<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
School: Decent Public High School
GPA: 3.96 (4.6 weighted)
Rank: Top 1%
SAT: -
SAT II: -
ACT: 33
Financial Aid: Yes
Senior Year: I was in Germany, and now I am working during a gap year. Thus I am not currently enrolled in any official coursework</p>
<p>Recommendations: Excellent I believe. They think I am the best thing since sliced bread.</p>
<p>Essays: Good and fairly unique.</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<p>Year long Rotary Exchange Student to Germany
Mount Rainier National Park Full time kitchen Expediter
Grand Canyon National Park Full Time Guest Room attendant
Boy Scouts - Eagle Scout + Order of the Arrow
-Senior Patrol Leader, Historian, Scribe, Venture Patrol Leader, etc.
Vice President of the Math Club
National Honors Society, National Spanish Honors Society, National Society of High School Scholars
JV/Occasional Varsity for Cross Country and Wrestling
Member of Science Olympiad, Model UN, and Robotics clubs
Week long Mission trip to Mexico (with my Church)
2 Week long Mission trip to the Dominican Republic (with my Church)
I mentored freshman and 8th graders my three years of high school.</p>
<p>Academic Awards</p>
<p>Gazettes Best and Brightest
Ap Scholar with Distinction
Beottcher Scholarship semifinalist (its the most prestigious scholarship in Co, but I doubt anyone outside of Colorado would know that.The person who reads my app should know a little bit about my area right)</p>
<p>Possibly helpful facts-</p>
<p>Applying to Pratt ED
Legacy from my mothers side</p>
<p>What do you guys think? My main question would be the effects of applying ED and Legacy. Also do you think they will see my National Park jobs as something interesting and unique, or negative because its time away from formal schooling? Its a reach, but if they do reject me I will just go back to Germany to study (Failure is after all, that which pushes us into our most interesting adventures).</p>
<p>However, that not the golden ticket. Duke is big into the family thing, but that alone will not get you in. It is normally perceived as more of a tipping point or a tiebreaker if you and another applicant are similar, but its not going to get you in by itself. You have to have a great application still. </p>
<p>What are your math and science scores/grades/courses like? Pratt puts heavy weight on performance in those departments, as obviously you will be needing them in engineering.</p>
<p>Calculus BC
Grade: A’s
Ap test 4AB and 3 BC
Honors Physics
Grade: A’s
Ap test 3
(This was a real killer. I was sick and a couple weeks out of knee surgery for the AP tests so they don’t really show my abilities well.)</p>
<p>I had also taken AP computer science the previous year
Grade: A’s
Ap test 5</p>
<p>Naturally I also took all the classes under these, and as an exchange student took the equivalent 12th grade Math courses in German. </p>
<p>The break down of my ACT is
English-32 Math-33 Reading-32 Science 34 Writing 7</p>
<p>Looking back at that it doesn’t look that impressive, but other than AP Physics I had already taken all the top courses in Math and Science by the time I left Junior year. Your response also sounds like Pratt is very focused on solely on scores and numbers. This seems unfortunate as I think some of my most interesting elements are expressed in what I have done outside the numbers. In addition I have been learning Differential Equations and Calc 3 on my own, from my brothers college textbooks, but there is really no way to present that. What do you think of it all as a whole?</p>
<p>Pratt also looks at you as a whole, not just your scores. Its generally accepted that they are more numbers based than Trinity, but they are still holistic for the most part. </p>
<p>What I mean by my comment is that when they are looking at scores, courses, etc, they will focus greatly on the math and science portion of those.</p>
<p>Your GPA, class rank, and the legacy are all good. </p>
<p>Your ACT is good, but it could be better, as it is at the bottom of Pratt’s middle 50%. However, its very solid, and I wouldnt worry about it too much. Plus the fact that your a legacy makes you hooked, and it’s typically (but not always) the unhooked applicants that have the very top scores at Duke and other competitive universities. </p>
<p>Your stats are good enough to get you in the door - now its just up to luck to see if they pick you. Youve got a shot. Good luck!</p>