<p>I got my admission decisions back this past Thursday and was unfortunately disappointed in the results. They are as follow:</p>
<p>Accepted: Fordham, RIT, Manhattan
Waitlisted: Hamilton
Rejected: Duke, UPenn, Cornell, Columbia</p>
<p>I was hoping to get into at least one of the Ivies/Duke, and the Hamilton one probably got me the most upset because I thought I would have gotten in.</p>
<p>At this point, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do regarding where I want to attend. My top pick was Duke, and I really should have applied ED to being with. I want to go into computational bio/bioinformatics, and I know Duke and the surrounding area are really good locations for that. I'm kinda holding out on Hamilton to see if they accept me because I would go there if they did, but the other three I'm not too keen on.</p>
<p>I've been contemplating taking a gap year and reapplying to Duke under ED. I would retake the SATs (because as you will see they are not good at all) and have a much better application the second time around. I just need opinions on what would be a good route for me to take. I have always wanted to go to a prestigious school, and I don't want to lose the opportunity.</p>
<p>My stats:</p>
<p>SAT: 1910 - 560, 730, 620 (CR, M, W)
SAT II: 800 (Math II), 750 (Math I), 740 (Bio), 710 (Chem)
GPA: 97.1% unweighted (my school doesn't grade out of 4.0)
APs: World History (5), Biology (4)
IBs: Math SL (7)
Courses:
[ul]
[<em>] AP/SL Spanish
[</em>] HL Biology
[<em>] HL History (required by my school)
[</em>] AP/HL English (required by my school)
[<em>] AP/SL Psychology
[</em>] AP Calc BC
[/ul]
Extracurriculars: Theatre (I've done it for 4 years, 2 of which I stage managed), NHS (only this year, that's how my school does it), multiple Cancer walks, fundraisers for cancer, ~75 hours local community service (church, school, etc.), freelance web design and development for ~6 years (I was hoping this would help since it's unique and relates to me future profession)</p>
<p>I'm taking a bunch of APs from self studying which include (my predicted score is in parenthesis):
Computer Science A (5)
Statistics (5)
Physics C (no clue, shooting for a 4)
European History (4-5, retaking it)
Macro/Micro (4-5)
English Lang/Lit (4)
Biology (5, I'm retaking it I know I can get the 5)</p>
<p>I really need a more professional opinion on if my idea of a gap year is a good idea. The opinions I've gotten are split, some people say it's good, others not so much. The main thing dragging me down is my SAT score, as well as the little community service I've done. I believe I can get my SAT score up to at least 2200 (with a perfect in math) after I study this summer. I would take them again in October before I apply ED to Duke.</p>
<p>The reasons I think applying again are a good idea include: I would have all these great test grades to really amplify my already good GPA, my SAT score would actually be of competitive level, and my ECs would be better than last year (I'm doing two local non-profit websites this year and unfortunately couldn't add them to my resume, but they will be there if I applied again). And I also guess I would be showing perseverance and interest in Duke?</p>
<p>What should I do? Responses would be greatly appreciated. :)</p>