***Official Duke Class of 2018 RD Results Only***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Tomorrow is the D-day! Duke Regular Decision Class of 2018 are coming out! Please fill out your decisions as formatted below. Good luck:)</p>

<p>Here's what the template should look like after you fill in your stats:</p>

<p>[ size=+2] Decision: Accepted [/size]
[ size=+2] Decision: Waitlisted [/size]
[ size=+2] Decision: Rejected [/size]</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT:
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendation:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments:</p>

<hr>

<p>and the template:</p>

<p>[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted*[/color][/size]
[ size=+2][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Waitlisted[/color][/size]
[ size=+2][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected*[/color][/size]</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[ ] SAT I (breakdown):
[ *] ACT:
[ *] SAT II:
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load:
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/list][ b]Subjective:*
[ list]
[ ] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
[ *] Summer Activities:
[ *] Essays:
[ *] Teacher Recommendation:
[ *] Counselor Rec:
[ *] Additional Rec:
[ *] Interview:[/list][ b]Other*
[ list]
[ ] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type:
[ *] Ethnicity:
[ *] Gender:
[ *]Income Bracket:
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/list][ b]Reflection*
[ list]
[ ] Strengths:
[ *] Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/list][ b]General Comments:*</p>

2

<p>Guys when you paste the formatting. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE SPACES.</p>

3

<p>Just a note, since the CC site upgrade, relative size doesn’t work.
[ size=+2] test [/size]
test
[ size=5] test [/size]
test </p>

<p>Default is size=3, so size=5 is what the template should be, IMnsHO. </p>

4

<p>Decision: ACCEPTED</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 2310
[ *] ACT: 34
[ *] SAT II: 800 (Math 2); 800 (US History); 790 (Spanish)
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.7 (W); 3.97 (UW)
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5/400
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 5s and 1 4
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calc, APUSH, AP Gov, AP Stats, English 4, International Politics, Independent Study in Spanish
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, AP scholar thingy, top 10 in nation in quiz bowl, top 20 in nation in National History Bee, other state/national quiz bowl awards, top 20 in nation in national spanish contest </p>

<p>[ b]Subjective:**
[ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):</p>

<p>Quiz Bowl (9,10,11,12) — See Major Awards; coached little sister’s middle school team and led them to playoffs at national championships
Cricket (9,10,11,12) — less popular sport in America. I play on my region’s “select” team (we’ve won 1st and 2nd in a few tournaments), co-founded a club at my school, and last year I was a weekend coach for the U12 group at my former club.
Town’s Youth Advisory Board (9,10,11,12) — Vice-President in grade 11, President in grade 12.
ASB (9,10,11,12) — Frosh Rep, Soph Class President, Junior Rep, Treasurer right now
Literary Magazine (10, 11, 12) Editor</p>

<p>[ *] Job/Work Experience: aquatics instructor one summer
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: see extracurriculars
[ *] Summer Activities: volunteered at a camp, took a Global Studies course, history research at local university, went to leadership camp with town’s youth advisory board
[ *] Essays: impossible to rate my own essays. i thought it was good, but then again everyone thinks that about his/her own essays
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: okay, so i was expecting the spanish one to be “best student in career” since she literally said that junior year (i was the only person in the history of the school to accelerate levels and take AP lit as a junior) but she had never written a rec before and when i saw it it was generic as hell. the other one i honestly i have no idea about, but i did exceptionally well in the class
[ *] Counselor Rec: known her for four years - she’s my ASB advisor and probably had an in depth rec letter with good things to say about me
[ *] Additional Rec: youth advisory board advisor, probably good
[ *] Interview: went pretty well, described my experiences founding a quiz bowl team at my sister’s school and the challenges that went along with that</p>

<p>[/list][ b]Other**
[ list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[ *] Country (if international applicant): USA
[ *] School Type: large, competitive public
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *]Income Bracket: 180K combined
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): lol</p>

<p>[/list][ b]Reflection**
[ list]
[ *] Strengths: quiz bowl accomplishments, grades/scores although they don’t matter after a certain point
[ *] Weaknesses: Asian, not unique enough i guess
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: showed my passion for Spanish despite not having too many opportunities to pursue it and i’m pretty good at quiz bowl
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/list] Accepted to Rutgers, USC (1/2 scholarship), UVA, Columbia
Waitlisted at Penn/Wharton and Brown
Rejected from Harvard, Yale, Yale-NUS, and Princeton
Still waiting on Stanford and Georgetown</p>

