Should I apply to UChicago EA or ED to Duke?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! This is my first post, so I apologize if I do something wrong.

Demographic: I’m an Asian Female that attends a competitive top-10 in the state school. Upper middle class income.

Intended Major: Political Science

Stats:
GPA - 4.0 UW, 4.7 W
Class Rank - 6/700
SAT - 1540 (800M 740R) with a 19 essay and 770 Bio-E 760 US History
ACT - 34 with a 9 essay

I know these test scores aren’t that great, at least for these schools, so I’ll be retaking.

Courseload: Mostly APs. Next year, I’ll be taking Distance Calculus from Georgia Tech, AP Spanish Lang/AP Chemistry/AP Macroeconomics/AP European History/AP Literature/AP World History/AP Macroeconomics

AP Scores: All 5s for AP Human Geo/Lang/Gov/Microecon/Statistics/Biology/U.S. History/Calculus BC (AB Subscore: 5)/Physics C: Mech. 9 in total, 16 + Dual Enroll @ GT by the end of Senior Year.

ECs: They’re decent, but certainly nothing special. I hold officer positions in 5 clubs and am President of a community service club as well as my school’s Social Studies National Honors Society. I’m in NHS. I interned for a congresswoman and also help run a student-run political advocacy group. I have 200+ volunteer hours and some other ECs that aren’t really relevant to my intended major.

Awards/Honors: Also not that great. I went to Governor’s Honors Program for Social Studies as well as Girl’s State (made top 8, but got nervous during my interview). I have MUN state-level awards and piano honors. I will likely be an NMSQT Semi-Finalist (1500 PSAT). I have other local/school level awards for community service and academic achievement.

Recs: I think they’ll be good? My counselor and I have talked a lot previously. I am pretty close to the teachers I’ll be asking and they’ve given my school level awards for the subject/based on my character. One also wrote my GHP recommendation.

Hooks: My mother attended Duke, and we donate every year.

My dad wants me to ED to Duke, since I have the highest chances there with my mom’s status. I would prefer not to, because ED is binding, and my dream schools are UChicago and Stanford for various reasons. I’m extremely passionate about what I want to do later in life, and these schools would definitely help me to that end.

So should I EA UChicago or ED Duke? Thank you!

2

EA UChicago and RD Stanford and Duke.
You cannot live the rest of your life with that “if”…

3

EA Chicago

4

I get a strong sense from you that you don’t want to apply ED anywhere, and that’s totally legit. Unless one is 100% certain of their 1st choice school, and 100% certain cost isn’t a factor, IMSO ED is a bad idea.

Separately, your test scores are amazing. If they’re somehow “not good enough” for any given school, then that’s their loss.

5

It’s your life, but admissions to these universities is ultra competitive. If you do not apply ED to Duke, you may lose any perceived advantage from your mother’s connection to Duke.

There are areas of concern that I think that you should address.

The repeated negatives (not good enough, not that great, nothing special, nervous during my interview ) are irritating & work against you.

“I hold officer positions in 5 clubs and am President of a community service club as well as my school’s Social Studies National Honor Society” screams quantity, not quality.

“I’m extremely passionate about what I want to do later in life” but then fail to reveal that passion while seeking advice as to whether Chicago, Duke or Stanford should be your targeted EA/ED school.

Overall, a very poor presentation.

P.S. After reading & rereading the opening post in this thread, my overall impression is that this is a nervous applicant. Try to project confidence and to convey meaningful effort & accomplishments.

6

It’s totally fine if you are nervous at 17. This college search process is stressful and intimidating and I’m guessing you have a lot of peers at school and through GHP who are competitive applicants as well. It’s hard to be confident at this point in life and I don’t find it irritating at all. You have done extremely well so far and I’m sure you can be successful wherever you go to college. You need to think about what you really want and what is best for you. If you want to go for Chicago, then start working on some killer essays. Best of luck!

7

I don’t think you can go wrong with either school, though you probably know that already. Chicago was my #1 choice in high school, but I wound up attending Duke after Chicago’s financial aid made it impossible to attend. I absolutely loved Duke and still keep in touch with several of my undergrad professors.

