Hello,
The median ACT score at duke is 32-34. Yet, I heard that a 32 averages in the athletes, legacies, etc. I only have Oct. 22 to retake the ACT, but I honestly can’t count on scoring that much higher.
I go to a large public school in CA- my gpa is 4.0 unweighted/ 4.3 weighted (rank : 5/350)
I was wondering if I should apply ED to Trinity for Public Policy- or if I should wait to take both the Oct. and December ACTs before I apply?
Thank you!
There’s a certain point at which a higher ACT score won’t make the difference between admittance or rejection. If you apply to Duke ED, you probably won’t get rejected/ deferred because of your ACT score, but because of something else in your app. PS: I’m paraphrasing my CC.
Would you recommend me studying for Oct. ACT or focusing more on my essays? Thank you!
If it doesn’t lessen the quality of your essays, why not study? But if it does, I would say focus on your essays instead.
A 32 would place you at the 25th percentile for admitted students. So unless you are a URM, recruited athlete or have some other huge hook then definitely retake.
Agreed. Retake. 32 is too low for top 10 schools. Are you looking at other schools?
I would not retake if it means that you won’t apply ED.
According to the Common Data Set and the student profile, the middle 50% is 31-34 not 32-34. That would make the average for Trinity 32.5.
How badly do you want Duke? The ED bullet is a powerful one. If you are going to use it, you should be pretty confident you would get in even on regular decision and you want the extra push. If you are confident that Duke is your #1, take your ACT again. While getting a higher score probably won’t be the reason that they accept you, having a lower score may be the reason they reject you. Source: I was an admissions officer for a top 20 university.
What would be a good score to aim for in October for Duke?
URM: 25th percentile
ORM: 75th percentile
Otherwise shoot for the 50th
**UPDATE: I DID NOT GET IN. My counselor called into the admissions office and asked why. He got two reasons:
Sorry to hear that. Did you get deferred or rejected? If deferred Why not retake and hope for better in RD?
Deferred @sgopal2 ; I’m taking it was a rejection though since the admissions officer didn’t offer so much hope over the phone (in counselor’s office). They basically talked about the “number of strong applicants … blah blah blah” before my counselor got annoyed and asked for specifics.
Why did your teachers give you bland" recommendations when you have a 4.0? Did you do something to annoy them or are they small minded? Have you followed up with them?
I’m surprised your counselor was able to get Duke admissions to give reasons for the deferral. That’s pretty interesting. Sorry you didn’t get in, but I wouldn’t lose all hope just because the response was more boilerplate. You didn’t get rejected for a reason. I would try to up your score and perhaps get another letter of recommendation from somebody – which is addressing the weak points of your application apparently.
Definitely retake. Get the ACT score up. Try to do something to address the letter of recommendations. Looks like your guidance counselor has a good relation with Duke admissions. Ask if there is anything else you can do.
@bluedog @sgopal2 Thanks for the advice! My guidance counsler usually has a good relationship with the admissions officer because my school usually gets 5-6 people in (but this year no one got in yet which is rlly weird). I’m going to ask for another rec and retake scores to send in around jan-feb. Right now, taking it as a rejection until April though!
@londondad I got one from my English teacher because I participated in her class alot-got As. But she tends to lose track of who her ind. students are since I go to a large public school. She is also new to writing recs, so that may be a reason why my rec was bland.
That’s so harsh. How could a 32 ACT not at least get you considered? It’s the 98th percentile…