<p>My gpa is perfect, first in my class. I take extra classes after school (we have 8 a year, I take 9 or 10). My ECs are great. I play tennis, do marching and symphonic band- section leader, play the sax, flute, piccolo, and piano. I work part-time 25 hrs a week. I'm president of National Honor Society. Member of the Academic Quiz team, Amnesty International, Spanish Club, Key Club, and Animal Science club. I have already shadowed members of my community in the field I am interested in: surgery. But my SAT scores are very poor. 1910. I got a 30 on the ACT. They need to be much better. Either way, I do not know which school to apply ED to. I really want to go to UPenn but my chances do not look that good and I think if I apply ED to Duke instead that I will have a better chance of getting in to Duke. What should I do?
I do not want to get stuck at a poor school because I wasn't smart about which school to apply ED to.</p>
<p>Both Penn and Duke have an overall accept rate near 12%. Both have ED accept rates near 26%. Your SAT/ACT don’t bode well for either school. Whichever you choose, you need to be ready for rejection. You need to plan NOW for a broad list of schools that you’ll both love attending and can afford..</p>
<p>As to which one to apply ED – can you afford either? Then just choose which one you can see yourself at home in. It’s not a time to game which is better for your eventual accept/deny. If they deny you in ED, they’ll likely deny you if you were an RD applicant as well.</p>
<p>The difference in selectivity between the 2 schools is really minuscule unless you are applying to Wharton, so apply ed to whichever school you like more and think youll fit in more. </p>
<p>And yes, your test scores do need to improve, sat by at least ~250 points or act by at least 3-4 points.</p>
<p>Is it just due to my test scores that I should be ready for rejection? Because I’m working on raising them with tutoring and classes. I get to take them again before I submit my ED app.</p>
<p>I think that’s a bit harsh to tell you that your SATS will absolutely bar you, because there is a great chance that upon retaking the SAT, those scores will go right up.</p>
<p>I’d encourage you to retake the SAT- I took it the first time with a 1970, but got a 2070 the second time. Also, why not just improve upon your ACT scores? You seem to do much better on that exam.</p>
<p>Personally, I suggest Duke. I’m applying there early decision as well. But I do agree that you should line up a number of safety schools. How many in all are you applying to?</p>
<p>ED, there is not much difference. If Penn is your first choice go with that. Are you someone who has always tested poorly on stanardized tests? If so I’d write about that. At least at the schools here that kind of score is so out of line for someone ranked number 1 that it would make an interesting story (the last 6 vals of my school have perfect scores)</p>
<p>Penn is rumored to admit an inordinately large percentage of its class (40%+) during ED. From that perspective it would seem that your best chance would be Penn ED. I think a 30 ACT, valedictorian 4.0 gives you equivalent chances at both schools.</p>
<p>Duke is probably harder to get into both ED and RD for every school besides Wharton. However, Wharton is definitely much harder to get into, in both cases, than Duke.</p>
<p>Im in the same boat, I have great grades but only a 30 on ACT too. I am probably doing ED to Duke. @Perfectanpink U should do ED to penn so we don’t have to compete against each other haha, jk</p>
<p>Penn accepts more of its class ED but I believe that the acceptance rate is lower than that of Duke. Ill admit Duke is slightly easier to get into, but ED is meant for top schools. Visit them both and see which one you like better, and apply ED there.</p>
<p>OP, don’t be influenced by ivy propaganda. The schools are equally selective, and Duke is in fact marginally more selective than Penn (including Wharton). Having said that, I believe both schools are equally well positioned to give you a head start on your competition. In my opinion, Duke has better facilities, weather, sports, and women. Academically, I would give the engineering edge to Duke’s Pratt. Wharton undoubtedly takes the business cake (though Duke is phenomenal as well), and I cannot bear to choose between the premed/biology programs (although Duke is one of the world leaders in neuroscience). Penn has the advantage of having being around for longer, and that results in well documented alumni. Duke is more innovative and is starting to become truly entrepreneurial (you’ll be surprised by the extent of the entrepreneurial focus being cultivated at Duke). I would argue that Penn maintains closer ties to India than Duke does. Duke on the other hand is really striving to capture the vast Chinese education market. I think a good analogy would be choosing between Stanford (young, upstart, entrepreneurial) and Yale (established, traditional). Its all a question of choosing which ethos appeals to you personally. Find the school that resonates with you, and you will leave without any regrets.</p>
<p>1)Penn is not ‘rumored’ to accept 40% of its class ED. It does accept 50% of its class ED.</p>
<p>2) After reading the entire post it seems as though the OP is insinuating that Duke is a ‘poorer’ school than Penn. OP, I find your assertion to be without merit and patently absurd if not down right outrageous. A high school senior with a 1900 SAT should not have the audacity to call a school of Duke’s calibre ‘poor’ (if that is really what you meant). Dukies love their alma mater, and although your odds of getting admitted are slim to none, I would hate for Duke to be tainted with a student with your mentality. You’d probably be better off going to Penn (although I think you’d have to be extremely fortunate to be admitted to either school).</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but with an ACT score of 30 and a class ranking in the upper 1%, you aren’t an exceptional candidate for either Duke or Penn.</p>
<p>I went to the University of Illinois, and the middle 50% of incoming freshman in the College of Engineering there scored between a 30 and 34 on their ACT. In other words, you would be in the lower 25% of all admitted engineers at a school that isn’t as well regarded as Penn or Duke.</p>
<p>Good luck with the process, but I would encourage you to apply to your state’s flagship university as a safety school. You’d be amazed at how many students at those schools are walking around campus with 30+ ACT scores, so it wouldn’t be a “poor” choice.</p>
Overly defensive much? The OP clearly was not calling Duke (or Penn) a “poor” school. Maybe you should read that first post again.</p>
<p>Also, someone suggested to the OP that he write about his poor test taking skills in his app. I think that’s a terrible, terrible idea. Admissions officers don’t want to hear a (even implied) rant about how the whole process is unfair to students who don’t test well. You’ll come off as overly defensive or whiny. Just take some more prep courses and try to bring your scores up, because they’re quite mediocre.</p>
<p>The person who thought the suggestion that you write about your poor scoreswas a bad one totally failed to understand what I meant.</p>
<p>NOT to complain about the unfairness of the tests. But to explain how even though you test poorly you see that as a challenge not an obstacle. My niece had scores and class rank similiar to yours. She wrote about how she had to petition to gain access to Honors and AP classes during high school (beacause placement decisions were made based on standarized tests) About how that her to able to focus on her strengths and convey that to others. How it made her reach out to other students in a similiar sitaution to find ways to do the same. She was admitted to 3 of the 5 Ivy’s she applied to.</p>
I’m applying there early decision as well. But I do agree that you should line up a number of safety schools. How many in all are you applying to?</p>