<p>Duke is my school of choice and i'm trying to decide whether I should apply early decision or regular. I want to do whichever will give me the best chance of admission. My dilemma is that my grades junior year had a hiccup or two, so i hesitate to send in an early decision app because the admission committee won't see the grades for the first semester of my senior year before making the decision. My grades for this semester of senior year so far are all a's and one b which is better than junior year. My thinking is that if i wait and apply regular decision i will have time to beef up my application and the admissions team will see my good grades this semester, however the admission rate for regular decision is much lower than early decision. Advice?</p>
<p>If you believe that your grades in senior year will help you very much then by all means, wait. Put your best foot forward in admissions. If you apply ED and are rejected, you can alway send in your Senior year grades so they can review them in the RD cycle. That’s always an option. I had a good friend who once told me that Duke admissions is definitely interested in the whole application provided you make their numbers. Good luck! :)</p>