<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Trinity College of Arts and Sciences</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): N/A
[</em>] ACT: 33
[<em>] SAT II: N/A
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A (weighted GPA 4.331)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/373
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): U.S. History (5), Psychology (5), Human Geography (5), English Language & Composition (5), Calculus AB (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Government, AP Economics, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP European History, AP English Literature & Composition, Honors Physics, Honors Spanish 4, Concert Band, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble,
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Student, AP Scholar with Distinction</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Peer Mediation (president), National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Marching Band (section leader 2 years), Spanish Club
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard (summer only), table busser (school year)
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Health care clinic for those without insurance
[</em>] Summer Activities: Lifeguard, marching band
[<em>] Essays: Why Duke? - Extremely long two paragraphs, talked about DukeEngage, FOCUS Program, Writing 20, Curriculum 2000
Common App short answer - About how I visit a little boy at the elementary school through a school program every week after school and how I always brighten his day. The program is for children who are “at risk” in their home lives (his father is in jail).
Common App long answer - topic of your choice: language. I love language; I talked about how great leaders are the ones who not only know what to say, but also how to say it. Language = power.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Excellent. One from my AP Lang teacher - now a professor at Penn State - who gave me the award for English student of the year. One from my Spanish teacher who absolutely loves me 
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Probably good, my counselor seems to like me.
[</em>] Additional Rec: Family friend that knows me pretty well who got her Master’s at Duke. Excellent as well.
[li] Interview: Yes. Went really well, made him laugh a lot and he said that I asked good questions and would fit in well at Duke.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): N/A
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: 100,000+
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Rigor of my academic schedule - DO YOU SEE ALL THOSE AP CLASSES??? And definitely my essays (see below).
[</em>] Weaknesses: ACT could have been higher.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays were definitely the reason that I was accepted, in my opinion. I’m a natural-born writer, easily the best in my class, not to sound stuck up or anything. My essays, except for the short answer, were very light-hearted and humorous, because that’s just the person I am. They weren’t formal at all - in my Common App essay, I didn’t even use paragraphs, I was kind of just having a conversation. To put it this way: when I sent them off, I said to my mom they would either think I needed to be locked up in a mental institution OR that I needed to be admitted to Duke. Overall, I think they said a lot about who I am. I got my packet of information in the mail yesterday, and it had a handwritten note from my admissions officer (do they do that for all accepted students?) She said that she really enjoyed reading my “spirited” essays, and that I am a “language enthusiast” after her own heart.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]General Comments: I’m super-psyched to be accepted! I thought for sure I wouldn’t get in, especially after reading the stats for this year. I think that admission is not all about the grades or tests, as most people seem to believe. It’s more about what you’re going to bring to the school, showing them who you are as a person, and what you’re going to be able to do once you graduate. They want people who take the initiative and are enthusiastic about getting involved and making a difference. They want to be able to say, “he or she graduated from Duke,” with pride.</p>
<p>To all my other accepted students, I can’t wait to see you all in August! Go Blue Devils!</p>