Duke RD chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hey- I'm applying RD to Duke this year, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they think my chances are. Also, if anyone has somewhat similar stats, and has already applied to Duke and gotten their decision, could you tell me what your decision was? Thanks!
Here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2230
English: 730
Math: 700
Reading: 800</p>

<p>(Sending ACTs, so no subject tests) </p>

<p>ACT: 33
English (w/Writing): 35
Math: 30
Reading: 34
Science: 32</p>

<p>IBs: IB Diploma Program candidate, taking IB: HL Psychology, HL Chemistry, HL English, SL Math, SL French, and SL Philosophy</p>

<p>GPA (UW): 3.87
GPA (W): 4.79</p>

<p>Rank (UW): 23/406
Rank (W): 29/406</p>

<p>ECs listed on app:
1. Co-Founder and VP of school's Red Cross Club in 12th grade, led a number of significant projects in local community, including disaster preparedness training projects in nearby refugee community.
2. Oboist in pretty prestigious orchestra (plays annual concerts with the largest professional state symphony) for 6 years. Also selected to play on a big European tour with that orchestra next summer.
3. First Oboist/English Horn player for school musical pit orchestra 9th-12th, for 5 total shows.
4. Section editor on school paper for two years, writer for one year (also, it was only possible to do newspaper for a total of three years), won state award for one of my pages Junior year. Member of a journalism honor society, and selected as an honor student through another program.
5. Volunteered as a teacher's aid/tutor in children's summer camp classes at local museum for two summers (after 10th and 11th grade years)- (week-long shifts, 8 hours a day, four weeks- for a total of 300+ hours).
6. On cross country team for 9th-12th, JV first year, Varsity last three years.
7. Art Club co-founder and VP, 10th-12th grades- organized two art shows.
8. National Honor Society member- (involved tutoring)
9. Tutored students of my oboe teacher,
10. National History Day- 3rd place at State tournament, 10th grade</p>

<p>Essays (subject and responses): Common app essay was about my experience with vulnerability in music (I know, it sounds super cheesy just based on that, but my college counselor (a former U Penn admissions officer) said that it was the best essay he had read in 5 years. I loved it.
Supplement was about my experience with volunteering, and what I learned from my students. I was also really happy about that one, and my counselor thought it was really good too.
Teacher Recs: Glowing, really. I had a really good relationship with the teachers who wrote them, and performed very well in their classes- plus, I thought they were very articulate.
Counselor Rec: I have no idea, but I love my counselor, and we have a good relationship.</p>

<p>Location/Person: Denver
State or Country: CO, US
School Type: Huge inner-city public school with a 100-person-per-class IB program
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female</p>

<p>Other information: I'm a legacy- my dad did his fellowship at the Duke hospital, and is a member of the Alumni association. However, we haven't donated a significant amount of money to the school, and I've been told that my legacy will likely not make a significant impact on my decision.
- I was rejected from Pomona ED, which raises some concerns for me about my Duke chances (as Duke is about equally selective, I think).</p>

2

<p>Oh, and I forgot to ask- could you also chance me for any of the following schools: Williams, Wash U St. Louis, Scripps College, Skidmore, Bowdoin, Dartmouth, and UC Berkeley? (btw, I realize that these are all highly selective, and I have numerous safeties in addition to the schools listed here)</p>

3

<p>You are definitely a strong candidate for Duke ED, however I don’t think you’re likely to get in Duke RD because in the RD round you will be up against people who are aspiring to even more elite institutions but still apply to Duke. especially since you are a legacy you would have had a very strong chance in ED. You’ve shown that you are more than your GPA and SAT numbers through your apparent passion for the oboe. Your other ECs however to not show outstanding commitment and impact in your community, which Duke likes. I’d say that Dartmouth and Williams will be low reaches for you, because RD is so competitive for Dartmouth especially. You’re a high match for WashU, UC Berkely is probably a high match/low reach because you’re out of state( probably a match if you were in state). I don’t know enough about the other schools to tell your chances though. Your GPA is good but it would be amazing for top schools if you had a more challenging course load, you don’t seem like you were challenging yourself enough. Is your weighted GPA out of 5.0? Your class rank is pretty strong too and I doubt it will hurt you in any way. And those SAT scores are pretty good as well.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>In terms of the challenging course load thing- I’m not sure if you saw this, or if you don’t know about IB, buy I’m an IB diploma candidate, which means that I’ve taken internationally-recognized honors classes every year, and complete a system of rigorous requirements and tests. IB is rated as more challenging than many AP programs. And yes, my weighted is on a 5.0 scale.
Thanks for chancing me :)- I know Duke is a long shot, and considered applying ED because of the legacy thing, until I was told by a former Duke admissions officer that, in his experience, legacy makes almost no impact on your decision unless your name is on a library (as much as Duke likes to say it makes a big impact).</p>

5

<p>Oh, and I forgot to mention that, although my school has AP, IB is by far the most challenging program offered by my school, and it’s impossible to take AP and IB.
Also , in terms of how colleges view IB- four of my IB program peers (taking the same course load as me), just got into ivies ED or EA, so I think they view the program pretty well.</p>

6

<p>oboesapien- how many HLs did the people who got into ivies at your school take? I’m guessing the more HLs the more challenging the course load? If you are taking more HLs than most of your peers you’re definitely challenging yourself.</p>

