could somebody help me evaluate my chances at duke?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>I'm a Hispanic female from a public high school in Texas (I'm half Meixcan and half white, I don't think that matters though.)</p>

<p>TEST SCORES:
PSAT: 214 (I will probably get National Hispanic Merit Scholar and cross-my-fingers Commended??)
SAT Math: 650 (I hope to raise this to above 700 when I take it again, but I couldn't afford to do a prep course like most other kids I know)
SAT Critical Reading: 800
SAT Writing:800
--I haven't taken SAT Subject Tests but I should probably score high on Spanish and Literature. Kind of freaking out about the Math IC or IIC (haven't chosen yet) though!
AP Spanish: 4
AP Psychology: 5 (I don't know if this one matters much though)
AP English Language: 5
IB Psychology: 6 (on a scale of 7)</p>

<p>** I'm an IB Diploma candidate. I also did the Middle Years Program, which is a 5-year IB track from 6-10th grade. I KNOW colleges could absolutely care less about middle school activities but this was a 5 year program that extended into 2 years of high school, I'm not sure if I'll end up including it in my apps though.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.2 W (have no clue what it is unweighted, but I only have 3 Bs on my transcript)
Rank: 14/468 (this will hopefully go up in the next few months)
Course Load: I have taken the hardest courses possible in every aspect.
Senior Class Schedule:
AP/IB Bio II (fourth year of science)
IB World Area Studies (fourth year of history)
IB Theory of Knowledge (required for IB Diploma)
AP/IB English Literature (fourth year of English)
AP/IB Spanish V aka Spanish Lit (fifth year of Spanish)
AP/IB Calculus BC (fifth year of math)</p>

<p>ECs:
-National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (my filler ECs, I know they don't matter)
-Swimming
JV 9th, 10th
Lettered 11th
Varsity 11th, 12th
-Debate
5th-place UIL All-District Prose Interpretation 10th grade (not sure if this is anything worth mentioning or not)
-Elected VP of National Spanish Honor Society
-heavily involved in Youth Council (leadership position) and youth activities at church--about 10/15 hours a week for 52 weeks a year for the 4 years of high school
-Elected student body Vice President --requires about 10 hours of work a week
-Physics Club (I only did this junior year, becuase that's the only year I was eligible for it, but I devoted 10 hours a week to it...not sure if it's worthwhile mentioning though)</p>

<p>AWARDS:
-Academic All-District for Swimming 9th, 10th (missed it 11th because I was doing mission work in Honduras and missed the qualifying meet)
-Trustee Award 9th, 10th, 11th (awarded to top students at my high school)
-Outstanding Hispanic Leader Award (awarded to one or two students from each high school in my city's district, I think)</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
I have about 400 years of community service over the past 4 years; none of it is soup-kitchen-type work though. I have taken many trips with my church during the summers and have done everything from repairing run-down churches in New Orleans (pre-Katrina, however) to spending 8 hours a day with inner-city Nashville kids at a Boys & Girls club to re-roofing houses in 110 degree heat on the Mexican border. Last year I received a scholarship to go to Honduras and do mission work. I think I could write great essays about any of these trips (too cliche of a topic, though??).</p>

<p>WORK:
I couldn't get a job until this past summer because I'm young for my grade, but I worked 3 jobs this summer for about 40-50 hours a week.</p>

<p>During the school year I'm working 10-15 hours a week, all of this to save money for college.</p>

<p>Recs and essays should be good.</p>

<p>Please help me figure out where I stand at Duke. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Duke has an individual in charge of Latino Student Recruitment. The same individual has responsibility for recruitment in the state of Texas. Contact Chrissy Cortina - her address is on the link below. The Hispanic student body at Duke is under 10%. Here is the link to the prospective students page on the Multicultural website.</p>

<p><a href="http://mcc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/prospective/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://mcc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/prospective/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Think about taking the ACT including the writing section. This test takes the place of the SAT plus the subject tests. This is a time saving option and you might want to look into it. If you ace the ACT you can still submit those 800s you received on the SAT on your application - you don't need to have the SAT scores sent - there is a place for them on the Common Ap.</p>

<p>Lose the job - it will count against your financial aid package. With all your activities you are soon going to be overwhelmed. College application packages take a great deal more time than you expect.</p>

<p>As far as the essays - if you can work your Latino heritage and perspective into the essays it won't be too much of a cliche. You got a scholarship to go to the Honduras to do mission work - most kids who do this pay an organization. Remember this - the essay has to reveal who you are - not a story about what you saw. It has to tell something about you - not just a recounting of events. Your counselor or fav English teacher can help you with suggestions.</p>

<p>Once you contact Duke - I have no doubt they will be very interested in speaking further with you. Be certain to send your current resume when you contact Chrissy and if your last name is not Hispanic be certain to state you are Hispanic.</p>

<p>Many other universities has special recruiters for Latinos - take a look at their websites or use Google to search for the Latino/Hispanic recruiters at the schools that interest you.</p>

<p>You might be a good candidate for the Robertson Scholars program - see this link:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.robertsonscholars.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.robertsonscholars.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This program pays 100% of your tuition and expenses plus summer experiences. Good luck. And remember - the job is a low priority compared to everything else you have going on - think seriously about quitting as it will count against you for financial aid.</p>