Duke ED 2024 Results

[SKOVIKES]

Wishing everyone the best tommorow!

Pick one:
Decision: Accepted
Decision: Waitlisted
Decision: Rejected

State intended major

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):
ACT:
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendation:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
Intended major(s):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

[hssnr24]

Pick one:
Accepted into Pratt

State intended major:
Electrical & Computer Engineering

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (780 R / 800 M / 20 W)
ACT: 36 (36 / 36 / 36 / 36 / 10)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/500, probably going to be val
AP (place score in parenthesis): APWH (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Lang (5), AP Physics C Mech (5), APUSH (4), AP Chem (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Psych, AP CSA, AP Macro, AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Bio, German 3, Chamber Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USACO Silver, NMSQT Semifinalist (probably finalist), National AP Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): research, competition music, professional quartet (i.e. paid private events), varsity tennis/jv track, hackathons, work, hella clubs with tons of leadership
Job/Work Experience: two tech internships, shift lead at local ice cream store, local football league
Volunteer/Community service: club tutoring, fundraising events, orchestra volunteering
Summer Activities: traveled to S. Korea (talked abt in essays!), COSMOS, tech internships/work, visited colleges, hung out with friends
Essays: Common App 8/10, lots of people overrate theirs but I honestly think mine were pretty good. An essay consultant said of all the clients he’s had my essays stood out to him the most and said I was practically a shoo-in. Pushed diversity in my essay theme.
Why Duke 7/10, focused on interdisciplinary nature of Duke, cliche topic but I think I made it work by spending less time on what it was and more on what it meant to me
Diversity 7/10, focused on how I was a twin and segued into how I came from the countryside instead of the bay area. “quirky asf. love it” -my friend
Teacher Recommendation: 6/10, ap chem teacher probably a bit above average, really enthusiastic to write my letter but I barely talked in her class lmao
7/10, ap cs teacher had my older brother and me for a looooong time, absolutely loves me, idk how good his writing skills were though
Counselor Rec: 7/10, usual public school overworked counselor, I definitely stood out to him though since I was the only one going for top colleges and had the stats to do so
Additional Rec: 10/10, retired german teacher, she’s basically a mom to me. I was the best in her class and she’s such a lovely person I have no doubt this was a 10/10
Interview: 4/10, lol the worst part of my app, lasted barely 20 minutes but we had some pleasant conversation I guess?

Other

State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
Intended major(s): ECE
School Type: Uncompetitive Public
Ethnicity: Asian (S. Korean)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: perfect test scores, course rigor, class rank, worse school so I stood out more, really pushed diversity as my “spike” (doesn’t make sense ik), had a personality?
Weaknesses: asian male stem, no major awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: test scores + essays + ED boost carried me no doubt

General Comments:
I’ve always been mad at the fact I went to an uncompetitive public school compared to schools like Monta Vista or something but it’s honestly a blessing in disguise. It’s much easier to stand out, especially with the less rigorous classes. The important part: the first part of admissions is region based. Your app first goes to a regional officer and every college wants diversity so they’re more inclined to take an insane asian male stem from a region that’s uncompetitive than your everyday bay area asian male stem. Otherwise if you’re shooting for top colleges, really push the diversity aspect and make sure your personality comes through :). For underclassmen I hella recommend doing a summer program (COSMOS UCD represent!) because it definitely made me more extroverted and sure of what I wanted.

[jans1090]

ACCEPTED!
*Econ Major? Stats?
*Stats: ACT 35, SAT 2 Math 2 800; AP Stats 5, Lang 5, Physics 4
*GPA W 4.3 (not sure unweighted, but using Naviance, his GPA was a little light for past Duke acceptances from his HS which on average they accepted 4.4 GPA).
*9 AP classes (took on-line Alg 2 class after freshman year to jump ahead to pre-calc)
*Public HS, white male, no financial aid requested

*Triple legacy (Dad undergrad and Fuqua, Mom Fuqua, Uncle undergrad.) But we have only made small donations throughout the years, haha.

*Varsity Wrestling Captain (captain of freshman baseball and JV football.
*Tons of long term community service organizations - worked in public library children’s dept for 5 summers, President’s Volunteer Service Award 2 years, HOBY ambassador, Best Buddies, Appalachia Service Trips

*Spent last 2 summers doing academic programs at Georgetown and Montana Learning Center - Lewis and Clark Expedition Program.

*Funny, yet insightful essay on how wearing a wrestling singlet strips away (did not use THAT word, lol) facades and allows one to expose (did not use that word either) vulnerabilities which allow engaging and honest sideline discussions and friendships with competitors.

• Good alumni interview - but interviewer was stiff, so not sure a great connection was made.

*Strengths: ACT score. EC’s - Community Service involvement and leadership through HOBY and team Captainships. Really strong Guidance Recommendation

*Weakness: Grades could have been a little higher. One B Junior year, a few A-. Only submitted 1 subject test (the other tests taken, Physics 740 and Lit 730 were not strong enough to submit.) No summer job on resume.

*Why he got in - triple legacy plus President’s Volunteer Service Awards, 2 years. Overall well rounded applicant.

