<p>Hey fellow College Confidential people! I am currently a junior at one of the top public high schools in New York State and the best public school in my region (we're an International Baccalaureate school). Duke is my absolute dream school and I know for a fact that I want to apply there early decision once I start applying to colleges. My school doesn't exactly give us a GPA on the 4.0 scale, they just give us a number on a scale to 100. My GPA as of right now (unweighted and only including 8th grade, freshmen, and sophomore years) is an 89.05, I know its very low and lower than Dukes "standards" however, the weighting will make a HUGE difference (I believe my school multiplies the GPA by 1.21 or a similar number because of the rigor). To additionally boost my GPA, my junior year grades will raise it even more because this is my first year of taking all IB classes and the weighting goes up even more. I havent taken the SAT yet because my course hasn't started yet (it ends in march) but I got my PSAT scores back:</p>
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<li>I work as a Karma Yogi at a local yoga studio (youngest yogi to work there ever). The owner trusts me with the studio and responsibilities that come with it (cleaning, interacting with clients and booking appointments, managing the money, closing and opening the studio, etc.) (unpaid)
-Every winter I work at the ACE program which is a program for elementary school kids where you play with them and teach them whatever the course is that they signed up for
-I volunteer at a program known as Homework Helpers where you help children with homework and play with them after school
-I participate in the AIDS walk every year
-I've attended Duke University TIP (Talent Identification Program) for 2 consecutive summers so far (1. Songs from the Sea: Institute of Sensory Biology and Neuroscience of Marine Organisms AND 2) Wonders in the Waves: Institute of Marine Research and Biological Study of Sea Life) and i'm going again this coming summer (that is if I dont do summer research with a mentor at UMaine for Intel and Siemens science competition)
-I was one out of 8 team members on an Odyssey of the Mind team (we didnt win any awards but still. My mom was the coach)
-I participated in NYSSMA (New york state school music association) every year since about 4th grade..this past year I got a 93/100 on level 6 (the highest level) (NYSSMA is basically when you prepare a piece to play in front of a judge who scores you based on various different criteria)</li>
<li>I was a competitive figure skater for 4 years and I have about 15 first place awards</li>
<li>For science research I've continuously volunteered at marine nature study areas and shellfish nurseries in my area
-Sophomore year of high school, I started a club (got enough signatures of people interested in joining, got an advisor, and got other members to run for leadership positions), after a year we shut it down because it was just really unsuccessful
-This year (junior year) I joined BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization), a Jewish youth organization, and I'm loving it, im the only one in my chapter branching out and breaking out of my shell and meeting new people from all over (not just from our chapter). I'm considering running for a leadership position for next year. I wish I joined earlier so I could use this on my application to show commitment, and because its just a really amazing experience. </li>
</ul>
<p>Chance me? I know its a huge reach but I figured why not try? It's my absolute dream school and I would have the most school spirit if I did get accepted. I would major in biology at the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. My personality is definitely a match with the school, I know it. :D Thanks!</p>
<p>English 9 advanced
Geometry advanced
Regents living environment
PE
Science Research Skills 1
Photography 1 (semester 1)
Photography 2 (semester 2)
Concert Band
Global 9 regents </p>
<p>Sophomore year:</p>
<p>English 10 advanced
Algebra 2/Trigonomoetry
Advanced Chemistry
PE
Science research skills 1
Marine Biology
Health 10
Global 10
Wind Ensemble</p>
<p>Junior year:</p>
<p>IB History HL Y1
IB Math Studies/Pre-Calc SL
IB English HL Y1
IB Physics SL
IB Biology HL Y1
IB French 5
Science Research skills 2
PE
Wind Ensemble</p>
<p>Senior Year:</p>
<p>IB History HL Y2
AP Calc AB
IB English HL Y2
IB Biology HL Y2
IB French 6
Science Research Skills 2
PE
Wind Ensemble
IB Theory of Knowledge TOK</p>
<p>SAT II Scores </p>
<p>Bio (took freshman year) 620
Chem (took sophomore year) 520 (not sending that one, so bad)</p>
<p>Your ECs are excellent, but you really need to improve your academic stats to have a chance. If you do really well at science research you will have a very, very good chance.</p>
<p>You look like a typical Duke applicant, and it’s hard to say how likely it is that you’ll get in, because pretty much all Duke applicants are well-qualified, and you never know about these things. IB makes you stand out. However, you could improve on some places.
I’ve been given the guideline of sending at least 2 SAT subject tests to schools like Duke.
