Hispanic Male Chances for ED Duke or Brown

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Not sure if I have a decent chance for ED acceptance to Duke or Brown (legacy). Visited and loved Duke. Will be visiting Brown in a few weeks. Please chance me.
Below are my Stats. Thanks in advance!

SAT I (breakdown): 1510 (R 760, M 750)
SAT II: 800 Bio, 780 American History

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 Weighted GPA ( out of 5): 4.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 2%

AP: All 5s (8 total AP’s not including Senior Year) AP gov. AP world, AP comp sci, AP Lit, AP bio, AP Physics, AP cal. AB, AP cal. BC,

Senior Year Course Load: multi variable calc, AP Psych, AP Stat, AP microeconomics, AP, AP Spanish AP macroeconomics, AP lang, weight lifting for Varsity athletes

Major Awards: National Hispanic Scholar Recipient, science, math, and Spanish school awards and AP national scholar award. Body building and wrestling awards and others

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): taking care of my younger brother with special needs, work part-time lifeguard and swim instructor during school year (3 yrs), work full-time during summer,
varsity wrestler four years, body building competitions,

Volunteer/Community service:
350 hours volunteering tutoring and one on one for children with special needs in camp, epilepsy foundation volunteer, Four honor societies with tutoring and com. service ect.

Summer Employment/Activities: Work full time as a lifeguard and swim instructor for 3 yrs. at county pool. Now a pool operator/manager. Summer league wrestling and tournaments, bodybuilding contests, taking care of brother with special needs

Teacher Recommendation: BC calc. teacher and Bio Should be good both teachers commented that I was very creative in solving problems. Commented that I was the best student they have taught in teaching career. Hope they weren’t joking lol Have a good relationship with them and tutor students for them during lunch.

State (if domestic applicant): MD

Intended major(s): Bio., Pre-med,

School Type: large public school

Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: M

Income Bracket: Middle class with two other brothers in college

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, Brown legacy

It’s ok to be honest, I can take it!

2

URM with good test GPA/test scores/ rigorous class load interested in STEM makes your schools viable targets. Reach/low reach, but pretty decent chances of being accepted.

You might want to consider Rice, Vanderbilt, and your in-state option of Hopkins as well.

3

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it! Vanderbilt and Rice are definitely on my list. Hoping to do a visit to Vanderbilt before school starts. Rice is too far to visit in person. Hopkins is a great school but looking to broaden my horizons. Never lived anywhere other than Maryland.

My ECs are not as strong as I would like. I haven’t been to college summer programs or had research opportunities. That might be a problem for me! I have been working hard to save up money for school. Is there anything that I can do to improve my chances?

4

@Tigerkat your ECs are fine and admissions officers will understand, especially if you are helping with the care of a special needs sibling and working.

5

Also I feel that University of Chicago might be a good academic fit for you as well-have a gut feeling that you would thrive in that environment. Northwestern as well since both have top rated medical schools.

6

Sure, I have preferences but I am adaptable. I just want the opportunity to get into a selective school. Warm weather and a social life is a plus lol. Wondering if I should use ED for a far reach in hopes of better odds or use for a less competitive school? Would legacy give me a meaningful boost at Brown or is it a waste of ED? All ivy admits seem so random. Don’t want to end up in my state school for lack of other options.

7

If you want a chance to make an expense free visit to Rice, you should apply to Rice’s SOAR fly in program. It is for underrepresented minority applicants. Even though Rice is in Texas, Rice actively recruits high achieving Hispanics. The deadline is August 5 so get started on the application for SOAR if you are interested. See this thread for the links etc. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/rice-university/2149631-soar-2019.html#latest

8

Wow, thank you.

9

Imo, your challenge will be the ECs. They boil down to lifeguard/swim, wrestling, commited summer work with special needs kids. Somehow, you’ll need to tie this to your interest in bio/premed. They like to see some related activities. We understand you help with your brother, but there seems to be time for the other things, including competitions, and you may want to consider more direct experience in a health care setting. Think about this, as you do have stats strength.

