I am a rising junior in high school right now and my dream school is Duke. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA right now, 4.17 weighted. I intend on having completed 6 AP classes by the time I graduate, with all A’s. I haven’t taken the SAT or ACT yet. Would I need perfect scores on both tests to even have a chance at acceptance from Duke?
Absolutely not. Having a 1520+ SAT or 34 ACT places you well within the reach of the Ivy league schools. Perfect scores are great, but your efforts are better spent on essays and EC’s. Good Luck!
Thanks for your input! I should also mention that I attend a private online homeschool accredited academy. Do colleges care about where you attend school? The workload is rigorous!
It’s an understatement to say colleges care where you attend school. You should keep your grades high. But also find some ec"s to really impress Duke.
I took 8 online classes while in high school and I’m an incoming freshman at Duke now. Your GPA/scores/ECs matter much more than the “name” of your high school. In fact, I’m only the second person from my high school to ever get into Duke (the last one was over 20 years ago) so Duke certainly wasn’t on the look-out for students from my area
This statement is correct but can be taken the wrong way. The scores above make you a viable candidate at top schools including HPYS, but those schools are still a high reach (5-10% chance depending on school). Few students have a high percentage chance at HPYS. Duke can be unpredictable as well. Odds will be better than 5-10% but not by a lot.
Good luck!
The main obstacle homeschooled kids face are if your grades are given by your parents. Is this the case with your online academy? If so then the admissions people frown upon anything where the parents assign the grades. There are some online schools where the grades are given by real teachers. Is this the case with yours?
If grades are assigned by your parents, then just note that admissions people generally want to see something else besides your grades. So high standardized test scores, AP scores, etc is what they will be looking for.
Even with top grades and test scores, Duke is very selective in its admissions process. So having great ECs will help you stand out. Good luck
Thanks everyone for your input! My online academy has real teachers for each class and they give the grades on my assignments. I will be working on more EC’s now!
You have a great GPA and it sounds like you have a good attitude. As a rising junior I can attest that Duke is a fantastic school in all regards. Focus on getting have great test scores and good luck to you!