<p>[ b]General Comments:** I was losing hope after I got my first few letters today, which were all waitlists and rejections, but my spirits were uplifted after I saw my Duke acceptance 2 hours later. Can’t wait to be in Durham in August!</p>

5

<p> Decision: Accepted </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2250 single-sitting (760/740/750)
SAT II: USH 760, Math II (770)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH 5, English Lang 5, Calc AB 4
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Stats, AP US Gov, AP Micro, AP Macro, Internship
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tons of music-related ECs (played on 4 albums, 2 in iTunes Christian top 20)
Job/Work Experience: Musician
Volunteer/Community service: Founder/teacher of a free music school for underprivileged, camp counselor, church activities, organizer of annual young adult event attended by 500+
Summer Activities: Intern at local college music dept., administrative assistant
Essays: 8/10 Common App essay, 10/10 Duke supplements
Teacher Recommendation: Very good, from English teacher, Social Studies teacher, counselor all of whom I am close with
Additional Rec: from close family friend Duke alum, published author
Interview: Very good. 1 hour+ of casual conversation with a very friendly interviewer
Other
State (if domestic applicant): SC
School Type: private, parochial
Ethnicity: Asian (didn’t list on application; left the ethnicity part blank)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): absolutely none
Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, GPA, recommendations
Weaknesses: few of my ECs had to do with my declared major</p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
-Waitlisted: UChicago, Rice, Davidson, UVA
-Rejected: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth
General Comments:</p>

<p>I was a deferred Early Decision applicant. My chances statistically were very slim but I made sure to accomplish even more than I had previously, and maintained communication with my admissions officer throughout the whole process. If you get deferred don’t lose hope! It’ll work out if you work hard!</p>

6

<p>Accepted! :)</p>

7

<p>[size=4]Decision:WAITLISTED[/size=4]</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (750 CR, 770M, 770W</p>

<p>SAT II (place score in parentheses): 790 USH, 770 Spanish, 750 Math II</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.69</p>

<p>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/425</p>

<p>AP (place score in parentheses): Psychology, Spanish, Stats (5); APUSH, Art History, Microecon (4)</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load: AP Euro, AP Lit, APES, AP Physics B, 4 Dual Enrollment Classes</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Club Swim Team (3hrs/day), Varsity Swim Team (Co-Captain), Designed Website for an Orphanage in Colombia in which I help with fund-raising and activity coordinating, National Spanish Honor Society (Secretary)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:Two basic jobs that only require an average of an hour or two per week. Lifeguard Certified. Looking to get a job in that field</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community Service: Swim Meet Volunteer and the whole orphanage in Colombia thing</p>

<p>Summer Activities: None really</p>

<p>Essays: Common App - GREAT. Supplements - ok. I wrote in the Best Advice I’ve ever received: “Never use a public toilet without checking for toilet paper first”</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: Both above average to good</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Generic probably</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): FL</p>

<p>School Type: Public</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Hispanic</p>

<p>Gender: Male</p>

<p>Income Bracket: $80000-90000</p>

<p>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Test Scores, URM, Common App Essay, Varsity Sports Captain, work with orphanage
Weaknesses: GPA, no research or incredible ECs.</p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I was a solid applicant. Good test scores, good EC’s. Great essay. Good recs. Just a low GPA. Far too many B’s. I got in because I had a good application and a URM.</p>

<p>Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: Rice, Northwestern, Cornell, WUSTL, Emory. Rejected Yale, Brown. Waitlisted Duke. Waiting on Georgetown.</p>

<p>General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I thought I was dead because of my 3.69 GPA but its not impossible. I’ve gotten accepted to a whole bunch of good colleges with it (granted, I am a URM). Still, a low GPA isnt the end of the fight if you have everything else going for you. I don’t think I’m gonna take a spot on the Waitlist. Duke is a great school. Congrats to all that were accepted. You truly deserved it. For now, RICE CLASS OF 2018. </p>

8

<p>[size=4]Decision: WAITLISTED[/size=4]</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (760 CR 760 M 800 W 12 essay)</p>

<p>ACT: never took</p>

<p>SAT II: 800 math II 780 Biology M 770 US History</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0</p>

<p>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/432</p>

<p>AP (place score in parenthesis):
Biology (5)
Calc. AB (5)
Lang. (4)
US History (4)
Psych. (5)</p>

