Hey folks, im currently a Junior in a public highschool and was curious if I am in good shape or not to get into a selective school. My unweighted GPA is a 4.0, my weighted GPA is like a 4.4, im rank 4 in GPA in the highschool out of 500 in my class. I have done 3 years of crew (which im adequate at), but im not a leader of any sort of club. My school is deciding on National Honor Society kids, should I try to make myself president, is it needed? I also have probably over 100 documented volunteer hours for various events in highschool. Whats the best school I could get into?
- I did a discussion on this earlier, but I just want to know if this is good enough for a school like Duke, or should i win some competitions or something, taking 4 AP classes this year and taking Chem and Physics C in summer as a college course at Stockton. Again, would like to know chances dor Duke
Nobody can give you chances for Duke with that limited information. Duke assesses applicants according to six dimensions: http://admissions.duke.edu/application/overview
1.) The rigor of a candidate’s academic program
2.) Academic performance as measured by grades in academic courses
3.) Letters of recommendation from two teachers and a counselor
4.) Extracurricular activities
5.) The quality of thought and expression in the application essay
6.) Standardized test scores
For #1, it sounds like you’re taking a rigorous courseload given that you’re ranked #4 in the class and taking 4 AP classes this year, but I don’t know what your school offers and how your courseload compares to other top notch classmates.
For #2, obviously, with a perfect 4.0 GPA, you check the box and have had very strong academic performance as measured by grades.
3: No information.
4: Limited information, but based on what you provided, you're probably relatively pedestrian in this category.
5: No information.
6: No information.
And I’ll say that even if you did provide more details here, people on an anonymous message still can’t really forecast which school you will get into with much accuracy as there is so much randomness at this level of selectivity and we can only glean so much from limited information. But, with a provide SAT/ACT score, people could at least tell you if you’re a competitive applicant generally. But if you’re smart enough to get into a school like Duke, you should be able to look up the Class of 2021 profile and make a determination of that yourself. I realize that people like to get re-assurances from others as it’s a nerve-wracking time, so not trying to judge or criticize - simply stating that people on this site won’t really know no matter what.
Good luck!
To me it sounds like you are going very well in high school. Whether this will get you accepted to Duke I have no idea, but it should be fine to get you into multiple very good universities.
I would suggest that you keep up the very good work, relax, have some fun, and plan to apply to a range of schools including Duke and multiple other schools. Definitely include some safeties in your list of universities to apply to, find out what your budget is, run the NPCs, and keep an open mind. I think that you will most likely continue to do very well.
Also, do not take any more APs than you are comfortable taking, and remember that during senior year you will have an extra effort to do which will be the equivalent of an extra AP class. This will include things such as consider multiple universities, visit multiple universities, prepare applications, study for SAT or ACT test, take SAT or ACT test, send in applications, get results, decide where to attend, and so on. This is a big task for high school seniors.
greatly appreciate the response.