These stats are pretty good. I think you don’t really need to retake anything unless you want to (if you do, try to get that writing to a 700+). You don’t have much EC’s. I think you have a good chance. If you think Duke will be your first choice, apply ED. </p>
<p>
Your GPA is not that bad. The fact that you have a upward trend is good and that you have a strong schedule. Your SAT is pretty good (If you will retake try to get the CR higher than 700 because you are going for Pratt). I like you EC’s. You have a good chance. Of course Pratt admissions is difficult because the applicants are really strong overall but I do think you have a good chance since your application is competitive. </p>
<p>
This is your weakest part. To tell you the truth it’s going to be difficult trying for Pratt as a international because they accept only a small amount of people but also the people who apply have really really good ACT/SAT. I advise that you try to raise that. As for yoru EC’s they are great and your school grades (from what I can understand), is good. But really, raise that SAT score.</p>
<p>Good Luck to all the people who are applying!</p>
<p>Asian Male
Class Rank: 1/600
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 4.00/4.82
Residence: Colorado
Most likely will Early Decision at Duke (Trinity)</p>
<p>Did not take SAT I</p>
<p>ACT
English - 34
Math - 34
Reading - 35
Science - 26
Composite - 32, misbubbled science section towards the end. Confident to get a 35 or 36 when I retake in Sept.</p>
<p>SAT II
Physics - 690 (Retaking in Oct, or does it not matter much?)
US History - 720 (Same scenario as Physics)
Math II - 770</p>
<p>AP
Chemistry - 3
Physics - 3
World History - 4
Calc BC - 4
US Gov and Politics - 5
US History - 5
English Lang - 5</p>
<p>Senior Courseload:
AP Chinese 4 (I’m not Chinese btw)
AP English Literature
AP European History
AP Physics C
Honors Calculus III
Honors Socratic Seminar
P.E</p>
<p>Significant Extracirriculars:
Food Bank - 200 hours of community service roughly
Varsity Soccer, intending to try and get recruited (small shot though)
Key Club (Vice President)
National Honors Society</p>
<p>Other (Informal) Extracirriculars:
Tutored fellow students for free. Even raised a friend’s ACT score from 17-24. Basically helped people get back on their feet and also encourage them to improve their scores.
Adept pianist. Haven’t really performed at those classical recitals nor played for the school’s orchestra.
Exceptional DDR player. Played at tournaments, placed high in ranks. Spent probably 1000+ hours either practicing to get better or just playing in front of crowds for entertaiment. Have performed at school during a special “Asian Culture Day”, and raised awareness. </p>
<p>Thanks to anyone who gives me a thorough and honest evaluation!</p>
<p>Well, I can’t tell if you’re incredulous because I said some sort of awful joke or if you’re just amused of the fact I brought upon a ridiculous topic. </p>
<p>Either way, just to clarify, I included DDR cause it’s a favorite hobby of mine that I’ve spent a lot of time on. I picked up the idea of mentioning it from a chance thread someone who talked about guitar hero (guy got eventually accepted to Princeton), and maybe thought it would give more insight about me. Guess it wasn’t a good idea to mention it, apparently. All I wanted was someone to approximate my chances.</p>
<p>Gee don’t be so touchy. It is a rather strange thing to see, and I can imagine why someone wouldn’t take it seriously; and if you honestly can’t tell why someone would be confused that you mentioned DDR on a college resume…then idk actually. >_>
Anyway I don’t know much myself, but based on what everyone else says I’d say the only thing you need to worry about are EC’s. The rest gives you a very good shot IMO.</p>
<p>Your GPA is good and class rank does help. Yes I do suggest you retake the ACT because that 26 on science doesn’t look good at all. I think the only thing that might hinder you is your EC’s. You don’t have a lot of it out there.</p>
<p>I am a Chinese female living on the Eastern coast.
GPA: 3.89 UW, rank = ?, 5-10%?
SAT (three times, so I can’t retake) highest: 670 CR, 800 M, 800 W with a 12 essay = 2270 total, I’m not submitting this (or should I?).
