help, please! chances at duke?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>hi guys,
i've posted my information on the forum before, but i recently got two 800s on the sat and i'm not sure how that affects my chances. here are my goals and my information; can you let me know what's realistic?</p>

<p>potential schools:
duke (first choice)
tufts
uc berkeley
ucsb
middlebury (reach?)
college of william and mary
oberlin (my mom went there, so i have that golden alumni connection!)
kenyon
northwestern
davidson
dartmouth/brown (extreme long shots, but a dream!)</p>

<p>My qualifications:</p>

<p>sat scores: 800 verbal, 800 writing, 640 math; 730 literature sat 2, 670 us history sat 2, 640 bio sat 2 </p>

<p>grades: straight A's throughout high school (taking most difficult schedule possible!)
class rank: 3rd out of 800
school: large, california public</p>

<p>ap classes: ap euro, ap us, ap english language and comp, ap bio, ap stats, ap english literature and comp, ap gov, ap spanish (5's on all exams except bio, which was a 3)</p>

<p>extra-curricular activities: editor-in-chief for 3 years and founder of school newspaper; clarinet player for top school band; member of marching band; president of california scholastic federation; secretary of school interact club (a volunteer organization); copy writer for yearbook; member of national honor society; member of City of Murrieta's Youth Advisory Committee</p>

<p>awards: CA chicano news media association journalism scholarship for $2000 (awarded to only one student in southern CA); City of Murrieta Award for Leadership; City of Murrieta Award for Service to Community; Trailblazer Award for student leadership; National Merit semi-finalist; superior rating at Southern California School Band/Orchestra Association festival; 1st clarinet at All-Valley Honor Band (for 3 years); finalist at Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Academy; Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (1 of 3 students selected from district)</p>

<p>employment: paid staff writer for regional newspaper (circulation 200,000; only teen to hold such a position)</p>

<p><em>on a side note, i volunteered at an orphanage in India for 6 weeks; i plan to write my essay about this.</em></p>

<p>so, what are my chances? please be honest! also, i welcome suggestions of other schools!
thank you!</p>

2

<p>I don't see why you would have a problem with any of those schools....you have greats stats and ECs</p>

3

<p>Duke is every bit as hard to get into as Dartmouth and harder than Brown! The 2 800s are great, but at Duke and Dartmouth 9don't know about Brown) which still aren't counting writing. your combined cr and math are a bit below average. your rank is great though an you have solid Ecs. </p>

<p>Yo're not a shoo in but with good recs and essays you have a solid shot. If you're hispanic (does your chicano award mean that), you have an excellent shot.</p>

4

<p>Duke is every bit as hard to get into as Dartmouth and harder than Brown! The 2 800s are great, but at Duke and Dartmouth 9don't know about Brown) which still aren't counting writing. your combined cr and math are a bit below average. your rank is great though an you have solid Ecs. </p>

<p>Yo're not a shoo in but with good recs and essays you have a solid shot. If you're hispanic (does your chicano award mean that), you have an excellent shot.</p>

5

<p>Duke is every bit as hard to get into as Dartmouth and harder than Brown! The 2 800s are great, but at Duke and Dartmouth 9don't know about Brown) which still aren't counting writing. your combined cr and math are a bit below average. your rank is great though an you have solid Ecs. </p>

<p>Yo're not a shoo in but with good recs and essays you have a solid shot. If you're hispanic (does your chicano award mean that), you have an excellent shot.</p>

6

<p>thanks for the feedback, guys!! i'm actually pure scandinavian, just to clear up any confusion. :)</p>

<p>does the list look a little bit reach-heavy? i'm weary of applying to too many reach schools and then (gasp!) not getting in anywhere...</p>

7

<p>anyone else?</p>

8

<p>I don't see any CLEAR safeties. I would put a few in. You do have several matches, which is good, but being matches, they could go etiher way. To be on the safe side, maybe take out a reach and put in two sure-fire safeties.</p>

9

<p>thanks for the advice!
i forgot to mention that i'm in the top 4% of my CA public high school, which means i'm guaranteed admission to at least one UC... i've kind of been considering that my ultimate safety net.
anyone else?</p>

10

<p>bump... :)</p>

11

<p>bump... please help! :)</p>

12

<p>duke (first choice) - good chance
tufts - in
uc berkeley-good chance
ucsb-in
middlebury (reach?)-in
college of william and mary-in
oberlin -in
kenyon-in
northwestern-in
davidson-in
dartmouth/brown -decent chances</p>

13

<p>Duke would be a great school but might want to look at some east coast safeties like Holy Cross, Colgate or Colby.</p>

14

<p>thanks for the advice and encouragement, datadriven and par72! </p>

<p>(i had my first few college interview today, so i was sort of in need of it... :))</p>

15

<p>bump... thank you!</p>

16

<p>anyone else??</p>

17

<p>Congrats on the two 800s, but only one of them really counts for much. The only negative I see would be the fact that no real passion emerges from reading your "application." You are very qualified, but schools like Dartmouth, Duke, and Brown are really looking for interests that you have followed up on and pursued relentlessly.</p>

<p>Duke-- Moderate Reach (Your 1440, while good for most schools, is slightly below average for Duke and nothing really pops out of your "app" to give you a great shot there.)
Tufts-- Match
UC Berkeley-- Match
UCSB-- Low Match
Middlebury-- Slight Reach
College of William and Mary-- Match
Oberlin-- Match
Kenyon-- Low Match
Northwestern-- High Match-Slight Reach
Davidson-- Slight Reach (Davidson is nearly as selective as Duke, but with less emphasis on SAT scores)
Dartmouth/Brown-- Moderate Reach(es)</p>

18

<p>thanks for your advice gchris07, i think you probably hit the nail on the head. if there is one activity that i've pursued doggedly, it's definitely journalism... that's been my real passion, and i hope it'll come through on my application. i helped found the school newspaper and have been its editor-in-chief for 3 years now. i've also written pretty regularly for the regional socal newspaper (circulation 200,000) with tons of clips and hopefully a great rec to show for it... and i also received this regional journalism scholarship given to one student in the socal area that's pretty competitive. i'm hoping that'll help me stand out... we'll see. i also really played up my time volunteering at an indian orphanage in my essays, but i know i'm not the only college-obsessed kid who's had experiences like that. these fingers are definitely crossed. thanks for your help!</p>

19

<p>OK great, just make sure to emphasize those aspects in your essays...and again the slight reaches are schools you still have a good shot at (30-40%). So if you have 3 slight reaches (according to my analysis), you will most likely get into at least one of them.</p>

20

<p>thanks for being positive, gchris07!
(oh, and being nosy i looked at some of the threads you've started and i find it funny that you're a fellow student journalist as well!:))
best of luck!</p>