Regular decision: Chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hi! So I'm considering applying to Duke regular decision as a (very) high reach. What are my chances for Regular decision?</p>

<p>Major: chemistry, biology (premed)</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.08</p>

<p>SAT Score:
Single SAT 2400: 660 CR 660 Math 670 Writing Total: 1990
Combined SAT 1600: 1320</p>

<p>SAT subjects:
Math Level 2: 660
Biology- Molecular: 720</p>

<p>Honors:
National Achievement Award
3rd place Science Olympiad
Holy Cross Book Award
Science Achievement certificate
High Honors 4 years</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Math Team
Biotechnology
Bible Study
Key Club
volunteer at library
volunteer at church
volunteered in hospital in another country
Environmental Club
Knitting Club
FCCLA</p>

<p>*Sadly, I don't have any leadership positions or sports... :/
...</p>

<p>Do I have a chance if I write a killer essay?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance to all who respond! ^^</p>

2

<p>I’m going to be completely honest with you: don’t even bother applying. I’m by NO means trying to be condescending. Let me explain:</p>

<p>A 1990 is VERY low for Duke standards…breaking it down, you’re Writing is below their 25th percentile while your Math and CR are barely above it. These students who get admitted with these scores are the recruited athletes/URMs, which you are not (or so I assume since you didn’t present any information regarding these characteristics). Source:
[College</a> Search - Duke University - Duke - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>GPA is good; however, according to their Common Data Set (<a href=“http://ir.provost.duke.edu/facts/cds/CDS%202009-10.pdf[/url]”>http://ir.provost.duke.edu/facts/cds/CDS%202009-10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) on Page 7, they only “consider” your GPA. I’m assuming your weighed is NOT on the scale my school uses (6.0-AP, 5.0-Honors, 4.0-Regular); if it is, then it is VERY low. </p>

<p>Your Honors are decent, but did you place in any NATIONAL competition, ie HOSA, Debate, DECA, FBLA, SO, Intel, Siemens, etc? If not, then that severely detracts from your application (refer to the Common Data Set; they say that they value Talent/Ability highly). </p>

<p>EC-wise, you’re definitely lacking. Unless you founded one of those clubs, you just come off as putting a laundry list of ECs down on your app to “fill space”. The Common Data Set says that they value ECs highly, so that will also detract from your essay. Also, Duke wants to see leadership and how you can successfully cooperate and lead your peers.</p>

<p>Unless you have some major life story (grew up in single family home, had to support family, had an illness that detracted from your schoolwork, etc), are a recruited athlete, or are a URM (Native America/Black/Hispanic), then you have virtually no chance.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to be mean, but I want to show you the truth. In all honestly, you should probably save your ~$90 after score submissions and go have a nice steak dinner (I’m telling myself the same thing for some schools, don’t worry lol). </p>

<p>I’m glad you came here to ask, as this is a good measure of grasping your standing in the admissions process. If you still apply, I wish you the best of luck! :)</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I know my SAT score is low because I only took it once. I probably should retake it, but I don’t really have the time. :-/ Also, according to my school’s naviance, one student was accepted with a 1990 combined SAT score. So it isn’t really impossible. I don’t know what his/her other credentials were, though. And my brother got into MIT with a 1990, which is also a very competitive school. Anything can happen.</p>

<p>I also know my extracurriculars suck in terms of leadership. I mean, I participate in them regularly but you’re right that nothing stands out. :/</p>

<p>I was hoping for a bit of luck when it came to admissions with help from my essay and recommendations. It’s only a reach, right? But I guess I probably won’t apply with the information you just gave me. I do enjoy steak haha.</p>

<p>What good schools do you think <em>would</em> be a match/low reach for me then? If I was going to do premed?</p>

<p>Other stats:
African American female
National Honor Society
AP courses:
AP Chem
AP Stats
AP Calc AB
AP Biology
all the rest mostly honors</p>

<p>rank 13/480ish(don’t remember our class size haha)</p>

<p>Thanks for the tough love, though. I appreciate that you didn’t sugar-coat it. :)</p>

<p>Any more opinions are appreciated…</p>

4

<p>OK you definitely left out the most important material from the initial post. Haha the stats you posted in your reply change the ballgame SIGNIFICANTLY.</p>

<p>Your rank is great (although not amazing, top 15 is good) and you have a solid amount of AP courses, all of which are challenging (not APES or Psych or any of those easy ones). </p>

<p>No racism, but the fact that you’re an African-American Female helps tremendously (URM status).</p>

<p>With this given information, I would say definitely go ahead and apply. It would still be a mid-high reach, but it is definitely more attainable than before.</p>

5

<p>True. Being Black adds an extra 400 points on your SAT score(not literally).
You have a pretty good shot.</p>

6

<p>Hm well the National Achievement Award is only for Black Americans, but I guess not everyone would know that haha…</p>

<p>But are you being serious dhs911230 and golfer111? I know race makes a difference, but I didn’t know it made <em>that</em> much of a difference.</p>

<p>What about my also low math subject test, laundry list ECs, and lack of leadership roles? How can they just overlook it?</p>

<p>And with the added info, do I have a shot at other Ivy-like/hard schools? Or does this only hold true for Duke?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the posts guys!</p>

7

<p>Considering Duke’s admissions are equally (if not more) rigorous than other “Ivy-like/hard schools,” I would say, yes, you have a chance. That URM status can work wonders.</p>

8

<p>I would give it a shot. As mentioned, although your standardized testing is quite low, your background will help tremendously. And yes, it does make that much of a difference. If you were an ORM, your chance would be significantly diminished.</p>

<p>Anyways, it never hurts to try. RD is tough though - if you had said ED, your chance would be much higher IMO.</p>

9

<p>Yeah. Also, if applicable, write about poverty and personal struggles in your essays. I know it may sound racist but it works.
And yeah it does make a huge difference.
They would pick you over an Asian dude with a 2300 GPA with a good GPA with pretty good EC.</p>

10

<p>I wouldn’t have wanted to apply to Duke ED, though. The decision would be binding and I’m not even sure I really want to attend.</p>

<p>Eh, I still don’t necessarily believe that URM status is as big as you guys are making it out to be. I doubt it’s really a “make-it-or break it” deciding factor. But I will consider the fact that it affects admissions in my decision on whether to apply or not.</p>

<p>And I haven’t struggled with poverty (I’m middle class and from a mostly middle-class town) so… The only poverty I could write about would be what I’ve witnessed while visiting outside the US. Does that sound good? Well, I’ll probably think of something.</p>

<p>dhs911, question- how do you know that they would pick me over the person you described? Or that writing about poverty and personal struggles make a difference? Where are you actually getting these statistics from?</p>

<p>Anyway, I still appreciate all the help guys. :)</p>

11

<p>Well… The colleges like diversity. No being racist but there are less African Americans In prestigious schools than there are Asians. So Blacks are minorities.
This is just a well known fact. You often see African Americans or native Americans with low scores get in to schools where many Asians with high SAT score cannot get into.</p>

<p>And I wouldn’t write about something you witnessed. It’s not strong enough. I’d write an essay that describes you very well</p>

12

<p>Yeah, I know you weren’t being racist. I remember having a discussion similar to this in one of my classes. It doesn’t really seem fair to me. And I probably shouldn’t be complaining… haha. But thanks for the help/ tips. :slight_smile: I’ll try to think of a better essay.</p>