<p>I will try to keep it short and sweet:
Applying to Duke ED for Trinity Arts & Sciences (English major with Pre-Law focus)
SAT: 2340 (800 CR, 800 Writing, 740 Math)
ACT: 35 (34 English, 35 Math, 36 CR, 36 Science)
Grades (and especially class rank) are very weak, due to extenuating circumstances which I will explain later.
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
Weighted GPA: 3.93
Class rank: 95 of 301 (about 30th %)
I have taken as many Pre-AP's and AP's as I am allowed to and here are my AP scores:
World History: 4
Human Geography: 4
US History: 4
English Language: 5
Environmental Science: 4
Psychology: 5
My EC's may seem weak because I only really have two, but I am a track/cross-country runner who is being recruited to run at many D1 colleges, so I have put an extraordinary amount of time in my sports which has kept me from doing many other things. I have been offered a spot on Duke's team if I am accepted, but I do not believe that I will be receiving preferred admission due to how great Duke's team is: 18th in the nation. I am an All-State runner, a two-time part of a State Championship team (once as captain) and I put over 20 hours/week into my sport 52 weeks/year. Other than that I volunteered at my community Sunday School during my freshman and sophomore years.
My senior year classes (and first quarter grades) are as follows:
AP Calculus AB (104)
AP Physics (97)
AP English (95)
Photjournalism (100)
Cross-Country (100)
AP Statistics (99)
AP Macroeconomics (102), will be taking AP Government next semester
These grades are drastically better than my poor 9/10th grade ones. For a basis of comparison, these grades give me a weighted GPA of 4.32 rather than the 3.93 that I currently have.
In addition, I am a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist (hoping to be a Finalist come spring) and an AP Scholar with Distinction.
I believe that my essays will be a fairly good help to me, as well as my letters of rec.
My counselo'rs recommendation should be amazing for the extenuating circumstances mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>As promised, here are the extenuating circumstances:
My dad died of cancer when I was 3, leaving my single mother to take care of my sister and me on a teacher's salary, but that isn't the main part. The spring before I entered high school, my mother suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm, which left her hospitalized for months and in a rehabilitation center for even longer. She was allowed to come home right before I entered high school, but with her unable to drive and my sister off at college, I was left with a load of responsibilities that are unusual of any high school freshman. I was left with almost sole responsibility of taking care of my family, and at the same time I made the varsity cross-country team which won state and was made aware of the fact that I had the potential to run in college. My grades, and my class rank, suffered heavily from this, and I am wondering what my chances of acceptance are. I included all of my extenuating circumstances information in the additional information section of the Common App, and I believe that my counselor is going to discuss them in his letter as well. Now that most of my mother's restrictions have been lifted, I believe that my senior year grades are doing a fine job of proving that I am capable of performing well under a heavy academic courseload, but I do not know if it is enough to overcome my class rank. Any information that you could provide will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<pre><code> - Worried College Applicant (one of many)
</code></pre>
<p>I can’t speak for Duke, obviously, but let me share what I think is the conventional view around here, some thoughts and some advice.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The top schools have a holistic process. This means that having grades that are lower than the average acceptance will not automatically disqualify a student’s application. Although many students ‘think’ they have extenuating circumstances (and don’t), I certainly think that this applies in your case. So, your story should help, the only question is how much. As you probably know, the vast majority of Duke students are in the top 10% (probably top 5% of their classes, if the truth be told). So, you have a lot of ground to make up there – I honestly have no idea or data whether it can be done. Your exceptional SATs should help</p></li>
<li><p>I think you are going about explaining this properly – i.e., using the GC letter. I’ve always felt that this carries much more weight than a student explanation.</p></li>
<li><p>Are your times good enough to be recruited by Duke to run. If so, this could help a lot!!</p></li>
<li><p>Here is what I see as a downside to your story (and I hope you can accept this as an observation from an outsider, not a criticism). You were able to put 20 hours a week into running, and volunteer, yet your grades suffered. One could argue that your grades should have taken first priority and if you had to give up the volunteer work or cut down on the running you should have done so, especially in light of your other responsibilities. I honestly don’t know how a college would view this.</p></li>
<li><p>Here are two Guidance Counsellor Questions – (a) Given everything, is Duke realistic for you? A professional’s advice is important here; (b) Is ED the right way to go? One of your arguments is that your family responsibilities have eased, so you can now focus more on the grades. However, by applying ED, your decision will be made before Duke sees those grades. There is some thought that if you are relying on Sr. Year grades to make the difference, ED is not the way to go. Again, ask your guidance counsellor.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Agreeing with zephyr15, they might question your circumstances. But your SAT score is extremely strong, and your story is inspiring. Make sure your essay is good, and you have a strong chance of being accepted.
chance back please.</p>
<p>Zephyr brings up a good point when he mentions your focus on running and some volunteering over grades. Even if you had many responsibilities and were crunched for time, it’s not much of an excuse for being able to put in 20+ hrs per week into running and saying that you couldn’t make time for classes. It was your own choice to prioritize sports (+volunteering) over grades, which is what many other people tend to do. </p>
<p>Your SAT and ACT scores indicate that you are extremely capable and intelligent, and also reinforce how much you must have actually slacked when it came to your classes. To not even be in the top 30% of your class is going to be a huge drawback.</p>
<p>And not to be overly critical, but what do you mean by a “load of responsibilities that are unusual of any high school freshman.” Can you expand on this? And also you were “left with almost sole responsibility of taking care of my family”? It seemed like it was just your mother and sister, but your mother was in the hospital, and sister was off in college? How did you go about taking care of them? You didn’t mention any sort of paying jobs or particular responsibilities that were such a draw on your time. I’m not trying to be critical or harsh, but admission officers are used to people slightly exaggerating their circumstances in order to make excuses for being lazy.</p>
<p>At this point, I disagree with fchris and earlygrad and would say you have virtually no chance at Duke. I’m pretty sure that over 90% of those accepted were in the top 10%, and atleast 97% were in the top quartile. Those few that weren’t in that top group were probably URM, recruited athlete, or seriously hooked in some way. Don’t do ED, and try and get a list of safer schools as well. Hopefully your 1st semester senior year grades will help for your RD options.</p>