<p>So I visited both Princeton and Duke, and am torn between the two. I thought they both were great schools with a great campus and atmosphere. However, I saw Duke ED for Pratt had an acceptance rate of 36% vs Princeton's SCEA rate of 18%. Which one should I apply to with these stats? Is Princeton well worth the extra risk given their excellent operations research program over Duke Finance? Thanks in advance!:</p>
<p>GPA:3.8UW 4.34W</p>
<p>Class Rank: 3/300</p>
<p>Senior Year Courses: AP European History, AP Chinese, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science A, Math course at Princeton University</p>
<p>SAT II: Physics: 800 Math Level 2: 800 US History: 760</p>
<p>Awards:
-National AP Scholar
-At least National Merit Commended award</p>
<p>ECs: Governor's School summer program where I had a research paper published
-Comp sci summer program at an ivy league institution
- 5th in state and 4th in region awards for Science Olympiad
- FBLA member where I got a state award
-volunteered at a cultural organization's summer camp for 70 hours
- tutored kids at the library for 30 hours
-Science and Engineering Club member
- tennis team member</p>
<p>Depends on where you’re from/socioeconomic situation, but based on kids I know who got into Princeton, it is a high reach (GPA/EC’s) Duke is a better bet.</p>
<p>I don’t know that much about New Jersey, but I’m pretty sure it would actually negatively impact your chances since there’s a lot more opportunities in the East Coast to just do stuff in general. I’m just basing this off of the National Merit Scholar cut off scores by state.</p>
<p>thanks for the help! But yeah that’s probably true, but I heard Princeton is more generous to in-state applicants, as NJ has like a 25% acceptance rate for Princeton. Is it due to more competitive applicants or is it easier to get in from NJ?</p>
<p>It’s not easier to get in if you’re from NJ, unless you grow up in their backyard or attend a ‘feeder’ school that sends many kids to Princeton each year. Higher acceptance rate is in part due to a large number of legacies who live in-state and the fact that all faculty children live in-state as well.</p>
<p>Yeah, definitely true. I live about 10 minutes from the University, though I’m not from a feeder school. I do realize my lack of leadership positions, how important are these to Princeton if I have other things such as research? I am taking a math course at Princeton University. Does this substantially help?</p>