<p>Hi! I'm a current high school senior in North Carolina applying to Duke ED, Pomona, UC Berkely, UCLA, University of Southern Cal, and UVA. My weighted GPA is a 4.6895 (we're on a 6 point scale), and I am 23 out of 227. My school was also the top school in NC last year. I have taken 8 AP classes, and have gotten 90+ in all of them. Currently my SAT score is 2150 (retaking in Nov), and my ACT is a 33. I am also president of Science Olympiad, part of National Honors Society, attended a prestigious summer program where only 600 students in the entire state are selected for, been published in my school's lit mag and the America Poetry Library's collection, and I recently won a youth prophecy poetry contest. I was also the Dartmouth Book Award recipient for my school. I am currently in a Duke Lab internship doing genetics work on kidney disease. Both of my parents work for Duke, my dad is a professor. I am Asian-American. What are my chances?</p>
<p>Also, I would definitely be top ten percent at my school had I not gotten an 83 in online Latin. I did poorly because it was my first time taking an online class, and my self control was not very good. I was able to get a 96 and 94 in Latin 2 and 3 the following years, demonstrating my work ethic and proficiency at Latin. Should I put something about this in my application?</p>
<p>I am an editor-in-chief of the student newspaper as well! Sorry, forgot to mention this.</p>
<p>No problem, I already felt pretty ok with my chances at UNC CH, I was just wondering for the other schools that I don’t know as well! Also I’m a bit wary of the large public schools. Do you have any recommendations for smaller liberal arts that’d be a match for me?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you should write something about your Latin grade in your application; the grades will speak for themselves. Also, the excuse isn’t that great (I’m sorry if I’m being rude I’m really just trying to help!) and it may seem like you’re trying to make excuses! I know how you feel, though, my ONLY B in high school was my Latin 3 grade -.-. </p>
<p>ECs are strong, grades aren’t that bad, but SAT/ACT scores are a little low for Duke. That being said, Duke favors in-state applications, especially with ED. Feel free to email the regional admissions officer.</p>
<p>@catria I’ll be sure to check those out! bump for the other schools on my list, thanks @dukeblue11 and I completely understand @trishahk my I emailed my counselor about it today and she said the same thing :)</p>
Your. extracurriculars are solid. Your standardised test score is too low for Duke. That stands out. I really do not think you should apply to Duke. ED increases your chances of getting in, hence you should maximise your chance of getting in a top college such as Pomona which is not as selective.
Pomona is a “small ivy.” The kids who get into Pomona are also trying to decide between Williams, Amherst, Yale, Harvard and Penn. You have a better chance getting into Duke than Pomona.
Pomona is one of the hardest schools to get into by acceptance rate. Duke is marginally easier to get into than Pomona, both through ED and overall.
Addressing you specifically, you’re an applicant on the borderline. You have a solid but not top repertoire of extracurricular activities, you have a slightly weaker than average profile (not being in the top 10% will hurt you, as both Duke and Pomona report 90%+ of their student body with this metric), and you have small hooks for either school (Duke affiliation, geographic location for Pomona).
I think you’ll be accepted by Duke if you apply ED, and waitlisted to Pomona if you apply ED/RD and unlikely to be admitted unless your application demonstrates something extraordinary that can counter that class rank. The students who are accepted that don’t rank in the top 10% have glowing recommendations/essays that highlight intellectual contribution and finesse. If you can show this somehow, you have a solid shot at Pomona.
I second not trying to justify your Latin grade.
Berkeley/UCLA are low reaches for you and may be a high match/high reach depending on the program you’re applying to. USC is a low reach. UVA is a high match.
There are too many imponderables in the admissions process to predict almost anybody’s relative chances between Duke and Pomona. They are both reaches for almost everybody, but they are also very different from each other in many other ways. It looks like you are leaning towards Duke as your ED, but if anybody else reading this is considering both as their “absolute first choice college” (which is why one would apply ED, right?), you might want to revisit what you are looking for in your undergrad experience before you pull the trigger.
I don’t disagree with anything that’s been said about Duke and Pomona. With your father’s work history, I think you have a good shot at Duke. In terms of UCB and UCLA, they are reaches for everyone. UCLA was the most applied to school for (at least) the last 2 years running. Close to 100,000 applicants for the class. Just on sheer volume, this is a tough school to get into, never mind major. I wouldn’t say UCB or UCLA are low reaches. I think you should apply if interested, but not get too cockey. They shouldn’t be viewed as matches for anyone not at the tippety top, and even then…