Chances for Duke, Stanford, Princeton?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm a current high school junior wondering what my chances are at the following schools:</p>

<p>Duke
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Washington University in Saint Louis
Georgetown
Amherst
Stanford
Princeton</p>

<p>I'm very interested in law, and would like to go to a school with a good pre-law reputation. This does not necessarily mean one with a pre-law program, but a good feeder school into graduate law programs. At the same time, I'm not too interested in Columbia or NYU because I'm from the greater NYC area and would like to go out of state. I'm definitely open to looking at other schools, so if you have some that you think I should consider, please feel free to let me know!</p>

<p>I go to a top 5 private school in NYC.
White female from an average income bracket.
No GPA or class rank at my school, or if there is it's unknown to students. This has proven to be a non-issue in the past, as my school is already highly competitive and this was just a measure taken to decrease the fierce nature of academic life.
ALSO: No honors classes offered except in Math and Modern Languages, and for several classes, you need to sign up for the AP separately, which is why I'm not taking as many AP classes as actual AP exams.</p>

<p>Essay will be very strong, Recs and Interview will be good
SAT: 2300 (800 Critical Reading, 750 Writing, 750 Math)
SAT Subject Tests: Spanish- 800; US History- 800; Biology- 800</p>

<p>Freshman Year
English: A-/A-
Biology: A/A
Latin Prose: A/A
Spanish II Honors: B+/A-
Crisis and Change: A-/A-
Integrated Math I: B/A-
Intro. to Photography: B</p>

<p>*One highly important fact about my time in 9th grade: for most of the first semester I was battling a severe concussion issue and missed a substantial amount of school. I had to play catch-up for a large portion of the first half of the year, which accounts for my upward trend in grades and B in Photography (the course was a one semester course and graded mostly on participation, so since I was never there, there wasn't much I could do)</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
English: A-/A-
Physics: B+/A-
AP Latin Caesar and Vergil (B): A/A
AP Spanish Language: B/A- (I skipped Spanish III and had to catch up, which is why I got a B first semester)
Modern European History: A-/A
Integrated Math II: A/A
Intermediate Photography: A/A</p>

<p>AP's taken in 10th grade: Latin (4/5), Spanish Language (5/5), European History (5/5)</p>

<p>Junior Year
English: A-/A-
Chemistry: A-/A
AP Latin Caesar and Vergil (A): A/A
AP Spanish Literature: A/A
American History: A/A
Pre-Calculus Honors: B/A- (Following 10th grade I got moved up to honors and had to catch up)
Adv. Photography: A-/A</p>

<p>AP's taken in 11th grade: Latin, Spanish Literature and Culture, US History, English Literature </p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule
English (Standard English followed by an elective)
Adv. Biology
Latin Epic
Adv. Spanish Conversation
History Elective
AP Calculus AB
Psychology</p>

<p>Projected AP's: Biology, Calculus AB</p>

<p>EC's:
- 4 years of Varsity Basketball: 3x all-conference first team, 2x all-region, 2x all-state, 2 year team captain; I was recruited for basketball by some smaller schools but it's unlikely I'll pursue it
- 4 years of Varsity Softball: 1x all-conference honorable mention, 3x all-conference first team, 2 year team captain
- 3 years of Varsity Cross Country: 1 year team captain
- 11th grade citizenship award (the second highest achievement a student athlete can receive, the first is given only to seniors)
- Summa Cum Laude on the National Latin Exam twice
- 2 years on the student senate including one as VP
- Co-President of the Latin Tutors club (members tutor middle schoolers in Latin before school)
- Co-President of the Baja Project (members go to Baja, Mexico during the beginning of summer to build houses)
- Summer internship after 10th grade at the NYSD Federal Courthouse
- Will spend summer following 11th grade as paid camp counselor for a YMCA camp</p>

2

<p>Duke. You’re qualified. 90% or more of qualifed applicants are rejected.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Match
Washington University in Saint Louis. Match, but this school often suffers from “Tufts Syndrome” so highly-qualified candidates are often rejected.
Georgetown You’re qualified. 90% or more of qualifed applicants are rejected.
Amherst You’re qualified. 90% or more of qualifed applicants are rejected.
Stanford You’re qualified. 95% or more of qualifed applicants are rejected.
Princeton You’re qualified. 95% or more of qualifed applicants are rejected.</p>

<p>You need more matches and some safetys.</p>

3

<p>If you want to go to law school don’t waste your money on an expensive school because it won’t matter. Just go to your state school</p>

4

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill has become intensely competitive for out-of-state. You have a chance at all of these schools, but I’m inclined to agree with “soze.” I recommend Tulane a lot to high-performing students, because they have a non-binding early-notification option, and usually waive the application fee. You can hear from them (given your stats, you have not only an excellent chance of admission, but a good shot at merit aid) by Thanksgiving, and eliminate the need to apply to additional low-match or safe schools. </p>

5

<p>I think you have a good shot at any school you’d like to attend, but you certainly should put a lot of effort and creativity into your applications. I would urge you to disregard calvin12341’s comment. If you are truly in an “average” income bracket, there is a very high probability that Stanford will cost significantly less than your state school. I was admitted in December and my net cost is about half the cost of my flagship state university (without scholarships). The same is probably true for Princeton and maybe Duke, but I don’t know much about either. Also, Stanford actually doesn’t even look at freshman year grades, so you’re in luck in that regard.</p>

6

<p>thank you guys so much for your input.
@woogzmama‌ Tulane is a school I have looked at and I definitely will consider it. This list is by no means finalized in terms of which schools I’ll look at.</p>

<p>also, would it help my chances at Duke if I applied ED? At the moment I would say best case scenario that’s my first choice. I just really like everything about it. At the same time, does anyone have any recommendations for possible matches/safeties? </p>

7

<p>also @orbdas‌ I have been told similar things about state schools, but I haven’t really been looking much at them anyway. And congrats on your admittance!</p>

8

<p>I agree with SOZE. Nowadays top American schools are rejecting most of the qualified applicants. Just prepare your best.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

9

<p>You are a student at one of the day schools in NYC? Christoph Guttentag (dean of admissions at Duke) used to work for one of the day schools, can’t remember which one.</p>