How to improve my Chances for Duke

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey,
Right now I am currently a Junior at a pretty well respected/rigorous Christian school in NY (and I commute 1.5 hrs a day there). I really want to attend Duke, but its obviously extremely difficult to be admitted. I've listed my stats and ECs below, is there anything I should do to better my chances? </p>

<p>Cum (W)GPA- 3.9, ACT 33</p>

<p>And we can't take APs until Junior year and more than 2 honors until Sophomore year. Also, my school does not give A+s, an A is the best grade. </p>

<p>Frosh Year (GPA 3.54- Yes I know this is very low)
French II- B-
Geometry Honors- B+
English- A-
Religion- A-
World History- A-
Music- B+
Health A
Biology- A-</p>

<p>Sophomore (GPA 4.02)
English II Honors- A-
US History Honors- A-
Alg II Honors- A-
French III- A-
Chem- A-
Health- A-
Art- A-
Religion- A</p>

<p>Junior Year (GPA 4.2-4.26ish)
English AP- B+/A-
Calc Honors- A
French IV- A-
Physics Honors- B+
US AP- A-/A
Religion- A
Music- A</p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:
AP EnviSci
AP Stat
AP Econ (Micro and Macro)
AP Euro History
Religion
English </p>

<p>ECs
Freshman Cross Country- Captain- Elected
Indoor and Outdoor Track- Freshman, Soph, Jr
-Note: I'm pretty good at track, and if I cut off a few more seconds on my mid/long distance events I might get a scholarship at some schools, so this could help
Student Council- Elected and Served-End of Freshman- End of Jr, Elections for next year coming up
Gaelic Games Club- Co-Founded sophomore year
Ping Pong Tournament for Charity- Founded, sophomore and junior years
NHS- Tutor 2 hours a week
Community Service- about 150 hours, have done a little more than school requirements, plan to do excess this summer to make around 200
Plan a trip to Ireland for an internship with the Government (Dual Citizen)</p>

<p>What can I do to better my chances for Duke? I plan to apply ED, so that should help.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I would say take the SAT and see if you get a 2300+. You have decent grades and EC’s. Scores are on the low side though.</p>

3

<p>haha my sat is 1960 after 3 attempts, its not going to go up much more. I might take the ACT again, but a 33 is around a 2200 (per my GC) and Duke’s mid 50% is 31-34 so its pretty competitive.</p>

4

<p>please, could someone help? thanks</p>

5

<p>GPA hurts. 3.9 weighted? I dunno. You’ve got a good test score and some nice ECs – there’s a chance. Have you taken SAT IIs? If you do really well in a few areas, send them to Duke with the rest of your resume. Can’t hurt.</p>

6

<p>thanks. I know my GPA is low, I struggled A LOT Freshman year, especially in Spanish. I’m signed up for some SAT IIs now, I’m hoping for a very high score in History and a pretty high score in Math I or II. Hoping for 700+s.</p>

<p>Will anything else improve my chances? Thanks</p>

7

<p>Bump de bump</p>

8

<p>Find out if you will be considered an international applicant with the dual citizenship bc that will make a big difference.</p>

9

<p>I won’t be unfortunately because I have always lived in the US</p>

10

<p>You mean fortunately. International applicants have a much harder time getting accepted than domestic. So I guess the dual citizenship serves to make you more interesting which is a plus.</p>

11

<p>Oh alright thank you. </p>

<p>And f anyone else has any ideas they would be much appreciated.</p>

12

<p>While the GPA is a bit low, there’s definitely a good upward trend there. If you can finish the year strong and get straight As first semester next year, I don’t see a huge problem grade-wise. I recommend taking the ACT again since while a 33 is competitive, you want as many things in your application helping you as possible.</p>

<p>Going with that point, try and become a track team captain again and maybe an NHS board member. What you’ve done/are doing looks really good and I’d say you have a good shot. Best of luck.</p>

13

<p>your fine. duke isnt THAT hard to get into compared to other ivies – you don’t have to be a literally perfect human being. your grades are fine, just try to get a 34? the act is really great for raising scores</p>

14

<p>Acceptance rate is 18%. Just sayin’.</p>

15

<p>I’m kind of confused regarding your GPA.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>How is that a 3.5 GPA? More like ~3.7 UW to me. Regardless, your actual transcript doesn’t seem so bad, which would be taken into consideration over just a stale GPA.</p>

16

<p>Health and art and music are quarter credits, compared to a full credit for the academic classes.</p>

17

<p>Thanks to everyone who applied. What would you all say my weakest part of my app is though? I’m thinking GPA, especially freshman year, but if my ECs are weak please let me know.</p>

18

<p>any feed back would be much appreciated</p>

19

<p>your grades should be fine as long as you stay on an upward trend. you have great ECs, but try to find a common theme in all of them when you write your essay. Duke’s not easy, but you definitely have a chance. good luck :)</p>

20

<p>Impressive gpa but mediocre ecs! I would say that you have a 35-40% chance of getting in depending on your essay:) BEST OF LUCK</p>