Do I Even Have a Chance of Getting in to Duke??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

Pick one:
Trinity College of Arts and Sciences

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1430 (760 Math, 670 English, 18 Essay)
Will take again until I break 1500, my highest score on a practice SAT is 1510

SAT II: 800 Math 2 Will take literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology, Chemistry, Calc AB, Statistics (Didn’t take AP exams)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Gov/Econ, Choir, Lacrosse/Soccer
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Disney Dreamers Academy 2017, Presidents Award for 100 hours community service, Certificate of Recognition for helping my community achieve the Helen Putnam Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Soccer, Varsity Lacrosse (Captain), Club Lacrosse A-Team, Investors Club (President), FBLA Chapter (Founder and President), Water Conservation Club (Founder and President), NHS, Tri-M Music Community, Chamber Choir (Section Leader), Male A Capella Group, Church Youth Group, Small Business Owner
Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship with my city’s finance department
Volunteer/Community service: AYSO Youth Referee, Special Olympics Soccer Referee, Athlete on Athlete tutoring, Director of Social Media for local non-profit
Summer Activities: Summer School, Travel, Internship
Essays: 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: 7/10 (From my freshman/sophomore english teacher, and my junior english teacher)
Counselor Rec: 6/10 generic
Additional Rec: 9/10 from my school districts superintendent
8/10 from my city treasurer
Interview: probably will be good

Other

State (if domestic applicant):California
Country (if international applicant): USA
Intended major(s): economics
School Type: competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: > $200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Applying ED and Legacy (dad went to duke for undergrad)

Reflection
Strengths & Weaknesses: My SAT score and GPA are not very good and I’m not sure about my extracurriculars. I would say my application is just average compared to everyone who applies to Duke.

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO STRENGTHEN MY APPLICATION BEFORE NOVEMBER 1st?

2

I doubt they’ll be a whole lot of other Asian legacies among the thousands of other Asian applicants to Duke, which may work in your favor. Although your reading score on the SAT can definitely sink your application.

3

Of course you do! Just apply ED and hope for the best

4

Duke hasn’t yet posted their middle 50 for the new SAT. However the class of 2020 profile is listed here:
http://admissions.duke.edu/images/uploads/process/ClassProfile2020web.pdf

The profile notes that the above SAT scores reflects all scores that were submitted, not the superscore. So based upon this, my guess is that the median score for the new SAT is about 1530-1550 for Duke. A 1430 would put you about 100 points lower than the average.

As a legacy, you will certainly get an additional look. But your biggest weakness appears to be the SAT score. Do everything you can to get it up above 1500 over the next few months. Best of luck

5

^Note that Duke always lists the SAT score ranges for ACCEPTED students, rather than MATRICULATED students. Thus, many people who end up at HYPSM are included in those stats. I don’t think it skews the numbers a ton, but certainly does a bit. The “average” Duke student will not have a 1540 on the new SAT, that’s all I’m saying.

6

Good point. Is the average matriculated score available somewhere ? Common data set?

7

Page 9
https://finance.provost.duke.edu/sites/default/files/documents/CDS_2016-2017.pdf

8

You have a decent shot, looking at stats alone, and considering you are applying ED. And yes, I am pretty sure Duke’s stats are gonna be fairly skewed to the right if reporting acceptances only…especially considering the yield rate is below 50%.

That being said, I still would retake the SAT if you have time - better to be safe than sorry, right? You would ideally want to have a good chance for RD in the other private schools anyway, in case things don’t work out.