<p>IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load:
Calc. BC
Physics C
Chem.
Stat.</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
*Swim Team (captain)
*Tennis Team (2nd singles)
*Boy Scouts (very near Eagle)
*math league (county champion)
*NHS
*Tri-M (VP)/ SNHS/ World language/
*Marching Band (we are known nationally - have marched in the Rose Bowl Parade/ Pres. Inaugural Parade/ many others) (lead mellophone)
*Woodwind Choir (1st Oboe)
*Jazz Band (lead Trumpet)
*play bassoon, french horn, and cello in my spare time</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
*full time at my local DQ during the summer/ part-time most of the school year</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: Lots through Boy Scouts and at local library</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Lots of work, went to Nat.l Boy Scout Jamboree, passion of modular origami</p>

<p>Essays: I thought they were pretty good. At least 8-9/10</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: Got to read one and it was really good, I’m sure the others were pretty good as well</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Probably pretty generic, but still good.</p>

<p>Additional Rec: n/a</p>

<p>Interview: Went well. Not the best, not the worst.</p>

<p>Other:
State (if domestic applicant):</p>

<p>Country (if international applicant): NJ</p>

<p>School Type: Large public that sends a couple to Ivies/ top schools every year (though no one got into any elite RD school this year…)</p>

<p>Race(s) (White, AA, AI/AN, Asian, NH/PI): White </p>

<p>Hispanic (Y/N): N</p>

<p>Gender: M</p>

<p>Income Bracket: 75k</p>

<p>Hooks: none</p>

<p>Reflection:
Strengths: Test scores/ decent ECs as per the opportunities available</p>

<p>Weaknesses: </p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/denied: see above</p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/denied:
A: Rutgers (full scholarship)
WL: Penn, Cornell, Brown, Duke
R: HYP</p>

<p>General Comments:</p>

9

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:

[list]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (730CR 760M 780W)
[</em>] ACT: 33
[<em>] SAT II: 740 Biology 760 US History 800 Math II
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 (UW) 4.84 (W)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/600
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History(4) US Gov(4) Biology(4) Chinese(4) Calc AB(5) English Lang(5) World History(5) Psychology(5)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Calc BC, AP Euro History, AP English Lit, Engineering, Art, Anatomy, Physics
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None</p>

<p>Subjective:

[list]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): National Chinese Honor Society (President) National English Honor Society (Co-Founder/VP) National Social Studies Honor Society (Co-Founder/VP) National Science Honor Society (Advisory Board) National Art Honor Society National Honor Society, Violin Solo and Ensemble Silver Medalist
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Founded and manage a tutoring company focusing on international high school and college students; founded and manage a business that creates origami sculptures for sale to the general public with all profits going to charity
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer tutor for immigrant high school students
[</em>] Summer Activities: Taught at poverty-stricken village in rural China for two summers, worked with community college students in their summer semesters
[<em>] Essays: Talked about my illiterate grandfather and how we learned to write together (CA); Talked about my passions for science and Chinese language and culture (S)
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Good/Great? (I wrote a small part of both)
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Fantastic (her words, not mine)
[</em>] Additional Rec: Peer-Glowing
[li] Interview: Didn’t receive one</p>[/li]
<p>Other
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): East Coast
[</em>] School Type: Public, crazy competitive, one of the best in the state
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>]Income Bracket: <150,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): technically first generation? famous ancestor</p>

<p>Reflection
[<em>] Strengths: Essays; GPA/rank; Extracurriculars; hook (if you can call it that)
[</em>] Weaknesses: Ethnicity
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays, Passionate about Extracurriculars; Work Experience
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Dartmouth (Accepted) Too many rejections to count</p>

<p>General Comments:
Congrats to everyone who got accepted! To those who were waitlisted, I wish you the very best of luck.<br>
To those who were rejected, it’s not the end of the world. My school is a feeder for Cornell and I was flat out rejected. It just means that there you are meant for greater things. </p>

10

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:

  • [<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (800/800/730(8))
    [</em>] ACT: N/A
    [<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 770 Biology E
    [</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
    [<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
    [</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC, Chemistry, both AP Physics C, World, Stat (self), Bio (self), and Enviro (self) all 5s. 4 in Lang.
    [<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP Micro, AP English Lit, Spanish IV, Band, Government, African American Studies, Creative Cooking!
    [</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2013 USAMO qualifier, 2013 NACLO Semifinalist, coauthor on research publication.

