<p>Hey Guys!
This is my first post. I am torn about applying to Duke early decision this coming fall. My dream school is the University of Virginia because its both highly selective (I'm from Rhode Island so OOS) and the campus is second to none. However, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill are close behind on my top picks. Duke is the only of the three with early decision. Duke's acceptance rate is around 10-15% regular decision and 30% early decision so I believe my chances of getting in would be pretty good with the latter. I'm 3/130 in my class, a 2100 on SAT, I take the most rigorous courses provided in my school, I played 3 varsity sports this year (Junior year) and actively participate in Mock Trial at my school. I won't list my whole resume, but those are the main features. I liked Duke; it is highly prestigious, has a beautiful campus, etc. but I did not get the same feeling as when I visited UVa. I would love to get into Duke and there is always a good chance I don't get into UVa so should I go for Duke early decision despite it not being my #1 choice? All advice is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>If UVA is your first choice then don’t apply Duke early decision. If you are able to get into Duke (even if its with the higher ED likelihood), you will likely be able to get into UVA. You don’t want to regret not having the opportunity to get into UVA. </p>
<p>You haven’t told us your GPA or what’s affordable for your family. Both of these are imperative. Your SAT is pretty low for any of these schools and I encourage you to take it again. Going ED isn’t going to be much help with that SAT even if you’re a 3.9, unless you plan on playing D1 sports. You’re over-reaching. Get back to us with more info.</p>
<p>I realize that was coming in the wrong sort of way. Early decision with Duke would greatly increase my chances but it would still be incredibly difficult to get in. The more I think about it the less I feel I would do early decision there. My family is well off, but not so much that tuition would not be a problem. Also my weighted GPA is a 5.1 out of the possible 5.65 which is only about a 3.6 unweighted. I talked to an admissions officer at Chapel Hill and apparently they compare you to the valedictorian who in my case has a 5.45 weighted, a 3.86 unweighted if my math is correct. Once again those are my reach schools and I realize the difficulty of getting in. I guess the only reason I felt somewhat “confident” was because a recent student at UVa I met was 21/330 and had a little above a 2100. I am also considering applying to Washington and Lee University, Rice, Chapel Hill, William and Mary, and Emory.</p>
<p>What’s your safety? All of the schools you listed are “on-level” with each other. Definitely go for applying, but make sure you have a safety lined up. I would only ED Duke if you’d be fine going there instead of UVA with “No Ragrets”. </p>
<p>Also, you may wanna try SAT again (or ACT) if you get the chance Good luck.</p>
<p>Let’s say you get in anywhere ED. An ED application is an agreement that you will attend the ED if you’re accepted and the FA package is anywhere near affordable for your family. Can your family afford to pay if you get into any of the possible ED schools?</p>
<p>ED is not just a matter of your getting in. No school is.</p>
<p>Your unweighted GPA is fairly low for both of these schools. What I will say is, the ED rounds are generally more competive. The pools themselves are self selective, which is why the admissions rate is higher. It’s reasonable to believe that the SAT scores for for Duke are probably higher when applying ED. Since you are competing to get into such competitive schools, I reccomend that you take the exam just one more time so you can aim to increase your score by around 50-100 points</p>