Since you don’t want to send your chem score, you only have Bio, and imo it doesn’t look that great, as it’s a 620. Did you ever consider taking another subject test, and re-taking Bio? Or Chem? I think (I might be wrong) they still take January scores, so maybe try to see if you can squeeze yourself into the 1/29 test date. Maybe your site will have standby or something.</p>
<p>try retaking the sat 2… 620 isnt that great for duke as ur top score (i aint tryna be rude ) but otherwise ur in due to ur ECs (theyre really really good) :)</p>
<p>Duke isn’t like, “Oh, you’re an IBer and this other applicant only took 10 APs. You’re in.” </p>
<p>Just maintain the most rigorous courseload available at your school and that’s one checkbox Duke’ll mark off when they read your application. </p>
<p>Some schools have IB. Some have AP. Some neither. If you maintain the most rigorous courseload in the scope of your school, they won’t discriminate across platforms.</p>
<p>I never understand why so many posters from allegedly “nationally ranked high schools” ask complete strangers about their chances.</p>
<p>OP - Ask your GC! S/He has far more accurate information than we could hope to have about how students similar to you have fared.</p>
<p>My guess is that you simply didn’t like the answer that your GC gave you. Your PSAT total score of 168 puts you roughly 50 points below the cutoff for NMSF in NY. Duke rejects a significant number of NMSF each year. Your SAT II scores are both in the bottom 50% of students who take these. An 89% UW GPA is likely in the bottom 25% of accepted students at Duke.</p>
<p>Your grades are OK…but if your PSAT score is a predictor of your actual SAT, then your chances will be dismal at best (speaking purely from the academic standpoint). However, for a top-tier university like Duke, you really need to be strong in all aspects of your application to really stand a chance. </p>
<p>That said, you do seem to show dedication in your EC’s, which is a definite plus. Sorry there’s not much more to say =/</p>
<p>Im currently a junior so I have plenty of time and room for improvement…im in an SAT prep course, taking the actual SATs in march, may, and june. I’m also taking a few SAT 2s to give myself more options of which to actually send. Rmldad, I havent asked my guidance counselor yet about it, I’m waiting for my junior conference to do that. I also just want to point out the fact that good grades does not indicate knowledge all that much, you can be a genius and just be lazy and slack off with work or you can be the dumbest person in the world who works their butts off and gets good grades. Also, a lot of smart people are not good at taking tests. SO rmldad, just because my score didn’t qualify me for NMSF, and apparently according to what you said, Duke rejects a number of NMSF applicants, does not mean that I don’t stand a chance. Applicants arent just numbers, they have personality behind them which is the most important thing. Also, I’d like to restate the fact that 89 UW isnt my final grade at all…its literally half of my high school career, this year I have straight As and, since you multiply all your grades time 1.11 because its IB, my GPA will be much higher. I know that Duke is a reach for me. Anyways, with the SAT prep course im taking, we take 4 diagnostic tests over the course of the course to see our improvement from our original PSAT scores…my score in each section has increased at least 100 points, and I still have two more diagnostic tests to go Thanks for all the feedback so far :D</p>
<p>P.S. Do you think the fact that I went to (and am going to another) Pre-college program with Duke University will give me an advantage in admissions?</p>
<p>I go to a large top 10 public high school in my state which is also large. We send an ok amount of students to high end schools but given we have a dozen 4.0uw and 2300+ kids per year with lots of AP and Honors courses it is just that ok. Our guidance counselors neither know nor really care about the high end schools and their expertise ends with the state schools. Beyond that they are bad.</p>
<p>What gets me about chance questions is how could anybody know. Duke will have 19,000+ qualified applicants from which will come 3,000 offers. It isn’t about being qualified, it is about being in the eyes of Duke admissions one of the top 3,000 they want. If you are asking if you will be one of the 33% that will be rejected on the first read if the stats are bad enough I guess you can offer an opinion.</p>
<p>olivebean - I never said that you don’t stand a chance. I made objective statements comparing your statistics to some of Duke’s published data. </p>
<p>I applaud your efforts to improve your test scores - this will serve you well whether or not you are admitted, or even apply, to Duke. FWIW however, I have always been skeptical of diagnostic tests from prep classes - they are strongly incentivized to make you think you are well-prepared.</p>
<p>You don’t seem to understand the concept of UNweighted GPA - you cannot use a factor of 1.11 for IB classes to calculate an UW GPA. Also, even if your average from your junior and senior years is 98 (an enormous jump from an 89, especially since classes should be much more challenging), your GPA reported in your transcript will be just 92 and only 93 after mid-year grades senior year, assuming a constant number of credits each year. This will still place you in the bottom 25% of Duke’s freshman class although the strong upward trend should help your case.</p>
<p>There are varying opinions concerning pre-college programs. Some people believe that if you make a strong connection with faculty, you might have slight advantage during admissions. However, the majority of opinions (including mine) believe these programs are simply revenue generators for the schools and will actually hurt you in admissions since they scream “privileged upper-middle class kid with resources and advantages”.</p>
<p>Again, I am not commenting on your chances. I agree with tennisforall that admissions decisions cannot be consistently predicted with any accuracy. Rather, I am stating that your objective data do not compare favorably to the typical Duke admitted applicant.</p>
<p>Best wishes to you for finishing your high school career successfully.</p>
<p>Does your school have Naviance? If so, at the very least you can see where you stand compared to other students from your high school who have applied to Duke. Great job at working so hard to up your grades and scores! And good luck to you!</p>
) but otherwise ur in due to ur ECs (theyre really really good) :)</p>