Subjective:

  • [<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Swimming (4 years, senior captain, 3-time state qualifier), Water polo (2 years varsity, senior captain, 5th place in state), Math Club (4 years, senior president), Quizbowl (4 years, B-team president, high placings at Nationals), Mu Alpha Theta,
    [</em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard for 1.5 years.
    [<em>] Volunteer/Community service: 4 years of volunteering at local Chinese School. Distinguished service member, and received President’s Volunteer Service Award Silver Level.
    [</em>] Summer Activities: Science Center volunteering (FR), summer research at Washington University (JR/SR), partying (SR)
    [<em>] Essays: Common App was creative and showed voice. Supplements were somewhat filler, tbh, from my early apps (Stanford/UIUC). I guess they were still good!
    [</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Darn good (I imagine, didn’t read). Physics teacher I’ve had two years (SO/JR), same with Social Studies (FR/SR) and I often talk with them.
    [<em>] Counselor Rec: Darn good (I imagine, didn’t read). The counselor has seen and talked with me many times before.
    [</em>] Additional Rec: From my professor who was the PI in the research lab.
    [<em>] Interview: Most schools contacted me, and I just took them as they came. Didn’t really prepare, but people say I have an amiable personality, and I made sure to address my interests clearly.
    [</em>] Intended Major: Chemical engineering, nanoscience

Other

  • [<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Missouri, USA
    [</em>] School Type: Public, middle sized, suburban. Generally send 1-2 to each of the top schools every year.
    [<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
    [</em>] Gender: Male
    [<em>] Income Bracket: 75,000 - 100,000
    [</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

  • [<em>] Strengths: Commitment, breadth, and depth of extracurricular activities. I assume this translated into strong essays. Personality helped me throughout high school, and had an impact on rec letters, and maybe interview?
    [</em>] Weaknesses: Overall, I guess my “well-rounded” features weren’t spread so thinly to reveal any major weaknesses.
    [<em>] Why you think you were accepted: Demonstrated interest in subject field, well-rounded
    [</em>] Where else were you accepted: UIUC, MIT, Stanford, WashU, Yale
    [<em>] Where else were you waitlisted: Harvard
    [</em>] Where else were you rejected: N/A

General Comments: [time for a cliche comment, but true to me nonetheless] I was very fortunate compared to some of my other classmates, and got in pretty much everywhere. Honestly, I did not expect this to happen, and I was ecstatic that I did. During high school I never really focused on “doing things to get into college;” simply “do things you love, and do it well, so you will have fun and success will naturally lead to college.” My leaving comment to the other high schoolers is “Follow you dreams, and don’t let anybody tell you ‘no.’ You really do miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:

[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2250, (780 M, 760 CR, 710 W)
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II: 790 MII, 780 Lit
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): now 3.93, was 3.85 when I applied
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): HL Econ, Lit, and Math, SL Bio, Spanish, Psych
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Same as above
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]Subjective:
congressional awards, debate/acting awards, some school awards, Yale book prize, not much else.

[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):[/li]Debate Team (Captain)
Thespians
Model United Nations (Executive team)
2 varsity sports
[</em>] Job/Work Experience:
Interned at a finance firm here in Shanghai over the summer
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service:
Volunteer at a local animal shelter and orphanage
[</em>] Summer Activities:
Internship, Army Summer Seminar, Service Trips
[<em>] Essays:
honestly? 6-7/10, which is why the decision was so unexpected. My counselor didn’t really like them and my “Why Duke?” essay wasn’t particularly specific.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation:
I think these were pretty good, I have really close relationships with both teachers.
[<em>] Counselor Rec:
I think it was probably good. My counselor knows me pretty well, and he really wanted me to apply/attend Duke, so maybe that subconsciously came through?<br>
[</em>] Additional Rec:
Sent one in last minute from the teacher sponsor for Model UN at my school. Everyone that he’s written for has gotten in to their top choice, so he must be doing something right!
[<em>] Interview: It went well, but was a bit weird. My interviewer attended Duke Law about 20 years ago, didn’t speak English very well, and first contacted me literally 3 and a half hours before the interview.
[/ul]Other

[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): WA, but I live in Shanghai
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type:private international school, IB
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>]Income Bracket: didn’t apply for FA
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none [/ul]Reflection