ACT (one time–is there any way I can show that I’ve only taken it once?): 35 composite; 36 English, 35 math, 33 reading, 36 science, 9 essay
SAT IIs: USH 760, Chemistry 770, Math I 750 (I’m taking Math II in November with Chinese) (not submitting these either?)</p>
<p>I’ve taken all Honors/AP classes when avaliable, will have taken two community college classes by December.
USH: 5; ENGLANG: 5; BC: 4, 5 AB subscore; CHEM 5 </p>
<p>I have a solid, active role in four clubs (clubs, not competative teams…so I haven’t entered any competitions, etc), leadership positions in three of the clubs, and some local leadership/academic awards. </p>
<p>I’ve had two internships and a part time job. </p>
<p>Teacher recs = good/great, and my essays are going to be pretty great (I hope). </p>
<p>I’m applying for financial aid.
Regular decision.</p>
<p>White Female
Class Rank: top 5%
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 4.00/4.42
Residence: New Jersey</p>
<p>SATs: 2320 CR-760 Math-780 Writing-780
SATIIs: US History 790
BIO 750 (will retake)
Math2 will take in October
APs: taken 3 so far, all 5s APUSH, Bio, Eng Lang</p>
<p>Senior year rigorous schedule planned - all APs</p>
<p>School ECs:
Editor in Chief of School Paper (Junior Editor last year)
Secretary of NHS
Secretary of Band
Marching Band 4 years (Section Leader this year)
First flute in Band all 4 years
NJ Area Band
NJ Regional Band and Orchestra
NJ All State Band</p>
<p>Outside school:
Attend Pre-College Music program in NYC all year long - Principal Flute in the orchestra for 2 years and Honors Program Senior year
Principal flute and piccolo for Sound Of America European Tour Summer 2008
Principal flute Kinhaven Music School Summer 2009
Principal flute of Bergen Youth Orchestra - Sophomore year</p>
<p>Community Service:
Tutored a special needs child every week during my frosh and soph years.<br>
**I am afraid that I don’t have enough community service to get into a school like Duke. What do you think?</p>
<p>Why? Did they change the maximum score of SAT IIs since when I took then in '06?</p>
<p>I think (and I hope you know) you have an excellent chance of getting in. Your academic numbers are very good and your E.C.s show both breadth and depth. You have clearly shown an interest in a variety of subjects and the dedication to get involved deeply.</p>
<p>As for the community service, I personally believe that community service is not as large a piece of the application as others do. Don’t get me wrong - helping out in your community is extremely important and having a significant amount of it will help in a college application, but I do not think it will break your application. It is understandable that as you got towards the end of H.S. you focused on more things related to your E.C.s.</p>
<p>ECs: Cricket captain (6 years club, 2 years international); 1st place regionally. 2nd place internationally
Varsity Basketball (4 years); 1st place regionally, 3rd place internationally
MUN (4 years); ambassador, delegate, main submitter
NHS (2 years); member and head of tutoring
Amnesty international (2 years); vice president and activities director
Forensics and Debate (2 years); serious duet acting and oratory speaking</p>
<p>it is not a criticism or anything, just an interesting disparity between two people that seem to be sensible.</p>
<p>First, a reminder of the basic stats…</p>
<p>“Originally Posted by Nigiri
GPA UW 3.75 Weighted GPA higher of course
Not in the top 10% of his class, just below
SATI M 740 CR 800 WR 670 (not sure if he is going to retake)
SATII CHEM 740 US 740
AP EXAMS - CHEM 4, HIST 5”</p>
<p>Then your response…
“These stats are pretty good. I think you don’t really need to retake anything unless you want to (if you do, try to get that writing to a 700+). You don’t have much EC’s. I think you have a good chance. If you think Duke will be your first choice, apply ED.”</p>
<p>I can read between the lines that it is a stretch, and I think it is…but here is a response to a similar query, and I guess I’d like to hear your thoughts on this…</p>
<p>“As a Virginia parent of four high school graduates who have gone through the college admissions process (and applied to many of the same schools that you are considering)…I’d label Duke and Cornell as out of your son’s league without question and every other school on your list except _____ as pretty high reaches. Neither Duke nor Cornell will accept any non-minority, non-athlete applicant from any Virginia public high school (other than a magnet school like TJ) who does not back up his high SATs with either a ranking in the top handful in the class, extraordinary ECs, or both. It just doesn’t happen. Being a legacy could make a difference but Im betting it won’t.”</p>
