Chances Regular Decision at Duke?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hey everyone. Fairly new CC member here, just seeking some advice/predictions from some of you. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 2150 (710 CR, 680 M, 760 W)</p>

<p>SAT II's: 780 US History, 660 Lit.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.78 unweighted on 4.0 scale (A is a 4.0, A- is 3.67, B+ is 3.33. Just thought I'd say that because its different than other schools). We do not rank</p>

<p>6 AP's: ap english language, ap english lit, ap enviro science, ap euro history, ap us history, ap comp. governments. i have taken 3 tests: euro, us, and language, with respective scores of 5,4,4</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
Cum Laude Society (national honor society),
AP scholar.
Latin Honors Society
High honors every quarter of high school (3.5gpa>)
founder's club (selected by faculty and peers to represent school at various Events)</p>

<p>EC's: </p>

<p>Varsity Swimming (all four years): league champs 11th grade, i hold school's men's 500 yard freestyle record, most improved 11th grade award. coach's award 10th grade</p>

<p>Basketball (all four years): Varsity in 12th grade season in progress. 11th grade league champs and most improved player. huge time commitment. 20 hours per week for 18 weeks per year for 4 years. </p>

<p>internship at legal department of publicly traded fortune 500 company over summer and through this year. website designer of law corporation previous summer, and file clerk summer before that.</p>

<p>essays: good
recs: amazing</p>

<p>o, im white, but i decline to state on applications since it is optional. i guess they assume i am white anyway</p>

<p>PS. I applied using Duke's own application to show more interest. I don't know if it will do anything or not, but I would like to hear your opinions on that.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone. Duke is my new #1 (i got rejected from stanford)</p>

2

<p>Hmm</p>

<p>I'd say you have a shot of course, but not like a great one. A 1390 SAT (not including the Writing) while very good, is a bit low. I think your GPA is very good, but you never can really tell without knowing what your school is really like. The 5 on AP Euro will help you, but the 4s will probably not; they won't hurt you but I don't think they'll help you. Extra-curriculars are good, I tend to think most people have good ECs though. I'd say that for Regular Decision, which is tougher than Early Decision, you'll probably be wait-listed because as fantastic as you are, it's pretty "average" for Duke's pool. But of course many "average" applicants get in, it's just maybe more luck-driven. However, if your school happens to be ultra ultra competitive, a 3.78 gpa will be great for Duke and really help your chances, especially if you have good essays and recs. Good luck!</p>

<p>PS: They do not care if you use their app. They care about the quality of the applicants, not who spends more time on the application for no real reason. Plus they sign a contract saying they won't give more weight to applicants who use their own app versus the common app.</p>

3

<p>You might think using their own app is for no good reason, but it did not take that much longer. Maybe an hour. But yes, my school is ultra ultra competitive. I know it will be a lot of luck, I just I hope I am one of the lucky ones.. </p>

<p>Thanks for responding.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA is pretty good, especially considering the classes you've taken and the fact that your school is very competitive. Your SATs are slightly below average. I think it will come down to your essays and teacher recs.</p>

<p>Btw, high honors at your school is a 3.5 gpa? My school has zero grade inlation and we need 4.0 UW.</p>

5

<p>Yes, 3.5 is high honors. It's a pretty small private school, that is VERY difficult. if you have a 4.0, you are into any college in the nation. It's very hard and there is no grade inflation. If I think I know what grade inflation is, they don't curve things up or down, the tests and classes are just difficult...</p>

<p>My Why Duke essay tlaked about a major I really want to pursue at duke, and my longer one was a teacher I have, who also wrote a very excellent letter of rec (i didn't see it, confidentiality, but its very safe to assume it) and I injected personality into it. I didn't make crazy jokes, but showed I was humorous.</p>

6

<p>Yeah, no one at my school has a 4.0 overall. The (very few) who have a 4.0 for a trimester get high honors. But in that case, your GPA is excellent.</p>

<p>Your essays sound good. Colleges really like when you talk about their specific programs in your essays. It's also good that your personality comes through. I'd say you have a good chance, but I wouldn't bet on anything.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the feedback. </p>

<p>Also, I have another question (go figure...):</p>

<p>Is there ANYTHING I can do from now until they decide to influence anything? ie. demonstrated interest, flying out there, talking to them, emailing the professor, ANYTHING that can better my chance?</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

8

<p>I'm sorry, I might be misreading but i sensed a sort of bitterness towards what i said in your post. Sorry again if i did misread. I'd like to clarify a little bit cuz I hate for anyone to think I was being rude cuz i honestly didn't mean to be or to offend you if i did.</p>

<p>First, what i meant by "luck-driven" was not that i think it's lucky for you to get in, but that i think if you aren't on the obvious top or the obvious bottom which you aren't (no offense, niether was I), then it comes down to less concrete and more subjective criteria that could either help you or hurt you and really might not reflect the actual strength of your application. Meanwhile this is happening to a lot of applicants and they can only admit so many, so it's more lottery-ish I would think.</p>

<p>Secondly i didn't mean to sound like I was saying your school isn't competitive, I was saying i have no idea how competitive your school is. You have a higher gpa than I do and I got in. Meanwhile I'm sure many people had a higher gpa than I did and didn't get in. Cuz not only are schools different, but courses are different, teachers are different, standards are different, the list goes on. I was just pointing out that giving a gpa is a good ballpark thing to do on these boards but it's hard to say "ohhh yeah with that gpa you're in!" and honestly you have the most information about your achievement and are the best judge anyways. </p>

<p>So good luck! I hope it works out.</p>

9

<p>Thanks. No, you didn't say anything wrong and I was not being bitter :)</p>

<p>Ah, the internet and its glorious transmition of emotion, lol</p>

<p>Anyway, thanks for the info. Is there anything I can do from now until then to demonstrate interest or affect my chances?</p>

10

<p>bump. Just reiterating my question at the end of my previous post.</p>

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<p>Does anyone who goes to Duke or just got in want to read my essay?</p>