Duke ED Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I visited Duke a few months ago and fell in love with the school. Now I am applying ED as a Public Policy major to the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. I was wondering if you guys could chance me.</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2280, 780M, 770W, 730CR
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 USH 730 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 (upward trend… all B's in first 3 semesters)
Weighted GPA: 4.24 (meet rigorous schedule)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no rankings… likely top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), USH (5), Language/Comp. (5), Euro History (4), Chemistry (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP: Calc BC, Literature, Physics, Govt. (1st semester), Microeconomics (2nd Semester) College Courses: Political Science 120Z (Stanford Summer College), Statistics, Macroeconomics Electives: Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Most Model United Nations Related. Internationally awarded delegate. Best Delegate: Stanford MUN, Vancouver MUN, UCSF MUN, West Coast MUN 3rd Place: Davis MUN. Golf: Rookie of the Year (freshman), First Team All-League (sophomore)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Private Model UN Organization (4X Best Delegate, Conference Vice-President, 2X Committee Chair. Designer of unique historical committee), Model UN Club (cabinet member, I teach meetings 2X a week on debate, public speaking, and current events), Stanford Political Science (wrote study on impact if trust in senate gridlock), Journalism (Op/Ed writer about issues like grad inflation/ politics), Golf (Rookie of the Year/ First Team All-League)
Job/Work Experience: Paid Intern/Researcher at an Employment Law Firm, Golf Camp Counselor
Volunteer/Community service: San Francisco Public Defender Internship, US Congresswoman Internship, Special Olympics volunteer since 7th grade, Peer Tutor
Essays: Common App: 8-9, about deciding I want to be a nerd. Additional Info: 8-9 Described MUN committee I am designing. Interesting Perspective: 8-9, how I became friends with criminal at public defenders. Why Duke?: 7
Teacher Recommendation: should be very good
Counselor Rec: should be decent
Additional Rec: should be amazing, My Model UN Teacher</p>

<p>Other:
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Competitive Public School
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 125K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not really… partial legacy (uncle)</p>

2

<p>Unfortunately, I can only say Duke is a reach for everyone. However, you are very competitive. Good luck!</p>

<p>Chance me? <a href=“Claremont Mckenna, Duke, Bucknell, Grinnell, UofR chances! - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1690007-claremont-mckenna-duke-bucknell-grinnell-uofr-chances-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Duke Trinity ED: Reach</p>

<p>Try GWU Trachtenberg BA/MPP as a match if you’re serious about public policy; otherwise, find a match/safety you like, work for a little bit and then you can aim for GWU Trachtenberg, Georgetown GPPI (or McCourt), Duke Sanford or even as high as Columbia SIPA or Harvard Kennedy for graduate school.</p>

4

<p>You have a very solid record – congratulations – and are entirely comparative for Duke ED. Unfortunately, however, so too are 95+ percent of your equally distinguished ED candidate peers.</p>

5

<p>bump</p>

6

<p>Unfortunately as good as your credentials they are comparable to 9 out of 10 applicants. They are a blind university, yeah I can’t remember. This means they will not know your parents income, I know students with perfect ACTs and straight As denied Duke. Have some safety schools. Good Luck!! I think you have a solid shot!</p>

7

<p>I appreciate the comments!
@Catria I am very serious about public policy. In fact my entire application is trying to centered around my passion for politics/ world affairs, and my desire to make change through the public policy space. Unfortunately, I visited GW and was not a fan.
@TopTier @glasssculpture I do understand that Duke is a reach for almost all non-athletes. While I am not sure about the 90/95 percent comparative numbers, I will defer to those who know more about this process.
Here is a list of the other schools I am applying to… I would love some feedback on my chances to these places too.
WUSTL
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Stanford
Wake Forest
American
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
UC Davis</p>

8

<p>Hi! I applied (and was accepted) to Duke regular decision last year… I also got into to a few other schools on your list (WUSTL, NU, UC’s). I’m currently a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Your focus in MUN is sure to catch the attention of the admissions officers. I, personally, didn’t have a focus (a bit more spread out across volunteerism, music, foreign language, etc.). But I think that your passion will be clear. </p>

<p>Academics are certainly all there as well. </p>

<p>I would really love to help you out if you have any questions on how to format your extracurricular activities, or if you need comments on any essays. I would also be happy to send you my supplements for Duke and Northwestern, and my main essay if you so wish to read it. You can send me a direct message here on CC. </p>

<p>Great luck! You look like a SOLID candidate.</p>

9

<p>Also, what subjects have you decided to get your letters of recommendation from? Will they speak about your interest in public policy?</p>

10

<p>@noel597 Thanks for offering to help. I may take you up on it. My letters are from my english, history, and MUN instructor. They will certainly be focused on politics (ex: my english teacher will be talking about a mock “TED” talk I gave on the fake accents of politicians, history will likely be about political debates I would have with my teacher, MUN teacher should be pretty personal about the way I look at the world and my love for political/policy debate)</p>

11

<p>That will be perfect! I am sure you had a role in telling them to take this approach, so great GREAT move, really. You have chosen how you would like to package yourself, and that’s the best way to go. I chose to package myself as a student with many interests (and passion in those interests) and that worked for me. Your approach is even stronger, and I had really great results.</p>

<p>I’m not sure if you can private message yet here on CC (you don’t have enough posts yet). If you want a quick look over your writing before submitting your app, I can post my personal email. Let me know!</p>

12

<p>Also, it would be important to know: are any other high achieving students applying ED? How about high achieving students applying RD who have already submitted their application?</p>

13

<p>WUSTL: Reach
Northwestern: Reach
Johns Hopkins: High match
Stanford: Reach
Wake Forest: Low match/Match
American: Low match
UC Berkeley: Match
UCLA: Match
UC San Diego: Low match/Match
UC Santa Barbara: Low match/Match
UC Davis: Low match</p>

14

<p>@MrMet101‌: You requested my opinion, and it follows, with the caveat that I am NOT an expert at assessing admissions opportunities for all colleges and universities:
Duke - reach to high reach
Washington U - reach
Northwestern - reach
Hopkins - low reach
Stanford - high reach
Wake - high match
American - safety (if there are NO financial concerns)
Berkeley - match
UCLA - match to low match
UCSD - low match
UCSB - low match to safety
UC Davis - low match to safety </p>

<p>For your edification, the >90 percent number in my first post comes from several briefings to Duke’s senior board/executive committee leadership, by Undergraduate Admissions, which indicated that approximately 30K of the likely about 33K applicants (both ED and RD) fully meet all Duke requirements, merit acceptance, would thrive at Duke, and are largely indistinguishable from the near ten percent who will actually be offered admission. In essence, the margin between denial and acceptance is truly razor thin. </p>

15

<p>@toptier Thank you for your well thought out response to my questions. Your point about the thin margin of differentiation between candidates at Duke really illuminates how difficult the admissions process is for both applicants and readers. My application story is about discovering my passion and life’s work are within political institutions. I think if my reader sees me as genuine and understands my message I can differentiate myself from the 95%. If not, I will be looking at some of the other great schools on my list. Only time will tell though… thanks again for you input.</p>

16

<p>^ ^ ^ ^
It’s an excellent theme and I sincerely wish you good luck. </p>