<p>and thank you for this extended chances thread, which is a great idea.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, I can clearly see that your son (I’m taking it) has an interest in Duke and there is no reason why he should not apply because somebody else said it is “out of your reach”. I really disagree with the “neither Duke nor Cornell will accept any non-minority, non-athlete applicant from any Virginia public high school” essentially because the person totally did not look at your post (three varsities = non-athlete?). Just because his children didn’t get in doesn’t mean your son won’t. Plus I think being varsity at a public school is much better than being varsity at a private school because there is a bigger selection of athletes and there is more competition to get onto varsity. If he is captain, that makes it better with more leadership. </p>
<p>Yes his GPA might not be the best but it’s in the A range (how many Bs did he get?). If he likes music (which it looks like he does), I STRONGLY recommend he send in a artistic supplement as it helps quite a bit (from what I have seen): [Duke</a> University Admissions: How to Apply](<a href=“http://admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/apply-artistic.html]Duke”>http://admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/apply-artistic.html). If Duke is his first choice, I advise him apply ED, if you are worried about financial aid, then apply RD. I also advise him to work hard during his senior year and see if he can fit in some volunteering during the last bit of summer/first semester of the senior year to boost his ECs a bit (he really does need to boost it). This also applies to Cornell (which I do have a little sense that he might have a better chance at)…</p>
<p>cdz12, Yes it is my son. I really don’t know how many B’s he got, but it was one semester of Bs that dropped him out of top 10% of class. I teach at a major U, and he would easily be in the top 10% here, so there is the irony.</p>
<p>Anyway, his interest in Duke is casual, but there because it is a regional, I was a grad school alum, and it is objectively an attractive place.</p>
<p>I interview Duke prospectives as an alum volunteer. I found that a bit discouraging because I saw the letter perfect people get in and the intellectually driven creative types get rejected. It was a small sample size, but opened my eyes to the fact that a second tier place with a bit of an edge to it might fit him best. That is his business.</p>
<p>With respect to ECs, I may have undersold them a bit. They are not impressive, but he is an interesting person who I admire. For example, his HS does not have a debate/politics club, so he starts one. He does not star in school plays, but writes and leads skits for school spirit events and such. He was told he could not run for class office without taking the school leadership course, but that conflicted with Jazz Band, and he refused to accept that one had to drop jazz piano to express leadership, so he petitioned the principle to change the requirements. In my opinion, that is leadership. He does some obvious things (French Club, help the homeless an hour here and there), but has mostly taken on things that he is excited about.</p>
<p>I really appreciate your thoughts. It is my style to try to be informed, but not controlling in these matters.</p>
<p>He should mention some of the activities he has done in school, they sound very interesting I have to say. Staring a debate club is actually pretty big (and I don’t say that a lot). Here is why. Debate club is a competitive club (that’s if they attend competitions). Most people I see start clubs that are non-competitive and just obviously for fun and so they can write about it on their college app. Debate club is a very popular club so if he starts one, it is much better than somebody who starts a club such as “game club”.</p>
Send in chemistry and APUSH SAT II tests. Send in both your SAT/ACT (it won’t hurt because they both are in the middle 50% and good). Your dwindling on your ECs tough. Overall, you have a good chance.</p>
<p>ECs: Cricket captain (6 years club, 2 years international); 1st place regionally. 2nd place internationally
Varsity Basketball (4 years); 1st place regionally, 3rd place internationally
MUN (4 years); ambassador, delegate, main submitter
NHS (2 years); member and head of tutoring
Amnesty international (2 years); vice president and activities director
Forensics and Debate (2 years); serious duet acting and oratory speaking</p>