Please chance me for duke & johns hopkins RD!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! Please chance me for duke & johns hopkins regular decision!

Intended Major : Pre Med studies
Race : African American
Gender: Female

Stats
GPA: 3.6 (UW) :grimacing:
4.2 (W)
15/258 rank (top 10%)
my GPA is definitely one of my weaknesses
all honors classes from 9-12 grade, excluding PE & electives

ā€¢going test optionalā€¢

APs:
not submitting any scores for any of my APā€™s, my grades at the time of applying are in the parentheses
AP Calculus (1st quarter: 90, 2nd quarter: 83)
AP English Languge & Composition (88)
AP Biology (90)
AP Literature (1st quarter: 97, 2nd quarter: 95)
AP Comp Science (100)
(i put 1st and 2nd quarter for ap calc & lit bc iā€™m currently taking them & duke required mid year report. the rest are final grades & have been taken in previous years)

ECā€™s:
ā€¢local stem summer internship (only 20 students in my whole state were selected) took place in 11th grade
ā€¢local stem research & mentorship program (again only 20 students in my state were selected) took place in 10th grade
ā€¢the name of this EC will reveal where i live so iā€™ll vaguely describe it; once again another 20 students in my state were selected & we participated in a 4 week extensive medical program with rigorous college level courses, many guest speakers attended and spoke about their career in medicine & were to present a project at the end to be judged (my group ended up receiving 2nd place, this took place summer before 12th grade)
ā€¢youth group (9-11 grade)
ā€¢co captain of dance club (afrobeats genre mainly) this took place in 10th grade
ā€¢national honor society member (10th grade- present)
ā€¢cheerleader (12th grade)
ā€¢another local program where the top 15 students in my grade at the time were selected and we were to attend weekly meetings at a local university where we discussed our future basically (college process, finances, that sort of thing) took place in 11th grade
ā€¢local hospital volunteer (52 hours, 10th grade)
ā€¢volunteer at this local medical firm thing (32 or 36 hours, i canā€™t remember) this took place in 10th grade also
(In my additional information section I included how i started a business the summer before my senior year in order to fund college, i have so far received over 100 orders, over $1k in profits, and over 5k on our instagram account)
ā€¢i submitted a resume for johns hopkins that also included: key club, drama club, student council, matheletes, & yearbook club

Awards(not many, my school doesnā€™t give the chance for students to earn many awards):
-2nd place for 4 week medical program
-High Honor Roll 9-12
-Scholarship recipient (local once again but to get this students had to score at the highest level on a test that all students in my state were required to take between 9th and 11th grade)

LOR:
As for my guidance counselor iā€™m not sure how good my recommendation will be but it seems like itā€™ll be pretty strong. The two teachers i asked are quite fond of me so I know those ones are good recommendations

Essays:
Common app essay: 8/10, pretty unique, talked about my hair (specifically the journey iā€™ve had with coming to love my natural hair texture & what that journey has taught me/how that journey has shaped me as a person )
Hopkins Supplement: 6/10, was pretty okay. talked about programs & clubs specific to the college & connected it to how it would benefit me & what i want to do as a career
Duke Supplement: 7/10, was one of my favorite ā€œwhy this collegeā€ essays but it wasnā€™t anything spectacular, also made sure to include programs local to duke to show iā€™ve done my research.

2

I would say - and iā€™m not an admissions counselor so it doesnā€™t matter - but that youā€™ve accomplished a lot and are very accomplished - but those schools would be a stretch beyond stretch for you. Nothing wrong with applying but I donā€™t see you getting in.

Iā€™m not sure youā€™d be a lock even for a UNC, Florida, Georgia type. Those would be stretch.

A target for you - Florida State, Pitt, Maryland - schools in that range.

Given you want to study science, you might look at Case Western and Rochester - they are strong schools and those are more realistic although not slam dunks. Iā€™d still say they are stretches for you.

If you are in the MD/NC area you might look look at a Furman, Elon, Drexel type.

Thereā€™s lots of great programs out there and you can get to medical school from anywhere.

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3

Seems like a stretch because those schools tend to weigh your unweighted GPA most heavily in your application, but certainly not impossible. You have some seriously solid ECs, and it sounds like your school provided you with exceptional opportunities to learn from professionals. It depends on who reviews your application I think.

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4

Duke takes very few people RD. It was the only school where my son was rejected 2 years ago (he applied RD as it was down on his list). He was valedictorian of a rigorous private school with 35 ACT, 1540 SAT both one sitting.

Like many private schools, Duke accepts the bulk of its students in early rounds.

Being African American will help as many schools actively recruit minority students thru various outreach programs - I assume these two do as well.

Good luck!

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5

My daughter was rejected from JHU a couple of years ago, 3.9UWGPA, 34 ACT, 9 APā€™s, good ECā€™s, 3 sport varsity athlete/captain, 8th out of 310.

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6

They are reaches, for sure. However, if you have a 3.6 UW and are in the top 7-8% in your class, that suggests to me that your school does not practice grade inflation and within the context of your school that GPA may be more impressive than it first appears. That said, a lot of students with near 4.0 GPA get denied at both and as @virginiabelle has mentioned, Duke takes a lot of its students ED.

You have a lot of accomplishments, I am sure you will land someplace good, even if not at these reaches. Good luck!

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7

S20 was fortunate to get in both Duke and JHU RD last year. Both gave excellent financial aid, particularly JHU. He didnā€™t have any hooks per se, but he wasnā€™t pre-med which probably helped with the JHU admission.

I do think JHU pre-med/biology track, even for a putatively hooked applicant, is a really hard admission. Having met a number of these students who come from many different backgrounds, the most common descriptor would be theyā€™re first rate (Iā€™ve had undergrad trainees in my lab from many colleges/universities across the country). Thus, while you shouldnā€™t lose hope, you will be competing with the very best for this admission, and there arenā€™t enough spots for many of these excellent candidates.

This may be more for posterity for other high school students that search these threads in the future, but if in Maryland and interested in pre-med/biology, also check out UMBC. They have a gem of a program that includes labs supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Although Iā€™m not there, I have colleagues who are, and have seen a number of undergraduate students do really well in this program.

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8

I think you have a shot, just a slim one. You should be proud of your accomplishments but it can be hard to really know. That being this is just my thought, I donā€™t really know

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9

Not sure that pre-med at JHU is a good idea. Known for grade deflation and high competition. If med school is your final goal, you would be better off at a school with less competition.

Most of the pre-meds at Duke take a gap year before applying, thats how stiff the competition has become.

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10

I actually got waitlisted at johns hopkins lol

11

As I said, doesnā€™t hurt to reach - but a WL is a rejection. Lots of schools have huge wait lists this year because they have no idea how to predict yield given the increase in apps. Example - UGA admitted 2K more kids than last year and has a 2K wait list - thatā€™s a lot of discomfort.

Where are you headed? Where did you get in?

Congrats to you ā€¦and as we all know, we are not admissions counselors but people giving opinionsā€¦