7

<p>Three of those people were taking the same number of HLs that I am, because that’s actually the number almost everyone in the program takes- the other person took 4, which is very unusual. It’s a bit misleading, sorry- all of the classes in IB are honors/advanced, but we’re required to choose 3-4 classes to take ‘HL’, which just has a few extra tests/requirements.
I should have specified, though, that less than 1/4 of my school is in the program, so I’m taking a highly challenging course load compared to most high school students and most of my school.</p>

8

<p>Ok then I would say that Duke is a high match/low reach for you only because of RD, if you applied ED I would say match/low match.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

9

<p>Thanks- good luck to you too, wherever you’re applying!</p>

10

<p>Yeah I’m only a sophomore but I’ve been planning and researching colleges for a whhile now, and I have to say that Duke is my dream school!</p>

11

<p>My school was also AP/IB. Our guidance counselor told us IB candidates automatically get the “most rigorous courseload” checked off on her evaluation form, as did students who took the maximum number of AP classes they were eligible to take. </p>

<p>The number of HL/SL tests you take in IB don’t matter for anything. And on that note, failing to get your IB diploma does not matter either with regard to admissions. (Thought I’d mention that because I was once upon a time concerned that I failed an SL exam and was afraid Duke would reject on those grounds, not true at all)</p>

12

<p>Low reach. To say that Duke could ever be a low match is ridiculous. Too many students are rejected, despite incredible qualifications. Duke could fill most if not all of their entire class with 4.0 UW and 2300+ SAT students if they wished. It’s very similar to Ivy admissions, with Duke’s acceptance rate falling below some of them. I think you’re very competitive for RD, but unfortunately, none of us can say for certain whether you will be admitted, and we also may not be able to say your precise chances, considering how many use the term “crapshoot” for top school admissions. It’s all so very subjective.</p>

13

<p>Thanks, both of you!
@bloog- that’s good to know, because that was definitely one of my fears. I think you’re right, though, because I know two people who did not receive their diplomas (both times due to HL Math- big surprise there), and neither had their admissions rescinded from the excellent schools that had accepted them.
@RedKnightmare- I definitely agree about the low match thing- I don’t think ED even raises peoples’ chances very much, and definitely not enough to put a school like Duke into anything other than the reach/high match category for anyone. And thank you!</p>

14

<p>@oboesapien
first of all I think you have as good a shot at Duke RD as almost anyone else applying because you are clicking on almost all the right cylinders and your rigor doesn’t seem to be a problem as long as you are in the same category as top students in your class and ur guidance counselor highlights you taking the hardest courseload/rigor possible
second of all I disagree with your statement that ED doesn’t help at all. Through talking with people that got into ED as well as ACTUAL printed Duke Info. This is what duke said in a email they sent me about applying ED:
“There’s an advantage in applying Early to Duke—last year we admitted 30% of our Early Decision candidates and only 10% of our Regular Decision candidates. There are students for whom applying Early Decision can make all the difference.”
and there are several more sections and quotes that say pretty much the opposite of what everyone else says about ED/SCEA about harder people/athletes, etc. Duke is one of the few schools that openly claim ED to essentially have a huge boost compared to most schools in its level. Just my experience/research.</p>

15

<p>@matrix- first of all, thank you for chancing me :slight_smile:
Secondly- I admit that it probably does help your chances to some degree, but I’ve seen some data that shows that that degree is not very extreme. Statistics show that ED candidates have generally somewhat higher scores and GPAs than RD candidates, and you’re competing against stronger candidates. Still, it does help at least somewhat, you’re right.</p>

16

<p>oboesapien- do you have links to the data on ed for Duke? Because I want to know if ED is actually less competitive.</p>

17

<p>@sprite123
Although I could not find specific numbers data for ED vs RD for Duke, I think that Ed is probably atleast a little bit more competitive as Duke representatives are always hesitant to answer to that question properly. Athletes and students with legacy are encouraged to apply ED so I guess that makes it more “competitive” but at the same time, there are WAY WAY more spots in terms of percentage than there are for RD…I know several people that got in ED with subpar scores/ECs and many people with stronger stuff (from same school) who didnt get in RD…just a small sample size tho.</p>

18

<p>I think that Duke is a low reach because your grades/scores are well above average. However, of course, the essays and ECs are super important. For liberal arts colleges like Williams, I think ECs and the essays will make a huge difference, so achievement in a certain area would be really great.</p>

<p>Regardless, I’m not an admissions officer, so I’m really just guessing. I wish you the best of luck though!</p>

19

<p>Hi, oboesapien.</p>

<p>I was recently accepted into Pratt on ED. </p>

<p>I can definitely say that your stats are pretty competitive for Duke, and that your essay should definitely make you stand out among the other applicants. </p>

<p>What major are you aiming at? I believe if you “declare” yourself to be one of the art majors, the academic requirements that you have to meet will definitely not be as high as those who are applying to the sciences or other academic fields. </p>

<p>Good luck to you and hopefully we’ll see each other next year!</p>

20

<p>I personally don’t think declaring an “interest” (note that it does not ask you to declare a major) makes a noticeable difference in the admissions process. It might let the admissions officer better understand you, but I’m sure they’re well aware that many students at Duke change their interests or prospective major when they arrive. I’m sure the admissions committee is well aware of the fact that many of the applicants who declare an interest in pre-med will later change their course. The same goes with economics, but to a smaller extent. Therefore, they must consider the applicants holistically, and not make concessions according to their declared interest.</p>