Pratt vs. Trinity

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

Hello all,

After heavy research, I discovered my dream school is Duke University. My question to you all is if I should apply to Pratt or to Trinity? In other words, which picked school would my application fit in with the most? Biomedical Engineering is the goal, but I feel I’m not qualified enough and I’m also interested in medicine and neuroscience/biology maybe even double major with economics, so it’s not the end of the world if I apply to Trinity. I plan on applying Early Decision. Thanks for the help! Btw s/o to the class of 2018!

so 2 main things:

  1. WHAT DOES MY APPLICATION BLEND WITH MORE TRINITY V PRATT?
  2. GIVEN MY APPLICATION, WHAT SCHOOL WOULD GIVE ME THE BEST CHANCE?

THANK YOU

Major: Biomedical Engineering / Neuroscience (I’m interested in both majors)
State: Ohio
School: Very Competitive Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: XY
Class: Rising Senior
GPA: 3.99 W and 3.6 UW (Yikes)
PSAT: 1420/1520, track to be commended
ACT: 31 (yikes)
Subject tests: Math 2 - 780, US History - 720
AP: AP US History (4)
Awards: Honor Roll, Scholar Athlete, Academic
Medallion, Salute to Excellence, Varsity Letters, Leadership Certificates, etc.

Freshie

Honors Algebra 2 - A
Honors English 9 - B
Physical Science - A
World History - A
Spanish 2 - A
Electives - A

Sophomore

Honors Pre Calc - A
Honors Bio - A
Honors Chemistry - A
Honors English 11 - B
Spanish 3 - B
AP US History - B
Electives - A

Junior

AP Calc BC - B
AP Physics 1 - B
AP Economics - A
AP English 11 - B
Spanish IV - A
Electives- A

Senior

AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish
AP English 12

As one can tell, my GPA is on the lower end.

EC:

In school

Basketball - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, really big part of my life, takes up LOTS of time
Track - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, takes up LOTS of time
African American Culture Club - Co founder and Vice President,
Diversity Acceptance Program - Vice president,
Youth For Christ - Vice President,
Selected freshmen mentor
S.P.L.A.S.H - Selective program for leaders within my school
Principal Advisory Board

Out of School

Director at Be The Change Venture - diversity and inclusion movement within Cleveland
Junior Ambassadors - Volunteered 109 hours at Cleveland Clinic main campus in the summer
Research Assistant - Assisted post doc at Case Western Reserve’s biomedical engineering lab (WHY I LIKE BME)
Marketing Director for DifferentLikeYou.com - summer internship at non profit - website for kids with disabilities
Business Intern at Artificial Intelligence Laboratories - Interned at firm based in San Francisco
Council Member at the City Club of Cleveland - year round
Intern at the Diversity Center of NEO
Discover U in Business at Miami University
Look Up to Cleveland Program
Lifeguard

Thanks guys & gals

2

First, glad you found Duke to be a great fit and your “dream school”! I don’t think it makes much of a difference either way to be honest, and I think you’ve got a solid shot. Traditional wisdom is that Pratt is more “numbers centric” whereas Trinity is more about the fit of the applicant. From that perspective, you might think that would be more of a longshot to Pratt as your GPA/test scores would be viewed as on the lower end. But honestly, if you go to a competitive school like you said, your GPA and your test scores aren’t that bad. But would be helpful to see the math scores on SAT/ACT as those should be near perfect. At least you got a 780 on Math II. And obviously you still need to take the SAT, so that could change the picture too. In light of the fact that you are a hooked applicant (being a URM) applying to a technical area being around the 25th percentile for accepted Duke students is fine and absolutely puts you in the conversation. (Although I realize a 31 is below the 25th percentile for Pratt…that why I’d want to know your math scores).

On top of that, sounds like you have some great experience/passion in the BME field that is very unusual for a high schooler, so could be seen as a better fit. And I’d imagine being a URM helps more for Pratt than Trinity (as Duke and other schools want to up their representation in engineering disciplines especially) so your “poor” GPA/test scores (which aren’t that bad as I said above) would be negated by the relevant experience. The ONLY concern I might have is the fact that you got a B in Calc AND Physics this year, which doesn’t bode extremely well for Pratt applicants as they expect them to excel in math and science courses. But if you can demonstrate a knowledge and experience with BME that could counteract that. A couple B’s isn’t necessary doom at all.

All in all, I’d apply to where you think you’d rather major in as you’re probably more likely to get into the school that you more clearly show a great fit for. It’s VERY easy to change your mind later, but in particular to go from Pratt to Trinity (as simple as checking a box). So, if you decide BME isn’t for you, you can switch without any fanfare. Going TO BME is a bit harder, but certainly not impossible as long as you take the necessary pre-reqs your freshman year and do well enough in them.

Good luck!

3

@bluedog Wow thanks so much for the thought out response. I took away so much from it! I’ll probaly apply to Pratt and cross my fingers haha.

4

As a URM your scores are fine. Based on what you’ve written above it seems like you are a better fit for Pratt. I think you have a great chance.

5

Thanks so much for the feedback! Do you have any tips
on what I could improve on? @sgopal2

6

I’ve heard of other URMs who got into Pratt with scores like yours, so don’t sweat it.

The main thing is to show how you fit in with the STEM culture at Pratt. Your ECs are a bit scattered. Show them your love for engineering.

7

@JLBball5 Are you planning on taking the SAT or retaking the ACT? You still have some chance to improve those standardized test scores.