Ditto this. You have four options for applying early:

(1) ED at Duke + EA at Chicago
(2) ED I at Chicago
(3) SCEA at Stanford
(4) EA at Chicago

From a purely strategic perspective, options 1 and 2 give you the best shot at a top university. ~50% of Duke’s freshman class was admitted ED. At Chicago, this year’s freshman class was dominated by those who applied ED (50%) and EA (30%).

If Chicago is your top choice, I think applying ED is the way to go unless you’re looking for merit aid somewhere and need to compare offers. Chicago has mastered the art of admissions marketing, and its EA and RD admit rates have plummeted. Since the university recently dropped its standardized test requirements, the number of applications is likely to be even higher next year.

8

no offense to Chicago but you prepare you have no social life in UC.

9

another option for early application - you could apply SCEA at Stanford, if deferred or rejected, apply ED2 at UChicago. Agree that if you don’t apply ED at Duke, it will be tough.

10

there is no reason you need to retake. your scores are great. if you retake, you risk your composite scores going down, and you don’t want that.

furthermore, i do have to agree with your dad. i, personally, believe you should ed to duke because you stand a great chance overall + an even better chance given your mom’s an alumna. however, it is your choice in the end. even if you do scea to stanford, your chance will be about the same as rd because you’re not a recruited athlete or a legacy applicant. it’s a tough decision.

11

Do you like the Core? That’s a big factor, tbh. If you don’t or you’re ambivalent, don’t apply early to Chicago–you won’t like it there anyway.

12

@lemonlulu It depends on what do you mean by social life. UChicago has a very strong community with one of the best housing systems. My daughter made friends since day one. On weekends they go to the city for a nice dinner, concerts, museums, shopping, or go to the Point at the lake. On Sundays usually, go for brunch and study in a cafe. UChicago is not a party school (TG), but there are many ways of having a good time.
My daughter is very social, loves cultural events and good food; she enjoys the city and could not be happier in any other place. That is the type of students that go to UChicago. For partying, definitely go to another place.

13

@Publisher

Hi!

I completely understand what you’re saying about my lack of confidence. I had just browsed through a lot of posts/Chance Me’s and was feeling really down about myself at the time of writing this post. I was relatively vague with my clubs for fear of revealing too much information, but I definitely love my clubs, most of which are community service and/or relevant to my intended major. I said the number of my leadership positions more so to give the sense that I’m really busy/involved with these clubs, but I can understand if that was taken the wrong way.

To clarify, my passion is in politics, and I therefore want to major in political science. I’m likely going to be interning for a governor’s candidate in the fall, which I’m extremely excited for. I understand that my listed schools are not THE best when it comes to political science, but there are other reasons I have for wanting to go to these schools.

Thank you for your response, and I’ll be sure to project more confidence in my writing.

14

You can hardly do much better for your interests. For undergrads, any difference in strength or focus between these departments is dwarfed by differences in academic calendar (i.e. quarter system at Chicago and Stanford vs. semesters at Duke) and curriculum/graduation requirements.

I generally dislike citing rankings, but those below indicate the only private universities comparably strong in political science are MIT, NYU, and a few of the Ivies (Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Yale).

USNWR Political Science

1 Harvard / Stanford
3 Princeton
4 Berkeley / Michigan / Yale
7 Columbia / Duke
9 MIT / UCSD
11 UNC Chapel Hill
12 Chicago / NYU / UCLA

NRC Political Science (R-ranking)*

1-3 Harvard / Berkeley
2-5 Columbia
2-9 Stanford
3-7 Michigan
4-8 Yale
5-12 NYU
6-17 Duke
6-20 UCSD
7-16 Princeton
7-20 Ohio State
8-17 UCLA
8-18 UNC Chapel Hill
8-19 Chicago

THE Politics & International Studies (only US universities listed below)

2 Harvard / MIT
4 Stanford
5 Princeton
7 Chicago
8 Yale
9 Michigan
11 Berkeley
12 Columbia
13 Penn
14 Duke

AWRU Political Science (only US universities listed below)

1 Harvard
2 Yale
3 Stanford
5 Princeton
6 Columbia
8 NYU
9 Duke
10 Berkeley
11 Georgetown / Michigan
13 UCSD
14 Wisconsin
15 Penn
16 UT Austin
17 GWU
20 Ohio State
24 Northwestern
26 U Minnesota
27 Rutgers
28 Chicago

*Recognizing the close overlap in quality between programs, the NRC provides a range of ranks for each department rather than a specific rank. In this poli sci ranking, Harvard could be ranked as high as #1 or as low as #3.

