<p>Hi, I'm British Columbia, Canada and I'm a incoming senior. I'm considering a few Duke for engineering for early decisions but I don't want to waste my early decision if I'm not competitive enough.</p>
<p>SAT:
1st time: (1890) 640 CR 630 Math 620 Writing
2nd time: (2230) 740 CR 730 Math 720 Writing
Should I retake for a higher SAT?</p>
<p>Math 2: (770)
Physics: (760)
World History: (770) </p>
<p>Income Bracket: ~80K (probably applying for aid)</p>
<p>GPA:
4.0 (freshman) 4.0 (sophomore) 3.7 (junior) =3.870 total (Unweighted)
Rank: Top 10%</p>
<p>Government:
Vancouver Model United Nations (11-12)
British Columbia Youth Parliament (11-12)
Student Council- Minister of Finance (11) </p>
<p>Math/Science + others:
Engineering Club (9-12)
Reach for the Top team (11-12)
Head of Physics Club (10-12) </p>
<p>Volunteering:
~100 Hours at a Senior Home
~200 Hours at a local children hospital</p>
<p>Awards/ Achievements:</p>
<p>Performer's ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Saxophone
Kiwanis Music Festival - Gold standings
Performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Canadian National Music Competition- Provincial Qualifier
Canadian Association of Physicists High School Exam - top 25%
Sir Isaac Newton Physics Open- top 10%
Canadian National Physics Olympiad-Qualifier
Western Canada Physics Olympiad- Silver Medal </p>
<p>Summers:
Research at Biotrek (10-12) - Bioengineering program for selected students in UBC.
Research at the Canada Heart and Stroke Foundation (12) </p>
<p>Hooks:
None really, no legacies because I am a first generation immigrant.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you love Duke and want to come here, I say go ED. You are definitely a competitive applicant (while being international is a slightly different story), so do not worry about that. </p>
<p>&no, you do not need to retake your SATs. Don’t give the CB more money than you need to lol.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the info. Certainly Duke is my first choice of school but I’m just unsure of how I stand amongst the applicants. Yeah being international sucks D:</p>
<p>By the way, applying for financial aid as an international puts you at a significant disadvantage admission-wise. Unlike for US citizens and perm. residents, admissions for you will not be need-blind.</p>
<p>1) Your scores are all in the “Duke range”. What that usually means is that you don’t have to worry about that part of your application, it is done for, not much you can do about it now.</p>
<p>2) You have many EC’s and volunteer work as well as summer work, so that is great. Duke wants applicants to have more than just grades.</p>
<p>3) Now you should focus on your essays. Your GPA will be similar to everyone else, as will your SAT and SAT IIs, so the one thing that you can change now is your essays. Essays are what make or break applications so spend your time on those, because honestly how many 3.9/2200’s do you think Duke sees?</p>
<p>4) Applying ED is definitely an advantage. It is an advantage because you have a much better chance of standing out. If I remember correctly only about 1,500 students apply to Duke early, and about 22,000 apply RD, so as you can see standing out vs 1,500 is easier than against 22,000. The acceptance rate is about 31% early and in the mid to low teens (about 15-6%) in RD.</p>
<p>So if Duke is really your first choice you should definitely go for it. Just make sure you put your best foot forward. Don’t know how much this has helped, but that’s all I’ve got.</p>