Duke ED Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

I am a current junior in Texas looking to apply to Duke ED. I have wanted to study at Duke from a really young age and I hope the CC community can help me gain some guidance to getting into the school of my dreams. Here are some of my statistics:

SAT: 1550 (750 CRW/ 800 M), SAT II Math: 800 (will be taking physics and chemistry next spring)
ACT: Haven’t taken yet (got 35 composite on practice test in one sitting (34E,35M,34R,36S))

Unweighted GPA: 3.85 (had major family issues during freshman year and sophomore year)
Weighted GPA: 4.20
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank (only ranks top 10%) and was not ranked due to grade slips from family issues freshman year and sophomore year. I would estimate my rank to be in the top 10-15% due to proximity to top 10% cutoff.

My school is extremely competitive, where many students take 6-7 AP level courses a year (some try to game system to take 8 AP courses). Many students take 4-5 AP classes as sophomores. Competition is so fierce that students try to sabotage others’ academic success.

Any courses not listed in the category of “AP” was taken at the honors level. World History and US History were taken as correspondence courses to allow room for other classes that were of interest to me.

AP courseload: AP Human Geo (9), AP Calculus BC (10), AP Chinese (10), AP Biology (10), AP Computer Science A (10), AP Physics 1&2 (11), AP Chemistry (11), AP English Composition (11)

Senior year courseload: AP English Literature, AP Statistics, AP Physics C, Orchestra, Swimming, Organic Chemistry, Computer Science Independent Study 2

Other coursework: Multivariable Calculus/ Linear Algebra, Computer Science Independent Study 1

ECs:

Studied molecular biology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry in my free time
3 time TMEA All Region Orchestra member (placed top 10 each year in violin section)
4 years varsity orchestra
7 years of violin
President of Biology Club (3 years by senior year)
TISCA Academic All State athlete (will be applying for NISCA Academic All American Award senior year)
Member of competitive coding club and computer club
Varsity Swimming (4 years, will be captain senior year)
50+ hours volunteering at local library
200+ hours in computational biochemistry research lab at university (UT Austin)
Participated in Computing Olympiad (USACO) and Biology Olympiad (USABO)

I am looking to be a paid intern at a computer chip design company in my city to hopefully supplement my application to be oriented toward CS. I intend to study CS in college for a career in computational biochemistry research.

Hopefully National Merit Semifinalist status by next year…

The list of ECs will continue to update as the year progresses.

Gender: Male
Race: Asian
Income Bracket: 110K-200K (upper middle class)
Intended Major: Computer Science (possibly with additional neuroscience or biology major)
Hooks: Father was a Masters and PhD student at Duke. Other than that, no special hooks.

2

I also forgot to note a few minor things:

First Aid and CPR Certified
AP Scholar with Distinction

I am sending in all of my AP scores (5 on BC, CS, Human Geo, 4 on Bio and Chinese (I was sick that day, will only retake Chinese)). Looking to score 5 s on Physics, Chemistry, and English.

I will get teacher recommendation letters from my CS teacher and my biology teacher (has seen me grow as a sophomore student in his senior-level AP Bio class that was graded on forced curve). I will also get one from the professor I work with at the university.

3

Your stats and extracurriculars are great. Congrats on the 1550 and 800 on math II! Great that you’re taking chem and physics in the spring. The fact that your dad went to Duke is also a bonus. Just keep up the grades and when senior year rolls around, focus on your essays. Also, an internship at the computer chip design company would be a great opportunity for you to get exposure to what you might like to do in the future (and it will definitely be a plus to include in your application) so I hope you get to do that! Best of luck.