<p>I have been wanting to go to Duke for a long time. I think I am a strong candidate for admission, although not a shoo-in (4.0 UW, 34 (predicted) ACT, extensive ECs, great recs and essay). ASSUMING I am accepted to Duke, I am having a hard time committing myself to it. This is due to all of the "weeding out" that occurs at Duke, supposedly. While at some places I've heard Duke only grades too hard in your Organic Bio classes, I've also heard the complete opposite: that many students who would definitely get into a great med school if they had went to a different college are somehow weeded out of Duke or simply end up with a much lower GPA. I just want to know how much of this is actually true. I'm filling out my applications, and this is basically the deciding factor on whether I check Duke or Vanderbilt for ED.</p>
<p>I average grade in Organic Chem is a B-, from what I've heard.</p>
<p>At PSU, my state school, its a C+, at Lehigh its a B-, and UNC its a B-</p>
<p>So I don't really see a difference in Organic Chemistry - its meant to be a weeder at all schools, not just Duke</p>
<p>even if the GPA at Duke is lower than at other schools, the med school admissions ppl know that it is harder to maintain a higher GPA at Duke than at another university where the A's come more easily. The avg (overall and science GPAs) for med school admits from Duke hover around 3.5 - so u def dont need a near 4.0 to get into a good med school from Duke.</p>
<p>I've said it before, I'll say it again - you can always consult the data.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/duke.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.gradeinflation.com/duke.html</a></p>
<p>Compares quite favorably with well-known grade inflated schools.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/stanford.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.gradeinflation.com/stanford.html</a>
<a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/harvard.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.gradeinflation.com/harvard.html</a>
<a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/princeton.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.gradeinflation.com/princeton.html</a></p>
<p>i hate when people say those schools are inflated.. what are you gunna do, give a B to the person that got a 95% in the class instead of 97%... i mean really, everyone that goes there is smart as shiiatt... i think people forget that sometimes</p>
<p>In order to deal with the possibility of grade inflation (not that it really exists) and since all Dukies are smart, Duke actually tells the students their class ranks at the end of each semester. Students must be in the top third of their class in order to make Dean's List. In other words, making a 3.5 will not automatically get Dean's List standing for anyone. Usually it takes around a 3.66 or even higher to make it.</p>
<p>Rising sophomore, and I don't think there's too much grade inflation regardless of department.</p>
<p>On my political science tests, the average score was a 70 or so. On Chem 21 test (the first chem pre-meds take), the average was a 70 or so.</p>
<p>I've heard a physics teacher that told his students, "You'll probably get a C. Do well, you'll get a B. For an A you have to teach me something."</p>
<p>"For an A you have to teach me something." - thats a little disconcerting...</p>
<p>Average of a 70 on a polisci test? Bleh....</p>
<p>Nice link, sakky! </p>
<p>I especially find it interesting that U Chicago has inflated so drastically- most people associate Chicago with grade de-flation. Duke appears to be no better and not much worse than most.</p>
<p>That test was a killer. </p>
<p>Incoming Blue Devils, be prepared for your ego to be destroyed. Duke's a great school, great UG experience, but it's tough. After the first week of classes, pretty much every freshman is overwhelmed, and almost convinced he/she was the admissions mistake. Something an upperclassman told me, "You're a true Duke student the first time you call home in tears."</p>
<p>You'll make it though, it's just tough. If you made it this far, you have it in you.</p>
<p>Ugh, this isn't good to hear. My dad's really been stressing the importance of keeping my grades super-high if I want to get into a top business PhD program.</p>
<p>Is this all classes? What about for philosophy and English majors? Is it just the amount of writing involved that makes it tough or how they grade your papers?</p>
<p>bananainpyjamas: Im hearing the same thing only for getting into law school......wow...this is a little disheartening</p>
<p>The top law schools will be always tough to get into, but Duke is especially strong when it comes to getting its students in. Unless you prefer HYP you really couldn't be at a better pre-law school. :) Keep that in mind when you're gawking at the grade you get on your first exam. :p</p>
<p>I'll admit that still doesn't soothe my nerves much, especially since some of the doctoral programs I've looked into have 5% acceptance rates. Oh well, my dad's a professor of management, I'll figure out how to use that to my advantage. ;)</p>
<p>5%? I hope microbiology programs (esp. Duke's) don't have a rate that low. :(</p>
<p>It's probably not THAT low but PhD admissions in general have very low acceptance rates, because universities can only take a small number of doctoral students in each field every year.</p>
<p>Question: What exactly is a safety for law school when it comes to Duke students? The majority of them have under a 25% acceptance rate and require competitive LSATs. Even schools in tier 2 and 3. So, you guys just going all out and applying to like only the schools in the top 30 or so? Cause I am worried and stunned by how competitive it is and even schools like Brooklyn Law rejecting like Princeton applicants in droves.</p>
<p>Wow! I started an uproar here, didn't I?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Philo/English Classes - I haven't taken any, but many of my classes have been writing based which I imagine those classes are. I had paper finals rather than tests for most of them. There's a place called the writing studio which can greatly help you with your writing - I advise that you visit. Anyway, i went there for just about everything I wrote my first year and the lowest grade I got on a paper was a B+. In the first year, I got MUCH better at having a succint storng argument (think arguing anti-abortion in 1200 words) and how to maintain quality in a long paper (3 of my finals were papers - 1 10pager (group), 1 20 pager (group) and 1 15 pager (just me).</p></li>
<li><p>Law School. If you guys search facebook for groups with harvard or yale in them, you'll see about 5 dukies are going to each. I know some folks heading to Columbia. It's possible to get into those schools, it's just work. hard work. Once again, you can do it - hell you got into Duke. I don't know about safeties, but all the folks I knew applying to law school got in somewhere. if you check the law school's website, you can see how many people they've accepted from Duke.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Something you'll notice, Parties tend not to have lots of sophomore there. That's because folks realize how important grades are their 2nd year. I love Duke, but won't be on the social scene this year because I want to make Dean's List with distinction(top 10% class).</p>
<p>And a final note of encouragment: First semster, about 130 people in Trinity '08 got perfect 4.0s. Feel better?</p>
<p>Yes ma'am! :)</p>