[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: interview, extracurriculars (didn’t list the more specific ones for the sake of anonymity), reccs
[</em>] Weaknesses: My grades weren’t the strongest, and like I mentioned, my essays were not the best.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly, I think it must have been the interview or the extra letter of recc, because those were the only parts of my application unique to Duke. Other than that, I am honestly shocked and so happy and excited. Because of the time difference, I woke up early to check, and had to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming!
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Rejected: Claremont McKenna, Stanford
Waitlisted: Rice, UC Berkeley
Accepted: UW, UA, Whitman, USNA, UC San Diego.
[/ul]**General Comments: After getting rejected or waitlisted by all of my reach schools, Duke was a surprise. Just goes to show that you never know what different colleges are looking for in applicants. Good luck to those who were waitlisted, and all future applicants! </p>

<p>**</p>

12

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:

[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2190 (750M, 730CR, 710W)
[</em>] ACT: –
[<em>] SAT II: 730 USH, 680 M2
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0UW, 4.34W
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/55
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5), English Lang. (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Psyc, Honors English 12, AP U.S Gov’t, AP Calc AB, Forensics, Band
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]Subjective:

[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Band (Drum Major), Red Cross Club (Founder/President), Senior Class President, Student Senate, Orchestra, Scholar’s Bowl, Student Council
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Red Cross, Hospital, Food Bank, CASA, Habitat, etc.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Took courses, volunteered, shadowed
[</em>] Essays: Personal struggle (growing up gay in AL/bible belt), 8/10
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Both were excellent 9/10
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Although I did not read, we know each other so well. We have 4+ years of history. 9/10
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[</em>] Interview: Went extremely well; we had a lot in common, and my interviewer was so nice. 9/10 [/ul]Other

[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): AL
[</em>] School Type: Small, rural, non-competitive
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>]Income Bracket: $100k-$120k
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college student[/ul]Reflection

[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Coming from a small school and making the best of what I had.
[</em>] Weaknesses: Test scores were not amazing
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My school only offers one AP course, but I will have taken five. I showed initiative and dedication; First generation college student helped too, I’m sure. I believe the interview helped a little as well.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UPenn (waitlisted), Vandy (not sure yet)[/ul]General Comments: I am beyond excited (and quite shocked) to have been accepted. It is a true honor. I hope I will be able to afford it, haha. My advice would be to be genuine, vehemently pursue your passion(s), and show them who you really are.</p>

13

<p>[ size=+2][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected**[/color][/size]</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t send
[ *] ACT: 35
[ *] SAT II:
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/345
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): Gov’t (5), Calc AB (5), Stats (5), Physics B (4)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): Psych SL (5)
[ ] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, IB English HLB, IB History HLB, Basic Programming (only one that would fit my schedule), Web Design/Photoshop, IB Film SL
[ ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None really important, AP Scholar w/ Honor, John Stossel “No They Can’t” Essay Contest Semi-Finalist, Academic Award(??), NSHSS, umm there’s probably more but I’ve forgotten by now…
[/list][ b]Subjective:
[ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Beta Club, NHS, Human Rights Society (kinda a leader, the club hasn’t exactly taken off yet), TONS of church stuff (dance team leader, piano in youth band, acting in skits)
[ *] Job/Work Experience: I’ve babysat…
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Again, lots of church activites
[ *] Summer Activities: church, beach trippin’
[ *] Essays: See, I have this weird confidence issue where I hate people reading what I write, so I didn’t get anyone to edit mine.
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: They were both good. My teachers tend to like me.
[ *] Counselor Rec: Good(?)
[ ] Additional Rec: N/A
[ ] Interview: I’m terrible at speaking. Period.
[/list][ b]Other
[ list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): VA
[ *] Country (if international applicant): US
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender: Female
[ ]Income Bracket: like $70-80,000
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My grandpa got his Master’s at Duke
[/list][ b]Reflection
[ list]
[ *] Strengths: ACT(?)
[ *] Weaknesses: everything else.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Well, I was deferred and I bet if i had sent some follow up info I would have had a better chance of being accepted so LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES KIDDOS.
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UVA, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, VCU
[/list][ b]General Comments: Oh well. At least now I only have 4 choices instead of 5! ** </p>