10

Yes, you are right. I don’t have the right ECs. I have been focused on school, working, sports, volunteering and helping my family but not research. I am expected to pay for most of my school so I have avoided unpaid internships that would help my application. Probably a mistake, but that’s in the past. Maybe I can find some opportunities that won’t just look like I am padding my resume.

11

Would it look better if I applied undecided?

12

@lookingforward I respectfully disagree with you about the ECs. To begin, there is no such major as pre-med. You go in as a biology major, and many bio majors, even in the most selective schools, do not have any direct experience in healthcare. As for connection to healthcare, @Tigerkat has worked with a special needs sibling and others, has worked for the epilepsy foundation, etc. An MD is not a research degree. People do not become physicians to research diseases, they do so to treat patients, to help people. The OP’s ECs demonstrate a clear interest in helping people which problems which are essentially medical in their nature.

@Tigerkat - there is a wide array of undergraduate majors which one could take before starting a medical degree. I do not know, however, whether applying undecided increases or decreases the admission chances. In any case, it probably does not matter what your major is - as long as you have taken all the prerequisites for medical school, you can apply for medical school. There are a large number of degrees which would work with that, like psychology or even social work.

13

I’m not talking about “research.” Nor internships. CC kids think those are assets, but your problem seems to be only little hs involvement of the sort Duke and Brown will look for. You have a sport, a side BB activity, camp. And honor societies are not a tip.

CC kids also fret about “padding.” But it’s not padding when you consciously choose relevant activities.

Undecided won’t mask hints at your direction. If you have the stem strengths and stats, they can know or suspect this is about a stem major. Why not see about hospital voluntering (where you can at least observe the process, not the supply room, etc?) Or see if you can get involved with special needs advocacy- that’s not camp, but alongside adults working toward changes? Think about it.

And learn what Duke and Brown value and look for. Legacy helps, but when you learn from your parent(s) what the school is about, what makes it unique, and can match yourself, then offer a solid Why Us answer.

14

@MWolf Duke and Brown are going to look for the full picture that makes sense. The Common App not not only asks what possible majors, but what future career ideas. OP has said premed. He’d need, imo, to twist himself into a pretzel to pretend he isn’t stem- and still, lifeguarding, bodybuilding, and camp aren’t it. Other than the sport and NHS, he seems to have little involvement with peers in school. No other clubs.

Working on the side with special needs kids is good, a job is good. But, not enough to show the full picture.

Does he still have a shot? Yes. But I believe CYA, leaning in, is the safer bet.

15

@lookingforward Good points

16

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try my best to find opportunities that support my academic path. I won’t be able to help people, if I can’t get into college lol.

I don’t regret my non-academic ECs, I have met very interesting people and have learned a lot about others and myself. Sometimes learning happens in the strangest places.

17

Respectfully, I think I have plenty of interaction with peers. I am in four honor societies. Math, Science, Spanish, and NHS. Each has seperate tutoring hours requirements. I often spend my lunch tutoring peers. Captain of wrestling team also takes up a lot of time. Practices are 2.5 hrs long, six days a week during season. Interacting with coaches and peers. Also, I have volunteered at a short staffed county camp for kids with special needs, it’s not easy. Many of my best friends are from work. Summers are 40 hr. weeks. I have been there for three years. Sometimes I wish I could be alone.

18

You may be able to use that thought in your essay- not that we’re talking essays yet. But you really still have time to add something that offers the right balance. Try to figure it out and come back later, we can help.

https://admissions.duke.edu/application/overview

19

Sorry about the rant. This college thing gets to you after awhile. I am just going to write my essays and applications and hope for the best. It is what it is.

20

No worries, we understand. Good luck, and remember that there is no such thing as a “dream college”. There are multiple colleges in which you will thrive and have an amazing time. Even for a high-stats kid, the vast majority of the colleges in which you will thrive are not the most popular colleges with the lowest acceptance rates.

PS. I hope that you are putting together your list of targets and that you have a safety which you can love.

PPS. You should be in bed at 1:40 am, or engaging in other things than CC - you’re a teen and it’s still summer vacation!