basically, I go to a very competitive public school. they offer a gifted IB diploma program where you complete your diploma at the end of 11th grade, and the normal IB diploma program where you complete it at the end of 12th grade. I chose not to do either program because… literally everyone who does it has horrible mental health and I wanted a social life. however, I feel like this screwed me over when it comes to college admissions.
for background, I am taking the most rigorous classes my school offers. 6 IB/AP courses in junior and senior year, I have a 3.938 UW GPA, 36 ACT. I have a good amount of extracurriculars but nothing super impressive, but my essays are pretty strong. I’m applying Duke ED and wondering if I even have a chance since I didn’t do that program, does anyone have thoughts/experiences with this?
T20 is a term that assumes college rankings are useful in the first place. They’re not. The best thing to do is find an affordable school that’s a good fit for your interests, and not worry about what other people think. Also, just because you can get into Duke or another “T20” doesn’t mean you should. Rankings are the fastest way to pick the wrong college and end-up in a 4 year academic prison sentence. Put cost as your precondition, and take your time choosing a school that’s right for you.
To a really answer your question, your profile is probably competitive with what Duke lists as a typical admitted student profile. They also list a very low acceptance rate.
This puts them in the “match but still unlikely” category - students who are accepted will have a similar profile, but most students with your profile will still be rejected.
You will likely clear the first hurdle of being an applicant that the admissions committee believes could be successful at their school. But this pool will be much larger than the number of students that will be admitted. At this point the mystical process of shaping a class based on the school’s specific needs happens.
How can you be taking the “most rigorous” if you are not in the IB program?
Duke can not be faulted for wondering, if you were not willing to stretch your limits in high school, why would you elect to do so at Duke, and would you be up to the challenge.