Duke!!! Please Read and Thank You

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! So sorry for the long post, but Duke has been my dream school for basically my entire life(sounds cheesy I know) and I just wanted to know what my chances are as of now, and what else I can do to help my chances. I am currently a junior in high school and I live in Texas. I am going to apply early decision for the Duke class of 2021. I am of Indian origin, if that means anything. I would like to pursue English and History in college, and stray away from the stereotype that all Indians want to become doctors. I will be the first person in my family who is not pursuing biology or chemistry. Unfortunately, I have 2 C’s on my transcript(Chemistry and Calculus). However, I hope that Duke will see that I am brave enough to stray away from my parents’ wishes and pursue another career that does not involve science or math. These are my stats:
SAT 1: 2180 (I’m planning on retaking this)
ACT: 33 (I’m planning on retaking this)
Weighted GPA: 4.53(it should go up after this semester)
Percentage: Top 10% of my class
SAT II: I’m taking US History, Math 2, Literature, and Biology. I have not taken them yet though.
Extracurriculars:
-I have been taking piano lessons since I was 3, and I have been able to perform at Carnegie Hall, and I have achieved many awards(I will get all the specific names when I apply)

  • I have been a member of NHS and Student Council all throughout high school
    -Spanish Club, Model UN, German Club
  • I have raised lots of money for the Children’s Hospital in my town and I ran a fundraiser to raise money for toys and books for the homeless shelter in my town
    -I have over 700 hours of volunteering thus far through high school, and all are at different places like the hospital, the animal shelter, the homeless shelter, the soup kitchen, the home for special needs children, etc.
    -I have traveled to India and Malaysia and worked to build homes there and I ran a seminar in both places where I gave a presentation about pollution
  • I have participated in an event called the Poetry Slam each year, and I have won first place each year.
    -I have other awards and achievements, which I will get more specific info about when the time comes
    -I have demonstrated a great interest in english and history throughout high school and I have joined various clubs and organizations involving these subjects
    -I am part of my school’s debate team and I have placed in many competitions
    -I participated in an event called UIL each year, which is an academic competition, and have won awards each year
    -I have been playing tennis since 3rd grade, and I have made it to state, and even national levels

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read all of this, I just really want to get in and I would do anything to help myself. Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome, and I was wondering about what to do regarding rec letters. I am not sure how many teachers to ask or anything of that sort. I would love to know anything you guys think I should do to strengthen my resume. Again, thanks to everyone who is willing to help, I just really want to get in.

2

A few questions:

What is your unweighted GPA?
How many valedictorians does your high school graduate annually (on average)?
What was the breakdown on your V/M/W SAT 1 scores?
Does your school report exact class rank, or just decile?
Have you contacted the tennis coach at Duke?

3

I think my unweighted GPA is a 3.76. Overall, my high school is very academically competitive, but I don’t know of anyone from my school who is planning on applying early decision. And no, my school does not report class rank, just percentile. On my SAT, I had a 780 W 760 M and 640 V. Also, no I have not contacted the tennis coach there, I am not sure how to go about that. Thanks for the help!

4

Sorry a few more questions before I give my opinion:

  1. What do you think your recommendation letters will say ? (Best in career, Best of year, Excellent, Good, Fair)?
  2. How many AP classes did you take? How many potential APs could you have taken?

Just go to the Duke athletics website and reach out to the coach. There is usually an email address. Its that simple. Do you think you’d be good enough to play on the team at Duke?

5
  1. I am pretty sure my recommendations will be really good. All of the teachers I am planning to ask know me very well and they like me. Also, I am a good writer so I will be able to write good essays, I heard that was a huge part of it.
  2. I forgot to mention this earlier, I’m in the IB program at my school and I also take many AP classes along with that. My counselor has told me that I have one of the most challenging schedules she has ever seen.

Thanks again! Any sort of help is more than welcome:) this means so much to me!!!

6

You didn’t answer my questions.

  1. recs: please pick one of the 5 choices above.

  2. how many APs IB offered in your school and how many of these did you take.

7

The Naviance scores from our private, college preparatory day school indicate that no student with less than a 34 ACT or a 2150 SAT has been admitted; and certainly no one with less than a 4.5 GPA. If these statistics from our school are relevant, then you are currently borderline at best. In the last four years, we have had 3 students accepted out of 30 who applied; the rejected students include Duke legacies and National Merit Finalists. But applying ED will help: if you look at the sortable table from this website, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/31/a-college-admissions-edge-for-the-wealthy-early-decision/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_college-admissions-710am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory, you will see that 27% of ED applicants to Duke are accepted (compared to 12% total admit rate), and 47% of Duke’s freshman class was composed of ED applicants.

As far as your ECs go, you have lots of memberships but not very much in terms of leadership; you need to focus on quality, not quantity, in your ECs. As for your tennis, D-1 athletics are very competitive, so I wouldn’t count on that being a key to admission; maybe it will work out, but don’t count on it. I know several students who have been courted for athletics on the D-1 level, and for most of them the coaches say, “Yes!” until a better athlete comes along, and then the coaches say, “Sorry!” And no admission.