14

<p>[ size=+2][ color=red][ b]
Decision: Rejected
**[/color][/size]</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2030 (800CR, 580 Math, 650W)
ACT:didn’t send
SAT II: 760 Lit, 620 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School Dux (rank 1)
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): Full Diploma. 35
Senior Year Course Load: 6 IB Subjects, TOK, CAS
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):N/A</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Dance (National champion and world champion bid winner), volunteer/fundraising (UNICEF Youth Advocate, CHurch Youth Group volunteer work), French Club (President), French Exchange, Lots of Theatre, School Council (Founder), Gymnastics, Gymnastics Coach, Yearbook editor, lit mag editor + some more stuff
Job/Work Experience: Gymnastics Coach, Goodwill volunteer
Volunteer/Community service: above
Summer Activities: Dance Camp
Essays: Great I think
Teacher Recommendation: Should both have been great, I know the teachers very well and did well in their classes, always contribute to class discussions etc (History and literature teachers)
Counselor Rec: Have known her since I was 4, should have been wonderful I think
Additional Rec:
Interview: N/A
Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Australia (US citizen)
School Type: Independent
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~80k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Essays, school course load, recs, class rank, ECs and Critical reading and lit SATII
Weaknesses: Overall SAT score and chem SAT, math IB score and math grades in Years 11 and 12, lack of big awards</p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Could have had higher stats</p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected at Yale, Davidson, Barnard. Waitlisted at Occidental and Brown, Accepted to Scripps, Emory, Fordham, George Washington, Georgetown </p>

<p>General Comments: I was upset yesterday, but Georgetown is my first choice and I got in today so very happy. GO HOYAS. Those accepted, have fun at Duke! I think it pays to apply to a fair few top schools as you never know how it will turn out. Acceptances and rejections are so unpredictable- waitlisted at Oxy and accepted at Georgetown! </p>

15

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (730CR 770M 730 W)
ACT: 35
SAT II: Chemistry 720 Biology E 750 US History 780 Math II 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): ~10-15/500
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Language (5), European History (5), Human Geography (5), Statistics (5), Biology (5), Psychology (4), Environmental Science (4), Chemistry (4), US History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics B, AP English Literature, AP US Government/ AP Macroeconomics, AP Comp Sci, Music History, AP Calculus BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nationals in Public Forum Debate, NFL All-State Top 10 (TN) - Outstanding Distinction, National Merit Finalist, National AP Scholar
Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate Team (JV Captain (11), Varsity Captain (12)), Model United Nations (ICJ Justice (11), President of the International Court of Justice (12)), Youth in Government (Supreme Court Justice), Ultimate Frisbee, 12 years of guitar, 4 years of self-taught piano
Job/Work Experience: 7 week internship at a law firm
Volunteer/Community service: 100+ hours as a public library volunteer Freshman and Sophomore year
Summer Activities: Tennessee Governor’s School for International Studies at the University of Memphis, Boys State, American Legion Boys Nation
Essays: Not great
Teacher Recommendation: Physics teach (10/10) and Gov teach (10/10)
Counselor Rec:Gifted counselor (11/10)
Additional Rec:
Interview:</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): TN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large pretty competitive public
Race(s) (White, AA, AI/AN, Asian, NH/PI): Asian (indian)
Hispanic (Y/N): Nope
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Essays, Recs, ECs
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Marquette, Tennessee, Virginia, Michigan, Vanderbilt (CV Scholar & College Scholar), Stanford
Waitlisted: UChicago, Dartmouth, WashU, Harvard
Rejected: Northwestern, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, Yale, Princeton, Duke</p>

<p>General Comments: Just can’t believe it. Stanford was my best app, but man I never expected to get into my top school and not get into so many others.</p>

16

<p>[size=5][color=red]Decision: Rejected[/size=5][/color=red]</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (800M 760R 730W)
ACT: 35
SAT II: 800 Math, 670 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 40/350 (Insanely competitive school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): B/C Calc (5), Spanish (4),
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Chem, AP History, Hon English, Networking
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Ultimate Frisbee, Tech service club (President), Gaming club
Job/Work Experience: Intern at networking company in summer
Volunteer/Community service: Tech service club
Summer Activities: Ultimate Frisbee league, working one summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Unknown
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview: NONE, interviewer didn’t respond to appt request</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large public, national recognition
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $400K plus
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Double Legacy</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Scores, Grades
Weaknesses: No standout extracurriculars, essays could be better, not enough APs Junior year and before
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Little demonstrated interest, No visit until after decisions had been made, No interview- interviewer blew me off.<br>
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted NC State, UNC, Tufts. Rejected: Princeton, Yale, Duke, WUSTL. Waitlist: Vanderbilt </p>

17

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:

[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[</em>] ACT: 35 (35 E, 36 M, 33 R, 36 S)
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Music Theory (5), APUSH (5), AP Micro (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats (4), AP Lang (4), AP CS (5), AP Comp Gov (5), AP Chem (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): none
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Lit, AP Bio, Spanish 5, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Macro, Psychology
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar (if that can be considered a “major” award)
[/ul]Subjective:

[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years on the boys’ high school swim and dive team, senior year NHS
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Kumon over the last summer, recreational soccer referee since freshman year
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at local library since sophomore year
[<em>] Summer Activities: Swimming and programming
[</em>] Essays: decent, but could be better (especially after reading my “Why Duke” essay)
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: I knew one of my recommending teachers since sophomore year and met the other at the end of junior year. Haven’t seen the rec letters.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Haven’t seen the counselor rec
[<em>] Additional Rec: none
[</em>] Interview: Decent. The interviewer was a poli sci major, so I felt like we couldn’t connect on a lot of things.
[/ul]Other

[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MN
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public school that graduates ~800 per year
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>]Income Bracket: ~200K
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
[/ul]Reflection

[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Objective stats
[<em>] Weaknesses: No leadership positions, typical Asian applicant, mediocre “Why Duke” essay
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Not impressive enough.
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to U Minnesota, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, UCLA, USC; Waitlisted at CMU (SCS); Rejected from Harvard, MIT (deferred EA), Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, UChicago (deferred EA), UPenn[/li][/ul]
General Comments: College admissions does NOT favor the late-bloomers. (I might write up a thread about this.) I was a freakin’ introvert freshman and sophomore years and neglected to try new things. The result? The best I could be was a boring applicant with great test scores. I wish I could travel back in time and tell myself to snap out of my introverted shell and do stuff like get elected to the student council or join speech and debate, but now I only have the future to look forward to. Duke is a mediocre school for CS anyways… </p>

18

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] College/Major Applied To: Trinity
[</em>] SAT I (by section): 2270 (700 CR, 780 M, 790 W)
[<em>] SAT IIs: Math II (750) USH (700)
[</em>] GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: 3.9 UW/4.4 W
[<em>] Rank: 13/262
[</em>] ACT: Nope
[<em>] APs (including this year’s): English Lang (5), USH (5), Calc BC (5), Physics C: Mech (3), English Lit, US Gov, Statistics, French, Environmental
[</em>] IBs (including this year’s:
[<em>] Senior Yr Courseload: Economics, AP English Lit, AP US Government, AP Statistics, AP French, AP Environmental, Sales and Marketing 3 (Student Store Mgmt)
[</em>] Other Stats (Awards, etc.): </p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] ECs listed on app:
DECA (Chapter President, Regional VP, 3x State Qualifier, 2x State Finalist, 2x National Qualifier)
Library Administration IT Services Volunteer (managed purchases and invoices for entire system for 1 year, research work to improve Outreach service)
Microsoft Intern (see job/work exp)
Destiny Merchandising Intern (see job/work exp)
Eastside Baby Corner Volunteer
Mts To Sound Greenway Volunteer
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Microsoft Intern (1 year, 15 hr/week, manage corporate benefits/statistical analysis/competitive analysis)
DM Intern (sales and marketing efforts for company)
[li] Essays (subject and responses): 9.5/10 Spent nearly 7 months on my Common App essay</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Washington
[</em>] School Type: Medium public, rarely sends to top tier or second tier universities
[<em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: 115k
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope
[<em>] Strengths: Extracurriculars, essays
[</em>] Weaknesses: Subject test scores?
[li] Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: Just ain’t good enough I guess</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments I guess I shouldn’t surprised since it’s Duke. Nevertheless when you get 6 waitlists/rejects in one day when you expected at least 1-2 to go well after spending forever on essays and coherent ECs, it’s really hard. I’m still recovering since I really was aiming for an east coast top tier school, but I guess I’ll recover, hope for G’Town, and if not kill it at UCLA! To future applicants, focus as MUCH as possible on your objective stats because nothing makes or breaks your odds faster. I didn’t do as well on my SAT and Subject Tests and that’s probably why I was an auto reject. Just to see how arbitrary the admission process is, here are my results (note WUSTL admit, NYU waitlist, Berkeley reject):</p>

<p>Accepted – University of Minnesota, University of Washington, WUSTL, UCLA
Waitlisted – UChicago, NYU, Dartmouth
Rejected – Harvard, Columbia, Duke, Berkeley
Waiting on – Georgetown (probably another waitlist/rejection since I applied MSB)</p>

