posting again... help, please!!! (chances at duke?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>hi guys,
im a senior entering the applications maze, and i'm not sure what my chances are. here are my goals and my information; can you let me know what's realistic?</p>

<p>potential schools:
duke (first choice, possible early decision)
tufts
uc berkeley
ucsb
georgetown (reach?)
university of virginia
claremont mckenna
kenyon
usc
davidson
yale/stanford (extreme long shots, but a dream!)</p>

<p>My qualifications:</p>

<p>grades: straight A's throughout high school (taking most difficult schedule possible!)
class rank: 3rd out of 800
school: large, california public</p>

<p>ap classes: ap euro, ap us, ap english language and comp, ap bio, ap stats, ap english literature and comp, ap gov, ap spanish (5's on all exams except bio, which was a 3)</p>

<p>sat scores: 750 verbal, 730 writing (with a perfect score on essay), 640 math (i plan to retake in october); 730 literature sat 2, 670 us history sat 2, 640 bio sat 2 (i plan to retake in december)</p>

<p>extra-curricular activities: editor-in-chief for 3 years and founder of school newspaper; clarinet player for top school band; member of marching band; president of california scholastic federation; secretary of school interact club (a volunteer organization); copy writer for yearbook; member of national honor society; member of City of Murrieta's Youth Advisory Committee</p>

<p>awards: CA chicano news media association journalism scholarship for $2000 (awarded to only one student in southern CA); City of Murrieta Award for Leadership; City of Murrieta Award for Service to Community; Trailblazer Award for student leadership; National Merit semi-finalist; superior rating at Southern California School Band/Orchestra Association festival; 1st clarinet at All-Valley Honor Band (for 3 years); finalist at Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Academy; Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (1 of 3 students selected from district)</p>

<p>employment: paid staff writer for regional newspaper (circulation 200,000; only teen to hold such a position)</p>

<p><em>on a side note, i volunteered at an orphanage in India for 6 weeks; i plan to write my essay about this.</em></p>

<p>so, what are my chances? please be honest! also, i welcome suggestions of other schools!
thank you!</p>

2

<p>Re-post your message on the Duke College message board:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=36%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=36&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also see the Duke Class of 2010 profile:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2010profile.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2010profile.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Since you won the Chicano News Media scholarship you might be Hispanic? If so, there is a special website for Prospective Students on the Multicultural page:</p>

<p><a href="http://mcc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/prospective/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://mcc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/prospective/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Contacts for students with an ethnic background are on this page.</p>

3

<p>thanks for the help. ;)</p>

4

<p>Remember, julialove, the SAT scores are the middle 50% range. Your scores fall in the middle range except for the Math. You already plan to retake the Math which is a good idea.</p>

<p>Have you thought about taking the ACT? Duke accepts the ACT in place of the SAT and the Sat subject tests. Taking the ACT might save you some time.</p>

5

<p>that's a really good suggestion... i really appreciate your feedback!
do you think that any other areas of my application are lacking??</p>

6

<p>what do you think are good matches? anyone?</p>

7

<p>UCSB, UCSD, UCI, etc.</p>

8

<p>is it worth even applying to duke? is it a waste of an application fee? help!</p>

9

<p>bump... ;)</p>

10

<p>my guidance counselor has very little experience what so ever, so i'd really like to know what you guys think... any other opinions?</p>

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<p>I would apply. Great class rank in large class, W. Coast is a plus, decent ECs. If you're hispanic you're in, if not you still have a reasonable shot, a good one if you can up that one SAT score.</p>

12

<p>DUDE
you should go for Brown...
Is it just me or are all the people in this site HELLA pessimistic?</p>

<p>I mean, think of it like THIS...
you're getting feedback, from us students who get ****ed if we get an A- in a class...or below 700 on an SAT subscore! I mean, honestly, we're one of the harshest judges out of anyone. And thus, being an optimist. I believe you have a FAIR SHOT</p>

<p>Yale/Harvard however are far reaches...unless you have a perfect SAT, and you can be turned down EVEN THEN! lol..
SO YEAH..
Stick with the plan, and it helps and is more motivating to have ENCOURAGEMENT than criticism...</p>

<p>I wish you luck! BELIEVE IN GETTING THAT FAT PACKET THAT CONTAINS YOUR LETTER OF ADMISSION!</p>

13

<p>OH sorry...
Above...I meant to say DUKE
I want to go to Brown, lmao, my bad</p>

14

<p>thanks for all the help guys. it means so much. seriously. i agree with you, manu!</p>

<p>after some thought, i think i'll probably apply to dartmouth/brown as reaches instead of yale/stanford... it will still be tough to get in, but it doesn't feel like throwing the application fee away... </p>

<p>what do you guys think? ;)</p>

15

<p>YUP! That's exactly how I feel too Julia!
I mean, a lot of people (coincidentally, only on CC, but NOT anywhere else)...
do not think I will get into most of the schools I am applying to.
So let's hope I do...to prove them wrong.
I mean, we're all smart, and are scientific, and reasonable, but come on now...there's ALWAYS HOPE! lol.</p>

<p>I wish you LUCK! Although, I hope you won't need it.
Oh whatever...
GOOD LUCK!</p>

16

<p>anyone else??</p>

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<p>julialove:</p>

<p>UCB: Match
UCSB: Safety</p>