- Soccer 10 years, 6 years competitively
- Challenge U11
- Classic B U12
- Classic B U13
- Classic A U14
- Premier U15 (Highest level of club soccer)
- Classic A U16 (NC State Champions)
- Volunteering - 200 hours (need to improve?)
- Pet watching business – started myself – 2 years Freshman and Sophomore years
- Key Club (11th-12th)
- Mu Alpha Theta (12th)
- National Honor Society (11th -12th)
- National Technical Honor Society (11th -12th)
- National Spanish Honor Society (11th -12th)
- Junior Marshal (11th -12th)</p>

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<p>Enrichment Activities
Summer after Freshman Year
- Soccer Camp – 9 hours a week/ 10 weeks
Summer after Sophomore Year
- NC State Engineering Summer Program (1 week) – Civil Engineering
-Duke University Constructing Your College Experience (1 week)
Summer after Junior Year
- NC State Engineering Summer Program (1 week) – Elec. /Comp. Engineering (Robotics)
- Notre Dame Intro to Engineering Camp (2 weeks) – General overview of 5-6 main engineering types that include lecture based and lab based sections</p>

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<p>Additional Notes:
- Wanted to take AP Spanish V, but my school is not offering it next year (thinking about self-studying)
- Would have taken AP Lit., but decided to focus more on engineering specific courses than learning how to write a sonnet and decoding Shakespeare
- Plan on doing an interview along with my application
- Part of the DukeTIP program in 7th Grade by taking the ACT. Scored fairly high for a middle schooler and got an award for it. (not sure if this counts for much)
- Caucasian, not a legacy</p>

<p>Strengths: GPA, Course load, Interest in Engineering (Camps, 4 years of PLTW engineering courses)
Weaknesses: EC's, Test Scores</p>

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<p>Questions:
1. Should I self-study for AP Spanish? I think it would show my commitment to improve my foreign language skills, but my ED decision will be back several months before the exam in May and the results won't be sent to the university until the middle of the summer. Seems like it would be hard to prove you actually did the work and also did well on the exam, especially knowing whether you've been accepted or not.
2. When does Duke release its Duke Supplement each year? Also when does the Common App release its newest version? I have seen previews of this years version online, but had trouble finding a date when it was probably going to be released.
3. Should I take the ACT one more time? I'm not sure if I will be okay because I am in the middle 50% range of ACT scores for Duke (30-34) or if I should try again to improve. I have already taken it 3 times (After Soph. year, Middle of Junior, End of Junior) and wonder if, by taking it again, it would seem like I took the test too many times?</p>

<p>Thanks again for any comments or responses, I really appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>Sounds like you are native to NC and are in some special school that offers engineering classes?</p>

<p>If you are from NC, you might be in if you do ED. If you are not a resident of NC, the chances are lower, mainly with the given ACT score.</p>

<p>Have you taken any AP exams?</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply. Yes, I’m from NC. However, I’m not in a REALLY special school, just a normal public school that offers engineering courses like you said through an organization known as Project Lead the Way (PLTW). I have taken AP Exams for all 3 APs I took Junior Year, but the results still have a few weeks left to be mailed, but I’m pretty confident I did well.</p>

4

<p>You seem to know your strengths and weaknesses, and I agree. Id strongly recommend you to retake the ACT in Sept and Oct and shoot for a 33+. I think you have a decent chance ED, but if you could bring up your ACT you’d be a bit more competitive as you’d be in the middle 50% for Pratt, when right now you are on the lower end. It’s not impossible to get in with a 31, but if you raised your score just a bit I think you’d have a solid shot.</p>

5

<p>Yea, standardized testing is just not my thing. I always do very well on the English and Math (33’s and 34’s), but the Reading and Science kill me every time, even though I do tons of practicing. Guess I’ll just have to do a lot more studying, because right now, that’s my biggest downfall. By the way, texaspg or patriotsfan1, are you guys currently students, parents of students, teachers…, just wondering because you seem to know what you’re talking about?</p>

6

<p>I’m a Duke student.</p>

7

<p>Oh wow, that must be fun. Would you mind telling me what the environment is like there? I have heard that there are a lot of affluent and arrogant kids there. Is that really the case or a bit of an over exaggeration? </p>

<p>Also, if you’ve had some experience with the ACT and scored high, do you have any advice for the ACT besides doing a lot of practice tests and reviewing strategy, especially for the reading and science? Thanks a lot, really appreciate the help.</p>

8

<p>It’s not all rich kids a ton of people are on financial aid. I mean you aren’t going to school with 6,500 kids in poverty, most are middle class from what I can tell with a decent portion of richer kids and some that are international or a bit poorer so that’s an exaggeration. The people I’ve met there are pretty down to earth and genuine people. There are going to be some rich kids and some arrogant kids anywhere you go, but Id say that That definitely isn’t the majority at Duke. </p>

<p>As far as the ACT goes, do a bit of practice from their official books and the practice questions on the Internet. If timing is a problem, time yourself and you’ll notice a difference after you find out what exactly they are looking for.</p>

9

<p>That sounds a lot more practical. I agree there will be rich and arrogant students everywhere, I was just wondering if this was the majority at Duke, as I am not by any means rich, which would be a rough environment to be in for me. Glad to hear that is not the case. Thanks for the feedback.</p>

