<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 790 Reading/ 640 Math / 600 Writing
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 US History, 700 on LIT
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.4 at ultra competitive Private School (about 3.6 Public school equivalent
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on Euro, 5 on US History, 5 on Eng Lang
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Pretty heavy, 3.8 GPA in first term
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots of history oriented stuff?:
[<em>] Intended Major: Poli Sci
[</em>] School Type: Private
[<em>] Ethnicity: African American
[</em>] Gender: Black
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, Unique heritage
[/ul]Reflection[list]
[</em>] Strengths: Very focused Application
[<em>] Weaknesses: Slightly lower GPA for Duke
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I applied ED, Sharp APP, URM doesnt hurt either</p>
<p>what is the video? could anyone post a link?</p>
<p>And for those wondering “why?” about their decisions - I think it’s important to remember that what is reported on here are just the numbers and labels of the person, not their essays, recommendations, interviews, etc. Just because a recommendation is “good” doesn’t mean it said what the school wanted to say. Just because an essay was “great” doesn’t mean it conveyed the qualities the school wanted to see. Basically, there are a LOT of unknowns, and not even the applicant can know all of these (teacher recs, etc.).
But for those deferred, I wish you the best of luck during regular decision! I have a friend who just got deferred - she’s wanted to go to Duke since she was little (her dad went there), and I know it must be difficult! But I truly believe that what is meant to happen will happen, and you will all find the perfect place for you!</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): Never took
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: Never took
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/400
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH 5, Chem 4, Psych 5, Bio 5
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP German, AP Lit, AP Calc, AP Gov, AP Econ, Physics
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate (too much to talk about here), Speech, Model UN are the big ones
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Tutored a girl in English for 4 years, work with local organizations for advocacy (500 hours)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Summer Debate Institutes for 3 years
[</em>] Essays: Wrote about how important my sibling is to me for Common App. For Why Duke–wrote about the Public Policy school
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation:Pretty good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Very good
[<em>] Additional Rec: None
[</em>] Interview:Went incredibly well–my interviewer and I just clicked.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Public Policy
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MN
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public (not elite in the slightest)
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: –
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy, lived in foreign country for a long time
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: ACT, Volunteer Work, Activities
[<em>] Weaknesses: Uniformity in terms of extracurriculars
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I worked incredibly hard on my essays, and I know what I am passionate in. Legacy probably helped a little.
[/ul]General Comments:
To everyone who was deferred/rejected: You will get into an AMAZING school–it was incredibly hard to get into Duke ED this year because of the massive increase in applications. DO NOT take it personally.
To everyone who was accepted: Can’t wait to see you on campus! DUKE 2014!!!</p>
<p>“What is meant to happen will happen”? So legacies and athletes are meant to get preferential treatment? What about all the other fallacies of the college system?
In my case that’s probably true cuz I have always wanted Boston Uni before I discovered Duke and can really see myself more in that city, but what about all the people who don’t have such powerful convictions on their second choices? What about all those who honestly get screwed out of their dreams? That 2400 on the SAT doesn’t MEAN anything in the real world once you’re in.