I would identify other schools to target for your applications; one of our guidance counselors likes to say that you should find several schools that you love, not just one. Don’t have your self-identity tied up in getting admitted to one school.

Finally, here is an excerpt from an article in The Atlantic within the last couple of months, about college admissions:

"People on the admissions side of things are in charge of building a class—of strategically meeting an institution’s long-term goals through the art of recruiting and enrolling students. If there are only two seats for stellar jazz musicians with strong STEM skills and five such students apply, the question of which of them will make it in is largely up to chance. Cole recalls asking some of his students whether they’d support an admissions system in which a list of potential candidates for the 1,400 or so freshmen seats at Columbia were narrowed down to the best 5,000 applicants, which would then be admitted by lottery. “There’s not a single student who would go for the lottery system. They want to believe that in the sight of God there is a rank order from 1 to 36,000 and they’re among the elect,” Cole said. “They don’t recognize that there are other people who have been rejected for a whole series of reasons who really have as much potential in a variety of ways as they do.”

Admission, Cole said, often depends on “which person in the admissions committee reads your application; what their biases are, their presuppositions; whether they’ve had a bad egg-salad sandwich that day or read too many applications. These are all things that enter our decision-making process as human beings.”

“It is [a lottery],” Cole said, “but no one is willing to admit it.” "

Myself, I am coming to the conclusion that the “sorting hat” from Harry Potter may be the best analogue for the college admissions process – where you end up is based on ability, character, and a healthy dose of magic. Bottom line: with a school like Duke, should you ultimately be denied acceptance, don’t take it personally. Good luck.

8

sorry, my bad

  1. best in career
    2)I’ve taken 8 AP classes, and 9 were available to me. I have taken many IB courses as well
9

7 IB classes were available to me thus far, and I have taken all of them

10

I think statwise you’re in the zone for them to consider your app. However, what will pull you into the accepted pile is your essay. Really articulate your goals at Duke and why it’s the best place for your academic passions. It sounds obvious, but so many people neglect to do this. Show them who you are !

11

Thanks so much! What would you recommend I write about in my essays? I don;t want to sound too generic or like all the other essays they get. And also, you don’t think my 2 C’s will hold me back do you? Still kinda stressing about those haha. Thanks again!

12

No offense but can you afford Duke? The COA for Duke is going to be over double what it will be for UT-Austin, which has like the #11 program in English and the #17 program in the country for History. I don’t see how you could justify the insane tuition and COL increase for nothing in return in terms of quality of education or opportunity. You could go to UT, become just as educated and have equal opportunities to attend grad school, all while saving ~120k at the least. I think it would be a bad decision to go to Duke given your in-state options.

13

I can afford it, my parents would be more than happy to send me there. Money is not the issue, I have wanted to go there for all my life, I just wanted to see what else I could do to make it happen.

14

I’m just not sure if it’s a smart decision to go there financially or even logically. What is it about Duke that has you so determined to go there specifically? Like I said, your quality of education would be just as good at UT-Austin and it could save your family over 100k. They could then spend this money on graduate school if you wanted to go to Duke, Harvard, Columbia, or some other top law schools that are obscenely expensive. This way you could get a great undergrad degree from a well respected research institution, and simultaneously save money and get merit aid for top law schools or other graduate schools. You also might be able to get Plan II at UT, which is one of the most respected liberal arts honors programs in the country. They’re very highly recruited, not only for jobs after graduation, but for numerous elite graduate schools.

15

Hello,

Here is what I would rate you:

HS Curriculum: 5
Achievement: 3-4
Recs: 5
Essays: 3-4
ECs: 3
Test scores: 3-4

The ratings from two different readers are summed, and my guess is that your score will probably range from 44-47. Honestly this is on the borderline and you will probably be sent to committee. You will then be compared to others in your HS and region, and is somewhat unpredictable.

Details on the rating system can be found here:
http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2015/03/ferpa-request-gives-inside-look-duke-admissions-process

16

@danfer91: much respect for UT-Austin. Its a great school, and an excellent option for many students. But Duke is a great option for students who are looking for a private education within a strong research institution. While UT Austin is quite well known, a Duke degree will open many doors.

17

@sgopal2 thank you, is there anything else you recommend I should do before I apply?

18

Look to see where you can get a 5. ECs is probably too late. This leaves only test scores and essays

19

@sgopal2 I don’t see it “opening doors” enough to justify the extra obscenely high tuition. Especially when he could use the extra money for graduate school and end up at Duke anyways. I’ve never understood the prestige chasing people do when they go to private schools when there are schools that are just as good in their own state. I could have applied to the ivy’s but didn’t even bother because there is a public research institution that’s one-fifth the price where I can get an equally good education. I’ll save my extra 150k for a law school degree from a t14 school -_-. To each his own I guess though, I just wish people would realize how much they’re giving up for how little they’re getting in return.