10

<p>You should definitely play up the engineering courses/camps that you’ve done. It’s definitely not an “ordinary” thing and most “ordinary” high schools don’t offer something like that, and it shows initiative and the fact that you are serious about engineering. They might think of it as someone who is not likely to transfer out of Pratt, if you’ve already had that much exposure to it. I think it will give you an edge if you play your cards right.</p>

<p>And, welcome to CC.</p>

11

<p>Thanks, is it that obvious that I’m a newbie? hahaha And the courses/camps that I have done so far have been so helpful for me. The courses at my school are very difficult and contain college level material dealing with engineering concepts, which is why my school gives it the same weight as an AP course. Also, there is a big exam at the end of the course, sort of like an AP course and you can get college credit for it if you do well enough, which I have been lucky enough to get for 2 of them. I cannot imagine studying engineering in college without these courses and camps, which have given me a wake-up call to how difficult engineering is, but have also shown me that this is something that I really enjoy doing and want to continue to pursue in college. And I noticed you’re a Engineering Alumnus from Duke. Would you mind telling me a bit about your experience at Pratt in terms of teaching, labs, research, etc. at Duke? I’m really interested in knowing something more than what I saw on the engineering tour I experienced at Duke.</p>

12

<p>It says your join date under your profile name.</p>

<p>First, you won’t specifically be in any “engineering” courses related to your major until about sophomore year, if I recall correctly. The first year, unless you place out, you’ll be taking math, chem, physics (classical/electric), intro. to engineering, MATLAB with Dr. G, etc. There are some things that your department will require. I personally didn’t know anyone double majoring specifically in civil and mechanical when I was there, not that that doesn’t happen, I would just say it is a little out of the ordinary in that the courses don’t really intertwine much later on, so you may have to end up overloading some. Civils do their thing, and mechanicals do their thing, especially during your later years when you have capstone and discipline-specific design criteria. But that’s farther ahead in one’s career. </p>

<p>Now when you say you couldn’t imagine studying engineering in college without those courses, I would hold off on that statement without first actually being in the program. I didn’t have any ‘engineering’ specific courses beforehand - I wasn’t aware of really anyone who did, not that I specifically went around asking that question - it’s more of just a learn-to-be-an-engineering-student-as-you-go sort of process, especially when you start working in groups for homeworks and projects. </p>

<p>My experience? Hmm…how can I sum up 4 years in a few sentences. Overall, a great experience with a close-knit group of people who aren’t overly competitive. In my department, the teaching was solid, the labs are what you’d expect of labs, and the research can be hit or miss but overall a good development experience and what you make of it - if you end up doing something like the Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellows program, it can be really good.</p>

<p>I wonder if they still do the e-Socials every Friday.</p>

13

<p>I also take PLTW classes at my school and have received credit for IED and POE but how would one go about mentioning these classes in your application?</p>

14

<p>That’s what I was wondering about too, ulovetoy, how would you “play up” the engineering courses and camps? And of the students you knew, Ultimate, was it more common for someone who was double majoring to do so in something at Trinity, like Math, Science, History, Music, etc.? And did some engineering students double major in 2 fields of engineering? Because I always thought that in the first year and possible the second year, many courses would overlap, like math and science, but now I see what you are saying about the big capstone projects in the last year or two, which could really be burdensome. One last thing, would it be a bit more practical to maybe get a certificate or minor in another engineering field, as opposed to a full on major? Thanks for the feedback on your experience, by the way, very helpful.</p>

15

<p>Most students who double major do so in Trinity. Not to say no Pratt kids double major, but its a bit rarer than majoring in say History with an English minor.</p>

16

<p>Econ is a moderately popular second major for engineers, if one decides to double major. I honestly don’t really “believe” in double majoring though, in principle, but that’s just me. Like I mentioned before, it just gets so hectic in the end of your academic career when you start having major projects in completely different areas and have you to switch your mindset constantly.</p>

<p>If you’re doing Civil, you can get a Certificate in Architectural Engineering. I have one. It really doesn’t mean anything though, it’s just a piece of paper that they mail in the summer with the main professor’s signature on it. You can get a Markets and Management Studies certificate as well. I’m sure they have tons of new ones also since I’ve left.</p>

17

<p>Is a certificate less than, greater than, or equal to a minor? I was never really clear on that. And I heard about the Markets and Management Studies one on a tour once. They said it was very good for employers to see or something like that.</p>

18

<p>It depends on which discipline it’s in. For the architectural, it’s just 2 extra classes since the rest of them overlap with the core civil curriculum. I’d recommend a minor in something like math or, if available for a minor, computer science, since those are just generally really great areas that I think every engineer should have a solid understanding of, and they speak for themselves with no explanation. Of course you could do something more “marketable” for employers, but then who are you really considering long-term: you or some company? The MMS certificate is just more learning about “entrepreneurship” than any specific core area.</p>

19

<p>Your profile seems pretty strong. That B however in AP Physics could cost you. Self studying for AP Spanish doesn’t necessarily show much unfortunately for an engineer so I would focus on bulking up your test scores on the maths and sciences. Best of luck to you! What I learned from the whole application process is that essays can make a big difference so concentrate on that in addition to test scores.</p>

20

<p>It wasn’t in AP Physics, it was APUSH because I am horrible at history. I was saying that I am taking the course “AP Physics B” senior year.</p>