19

<p>[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 2280 CR 800 M 760 W 720
[ *] ACT: Didn’t give.
[ *] SAT II: Chem 780 Math II 790
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Don’t have GPA at my school but my transcripts were near perfect.
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Like top 2% I think.
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): ■■■?
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): ■■■?
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: A-level – Physics, Chemistry, Math, Further Math, English Literature.
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st is Math and Chemistry for two years at my school. First in an event at Pakistan’s biggest science Olympiad. 2nd in the All Pakistan Math Olympiad. [/list]</p>

<p>[ b]Subjective:**
[ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): English Literary Society (President - 2 years). LOTS of blogging and related stuff. Some dramatics. Managing team for a huge international Literature and Cultural event (Lahore Literary Fest). Science and Math olympiads.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: 4 summers of internship at a local printing press. Research assistant to my English Literature teacher.
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Very little but did participate in a big charity event and walk.
[ *] Summer Activities: Stated before.
[ *] Essays: I think they were pretty good but not the blow you away type.
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: My counselor told me that they were KILLER GOOD.
[ *] Counselor Rec: She told me that she had written a good one.
[ *] Additional Rec: Took a HUGE risk and sent in a peer recommendation by an American friend through blogging.
[ *] Interview: No interview. [/list]</p>

<p>Other
[ list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): None
[ *] Country (if international applicant): Pakistan
[ *] School Type: HIGHLY competitive Private school
[ *] Ethnicity: South Asian / Indian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *]Income Bracket: Approximately $25k (got a scholarship at Duke!)
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None. [/list]</p>

<p>[ b]Reflection**
[ list]
[ *] Strengths: Well written essays, great recs, unique extra curricular activities and no fear of risks.
[ *] Weaknesses: Huge lack of social work.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My extra curricular activities probably.
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at NYU Abu Dhabi and rejected/waitlisted at more places than I can count. [/list]</p>

<p>[ b]General Comments:**</p>

<p>Hard work pays off in strange ways!</p>

20

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
ACT: 35 (36 Reading, 36 English, 34 Science, 32 Math)
SAT I: 740 CR, 680 M, 640 W (6 essay) = 2060 (froze up on the essay and only wrote 2 paragraphs so that was pretty bad haha)
SAT II: 800 Biology E, 780 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank: 18/447
AP (score in parenthesis): Biology (5), World History (5), Calculus AB/BC (5), English Lang (5), US History (5), Psychology (5)</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load: Georgia Tech Calculus II, Georgia Tech Calculus III, AP Economics (micro & macro), AP Lit, Scientific Internship & Research, Advanced Band, Honors Gov.</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Best in Category and 1st Honors at the 2013 Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, research accepted for publication in the Harvard Journal of Emerging Investigators, National Latin Exam Summa Cum Laude Gold Medal, Honor Band, National Merit Semifinalist, National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar.</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching Band (Drum Captain, Center Snare), Varsity Tennis (Co-captain), Lab Research at Emory University’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, Magnet Advisory Board Member.</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Unpaid, but worked ~150 hours in a neurology research lab and ~240 hours in a cancer research lab at Emory.</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: Earned a Community Service Letter, service trips to Costa Rica and to the Pemon Indian tribes near the Venezuelan Amazon, Learning Links Tutor, ESOL Mentor, Leadership Club and Helping Hands Club volunteer.</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Accepted into the Winship Cancer Institute Summer Scholars Research Program at Emory University, went on service trips, UGA Latino Leadership Summer Program, National Student Leadership Conference, marching band camp.</p>

<p>Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9. I think my common app essay was very strong, and I think my supplements were very solid as well.</p>

<p>Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: (10) I was his top student and he said he wrote me a “glowing” rec.
Teacher Rec #2: (9) Also said she wrote me a great rec.
Counselor Rec: (9) I think it was pretty good my counselor knows me pretty well.
Additional Rec: (9) Got a rec from the doctor whose lab I worked in over the summer at Emory. I think it was a pretty good rec he was very impressed with my work and initiative.
Interview: Interview went very well, talked about my accomplishments, had a very fun discussion about Duke, I made her laugh so that didn’t hurt haha. </p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Magnet Public High School
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Academic accomplishments and extracurriculars.
Weaknesses: No big leadership roles. </p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I just had a pretty solid application overall with my scores, academics, extracurriculars, and awards.</p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted early to Stanford, got a Likely Letter from Yale in January and got my official acceptance a few weeks ago, also accepted to Harvard regular decision. Accepted to Georgia Tech and UGA Honors early as well.</p>