I have it relatively easy, a second choice I’ll love and most likely get tons of scholarship money at, but can you really tell all those others that they were “meant” to work their hardest and lose their one dream college?</p>
<p>The only thing I remember from that video that could help (I saw it live as it streamed a while ago) explain is that my ECs didn’t have enough impact. I didn’t save enough starving children or become the leader of enough clubs or what?</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (770 M, 780 W, 790 CR)
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 (Math 2), 750 (APUSH), 720 (Bio 2 - M…really bad since I’m applying as Premed D: )
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Unsure, about 3.7, 4.58 weighted
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 60/740
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): WHist (4), APUSH (5), Bio (5), English Lang (5), Physics (3), Comp Sci 1 (3)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Gov, AP Micro + Macro, AP Lit, AP Stats, Debate
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Regional Finalist, NHS, PSAT Semifinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Really nothing special, debate, a few clubs, no leadership
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Research internship at hospital, research internship at pharmaceutical research firm
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at hospital, library, resale shop, about 200 hours total
[<em>] Summer Activities: Took various credit courses (I didn’t take Geometry or IPC in middle school, which I really regret), various enrichment courses
[</em>] Essays: Decently good, I think
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Pretty good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Not so good (large school, I barely know my counselor)
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[</em>] Interview: I think I didn’t do too well on it…probably had 0 impact, I don’t think it detracted
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Biology
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): TX
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: The highest one they let you check
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m trying to raise money for earthquake victims in Sichuan, it was partly in my essay
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Siemens Competition and internships
[</em>] Weaknesses: Bad grades (wasn’t even top 10 contending until Junior year), weak extra curriculars at school
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have no idea how they viewed me really, but probably because of my weaknesses I listed[/li][/ul]General Comments: Eff…I wanted to get in :(</p>
<p>Guess not Moxess. I’m confident what separated me from the crowd was me putting on a comedy benefit and raising $5000 for a friend who had a stroke and for making a week at school dedicated to making handicapped kids feel good. 'Cuz I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my SAT scores that got me in haha</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2250 (CR-730, M-720, W-800)
[</em>] ACT: 34 Composite
[<em>] SAT II: Math IIC-790, Chemistry-780
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2 of 510
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (5), World History (4)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, Honors Econ/AP Gov, Human Physiology and Anatomy Honors
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Panacea Community Service 9-12 (Secretary and Service Director), Spanish Honor Society (Vice President-11, President-12), Science Bowl Club 10-12 (Secretary), Varsity Lacrosse 11-12 (Academic All American, All State Honorable Mention, Most Improved Player)
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: 250+ hours from various clubs
[<em>] Summer Activities: Research job one summer, Outward Bound another.
[</em>] Essays: Why Duke?-showed how Ive grown up with Duke since I was very little. Common App-creative about my height
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: scale of 1 to 10-7 or 8
[</em>] Counselor Rec: scale of 1 to 10-6 maybe
[<em>] Interview: went really well
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[<em>] Intended Major: chemistry
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): Arizona
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: GPA, course rigor, legacy, passion for Duke, ACT score
[<em>] Weaknesses: maybe rec letters and ECs
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: GPA, passion for Duke, and legacy doesnt hurt
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: didnt apply anywhere else[/li][/ul]General Comments: literally the happiest day of my life!!!</p>
<p>yeah, rk33 that sounds really outgoing. there are a lot more things riding on admissions than numbers, but that’s what makes colleges like duke so great - you dont get a bunch of antisocial bookworms (i dont mean to put em down, cuz we need all types), you get balanced and involved people that make a much greater impact on the community… i cant say that i fall into that category, but im working towards it</p>
<p>it’s tight to think that if I get into Duke, there’ll be a lot of ppl like you</p>
<p>for all of you who got rejected or deffered im really sorry, but u shouldn’t doubt ur scores and other credentials like guttentag said half of the kids they turn away are more than qualified. but to make a point my SAT is 1930 and i got accepted. although i applied with a portfolio plus im from the Bahamas and i have an IB diploma…so thats probably why i got in.
to everyone else, see you next year! :)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] ACT: 34
[</em>] SAT II: Chem 770, Math II 750, US Hist 760
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP Calc AB, AP Gov’t, AP Art Studio, Adv. Japanese 12, Film Studies, English
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 5 honor societies (co-pres of some), non-varsity sports
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: none
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: lots of tutoring
[</em>] Summer Activities: travel
[<em>] Essays: great
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: didn’t read but probably excellent
[<em>] Counselor Rec: didn’t read but probably excellent
[</em>] Additional Rec: none
[<em>] Interview: great
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[<em>] Intended Major: Chem
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[<em>] Gender: female
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: all A’s, loves school, creative
[</em>] Weaknesses: not nationally ranked in something
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: expected to be deferred. So happy![/li][/ul]General Comments: My older kids applied to colleges early and got deferred and we were expecting the same this time around. For them, they each ended up at a school they absolutely loved!! For those who were not accepted, I wish the same for you…</p>
cuz I have always wanted Boston Uni before I discovered Duke and can really see myself more in that city, but what about all the people who don’t have such powerful convictions on their second choices? What about all those who honestly get screwed out of their dreams? That 2400 on the SAT doesn’t MEAN anything in the real world once you’re in.