15

@rxerae : Your writing is effective when written in a composed, self-confident manner.

Consider focusing on your positives (which are truly noteworthy):

  1. Top 1% of your class
  2. Perfect 4.0 UWGPA
  3. Outstanding standardized test scores of 1540 SAT --with a perfect 800 in math, 34 ACT, and multiple 5s on AP tests.

Of equal importance is your proven record of involvement in politics & in clubs (need to highlight specific accomplishments within a club or clubs).

You have a demonstrated passion for politics & community involvement.

When applying to a particular university, try to show enthusiasm for a specific program or activity/activities offered by that school.

It is fine to express uncertainty & unresolved curiosities, but not okay to be negative about your praiseworthy accomplishments. Positivity is contagious & welcomed.

16

@warblersrule : has provided you with a very thorough list of universities which are well respected in your area of interest.

In order to get excited about Duke or any particular school, you should peruse the school’s website for course offerings & special concentrations offered in your desired major area of study. Some schools, for example, might offer joint programs in political science which include law school & business school courses, or might offer a Washington DC externship semester or some other arrangement that you find exciting.

There is no real “best” school for political science with respect to you & your interests; there are, however, several “great fit” schools for you. You need to find these schools based on your wants, needs & interests.

As a final note: If one tells me that they are a Duke student, my immediate impression is that that person is hardworking, brilliant, accomplished & promising. And that that student probably has a great future.

17

@warblersrule - For clarity, are you saying that 80% of Chicago’s freshman class this year was admitted either through ED or EA (meaning only 20% of the freshman were admitted through RD)? Or are you saying that ED has a 50% acceptance rate and EA has a 30% acceptance rate?

I’m just curious about this, as I feel like I’ve learned so much about ED admissions through this forum. They obviously have really different implications for students applying.

OP, I think if Chicago or Stanford is your dream school, then if you apply ED at all you should apply ED to one of them.

(For the record, I am opposed to ED in principle - I hate the idea of forcing students to make a choice in the fall of their senior year, without being able to compare financial aid packages or make spring admissions visits; it unfairly privileges students from wealthy backgrounds and students who have had parents or other relatives attend college before them; and it seems to benefit the schools way more than it benefits the students. But through this forum, I’ve come to understand the advantage it gives to students when applying.)

18

The former, though some were deferred and admitted in the RD round. It’s based on a survey of 544 of the 1740 freshmen at Chicago, so the numbers may not be exact, but it’s the closest approximation we have until Chicago releases its CDS or the admissions office is more forthcoming with their data (both of which are unlikely).

Most of the Class of 2021 comes from the early rounds of the application. In the application process, half (50.1 percent) of responding first-years applied Early Decision and were accepted Early Decision. A substantial 79.6 percent of students applied in one of the early rounds, with 16 percent of these students being deferred and accepted in the Regular Decision round.

https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/1/9/class-2021-numbers/

19

"USNWR Political Science

1 Harvard / Stanford
3 Princeton
4 Berkeley / Michigan / Yale
7 Columbia / Duke
9 MIT / UCSD
11 UNC Chapel Hill
12 Chicago / NYU / UCLA"

Those are graduate school rankings, not undergrad, though there could be a correlation between the two. Any ranking that does not have Georgetown in the top 15 for poly sci is flawed.

“I would prefer not to, because ED is binding, and my dream schools are UChicago and Stanford for various reasons.”

Then only apply early to those two schools, the vibes at those two and Duke are very different, you’re an excellent applicant, don’t sell yourself short by applying ED somewhere else. The advice given to scea to Stanford and then ed 2 to Chicago is probably the best one, if you’re really indifferent between Stanford and Chicago. Also, ask yourself if you would have applied to Duke if not for your mother going there.

“As a final note: If one tells me that they are a Duke student, my immediate impression is that that person is hardworking, brilliant, accomplished & promising. And that that student probably has a great future.”

Ok, you can say that about Stanford and Chicago as well and 50 other schools in the US, but that’s another thread.