[Mitch9231]

Accepted!!! Trinity : )

State intended major: Math

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 1450 (780 M/ 670 R/ 18 W) SAT II: Math 2: 800 Bio E: 570 (ik...)

*Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.83
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank

*AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geography, AP Physics, AP Psychology, AP Chemistry, AP Language and Composition, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, College Credit Music (Advanced Guitar)
Senior Year Course Load: Global Issues, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, 21st Century Media (School News Show), Advanced Guitar Year III, Math Senior Experience Project, Yoga

*Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): track awards, principal scholar every year, a couple Robotics Team awards

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Track and Field, UNICEF(secretary), Robotics Team, Girls Who Code, Femmes of Rock(Founder and President), Critical Films Study Club(President) Job/Work Experience: Mathnasium Instructor Now and Worked at Olive Mediterranean Grill
• Volunteer/Community service: 21 service hours from working around the school
• Summer Activities: 2018 worked at Olive Mediterranean Grill, 2019 Carnegie Mellon’s SAMS (Summer Academy of Math and Science)
• Essays: PS: 9/10 I think it was pretty solid, I spent a lot of time on it. I reminisced about a family tradition of mine and how it’s faded out over the years and how I miss it and regret taking advantage of it. Why Duke: 8/10 Was very specific and I contrasted my Chicago atmosphere to Duke’s campus culture and was specific about things like research opportunities and classes I wanted to take. Diversity: 7/10 I think it was pretty unique and I talked about my love for my Nigerian identity that wasn’t easy for me due to bullying of me being different.

*Teacher Recommendation: I honestly don’t know. I think I picked teachers that I enjoyed working with and that knew my work the best. This was my psych and math teacher.
*Counselor Rec: 8/10 I think this was fine. I think I created somewhat of a relationship with my counselor and the form I filled for the rec was very specific and expressive of me.
*Additional Rec: 8/10 I got a rec from my Chemical Engineering instructor from my SAMS program and I created a nice relationship with her.

• Interview: 6/10 Bad. I rambled and stumbled my words and he asked me when was the last time I read a book and I went MUTE.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Illinois (Chicago)
Country (if international applicant): U.S.
Intended major(s): Math
School Type: Public, selective enrollment
Ethnicity: Black (Nigerian)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <$150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Sibling legacy (i don’t know if that’s legit)

Reflection

Strengths: My math subject score and essays were great, definitely did a lot of extracurriculars that I was interested in and were guided by my possible majors.
Weaknesses: Bio subject test score and interview : (
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I demonstrated a drive to want to learn and expand my knowledge given the opportunity at such an institution.

General Comments: Trust the process.

[Ketchup7777]

Decision: Accepted into Trinity!!!

Intended Major: Economics

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1590, 800 Reading 790 Math, 7/5/8 Essay
ACT: Didn’t take
SAT II: US History (720), Chemistry (790), Math II (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/400+
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography, US History, Statistics, BC Calculus, 5s on all
IB (place score in parenthesis): Economics SL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB: HL English, HL History, HL Math, HL Chemistry, SL Spanish, TOK, Peer Tutoring
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, state level mock trial awards, regional math, business, writing awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Mock Trial, 10-12 (Co-Captain)
Tutoring Club, 10-12 (President, Founder)
Podcast published by organization, 12
Tobacco activism club, 11-12
Volunteer at Museum, 10-12 (Team Lead)

Job/Work Experience:
Tutoring Center tutor, 9-12
Paid tobacco activism work, 12

Volunteer/Community service:
Tutoring Club, 10-12 (President, Founder)
Volunteer at Museum, (Team Lead)

Summer Activities:
Internship at local courthouse, 12
Business competition, 12

Essays: take these ratings with a heaping serving of salt
Common App: 7/10, cliche and cringey in my opinion, but others liked it
Why Duke: 9/10 see Reflection
Diversity: 7/10 see Reflection

Teacher Recommendation:
1: 7/10, we’re not very personally close but I think he likes me a lot
2: 5/10, probably pretty average
Counselor Rec:
8/10, although we’re in a pretty big public school we’ve interacted a lot over the past 4 years and so it’s probably better than some other counselor recs
Additional Rec: None

Interview: 6/10. Got it about 2 weeks after I applied, was about 45 minutes. It was my first interview so I was nervous and didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it was very casual. I would say it was pretty average, I probably came off as a bit bland.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): CO
Country (if international applicant):
Intended major(s): Economics and History, also indicated interest in Child Policy Research
School Type: Average Public HS, 2000+ population
Ethnicity: Asian, Chinese
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: That sweet spot where I don’t qualify for FA but paying full-price will be a burden
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Underrepresented state? See Reflection

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores/GPA and unique ECs
Weaknesses: Interview and letters of rec were probably average
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
I think my strongest selling point was definitely the fact that I was involved in tobacco activism. In my Diversity and Why Duke supplements I talked about how I wanted to pursue it at Duke, given that it was essentially built using tobacco money and it’s located in the state that produces the greatest amount of tobacco.

General Comments: