<p>Regarding ECs: it’s more about quality than quantity! </p>
<p>Aren’t those ECs good enough? :S</p>
<p>and will my ACT score really bring me down that much? What should I aim for on the act in order to give myself a decent chance?</p>
<p>Hey everybody, I would really appreciate any feedback/tips/comments on my chances for Duke 2014</p>
<p>Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian
School: Pratt</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.99
Rank: 2/200
SAT: 2270 (740M, 730CR, 800W) (I have no clue why my Math is so low; I should be able to raise it.)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chem, 790 US History
Junior APs: 5 BC Calc, 5 APUSH, 5 AP Chem</p>
<p>Important ECs:
- Student Gov. (Class VP and now Student Council VP)
- Editor in Chief of Yearbook
- Lacrosse (2 years Varsity, 1 JV)
- NASA internship (resulting in co-authorship on a published research paper)
- Others that I may/may not include on app: MUN, Investment Club</p>
<p>Awards:
- Student of Year awards for various classes
- Perfect Score National Latin Exam (2x), Gold Medal (3x)
- Various MUN Awards
- National Merit (probably) Finalist</p>
<p>Service:
- A lot of service for my school through Student Ambassadors, NHS, Peer Tutoring
- Habitat for Humanity Service Trip</p>
<p>Additional Note:
- I’m taking Multivariable Calc this year which (crossing fingers) could give me a nice boost for Pratt admissions</p>
<p>Edit: Ballin@theBubble, I think your ECs are fantastic. IMO the Cricket club would make for a very interesting essay since cricket is not very common here. As for your overall chances, I can’t really comment because I don’t know much about how international admissions works. However, I suspect that if you can raise that ACT to maybe a 32-33 you have as good of a chance as anyone.</p>
<p>
Well your EC’s don’t really set you apart that much. Here is why: Model UN, NHS, Amnesty International and Forensic&Debate are literally the most common and popular clubs nation wide and the most common clubs that applicants join. So if I was a adcom and I read that you have those clubs, your no different from the other hundreds and thousands of applicants. NHS is the most common club pretty much. Model UN isn’t that far behind. Forensic & Debate is extremely popular and Amnesty International is too. Just look at some of the people on College Confidential, I have seen numerous ones. As for basketball you know Duke is known for it’s basketball but it’s not bad that you have invested a lot of time into it. Cricket I honestly don’t know, it’s quite unique though, I have never see cricket in the US. Well your ACT isn’t going to bring you down a lot. But since your international, your competitng against people who are extremely strong in academics and ECs (numerous awards, numerous ECs). That’s why I say your application is not that impressive (except cricket).
PS. are you apply for FA?</p>
<p>mvmanno, SAT and GPA is good (honestly, you don’t need to retake them). You have good leadership (Student government and Editor in Chief). However, other than that, you don’t really have much ECs (though I like the NASA research). Unless you have a lot of community service. You have a good chance for Pratt.</p>
<p>cdz,</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I do have a handful of other ECs to complement those, but I just listed those that were most prominent. I am trying to be somewhat cautious about coming off as someone with a huge “laundry list” of generic ECs.</p>
<p>cdz,</p>
<p>Stop being so hard on everyone’s ECs here. Serious involvement in 2 or 3 extracurricular activities in high school along with a strong academic record is more than enough to get into Duke. This isn’t Harvard you know. </p>
<p>ballin@thebubble,</p>
<p>I think your ECs are great. Don’t emphasize MUN or Debate/Forensics if you merely attended conferences and don’t have any delegate/speaker awards or major leadership positions in these organizations though. Your involvement in basketball, cricket and Amnesty International are great though. I think you have above average extracurricular activities than most Duke students.</p>
<p>Your admissions will come down to essays and recommendation letters I believe. It would definitely be to your advantage to raise your ACT score to at least 32 though so you have no glaring weakness whatsoever stats wise on your application.</p>
<p>mvmanno,
Duke is a match for you and I would be very surprised if you didn’t get admitted. If you apply ED, I think your chances over 90% You still have a very solid shot if you apply RD though.</p>
<p>I think your extracurricular involvement is great. varsity lax, student government VP and editor in chief of the year book…I am very impressed.</p>
<p>
Ahhh I see. Really emphasize that NASA internship (PS. I want to read the paper :))</p>
<p>Will do. Paper should be out in September-ish, although I don’t know how long it takes to go through that process. It won’t be a very entertaining read though unfortunately.</p>
<p>Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Asian
Major: Biology?
Career goal: Medicine?
High School: Public, very competitive. IB school</p>
<p>Scores:
GPA: 3.94 unweighted, 4.70 weighted
Class Rank: we don’t rank. top 10% estimated
PSAT: 222
SAT: 2400
SAT II: Math 2 (770), Chemistry (760), Biology (730, took freshman year), taking Spanish in October</p>
<p>AP English Lit: 5
AP European History: 4
AP US History: 5
AP BC Calculus: 5
AP Music Theory: 4
AP Chemistry: 5
AP US Government: 5
AP Comparative Government: 4
IB SL Math: 7 (out of 7)
IB SL Spanish: 6</p>
<p>Senior Year Schedule:
IB HL English
IB HL History
IB Economics
AP Statistics
Theory of Knowledge (IB required course)
IB HL Biology (double period)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
- Tons of community service in helping the homeless. Held leadership position in student-led organization for 3 years.
- Piano: played for ~13 years. private lessons, yearly state-level competitions and multiple awards
- School newspaper: Section editor (11th, 12th)
- Flute: played for ~7 years. private lessons, HS Marching band & Wind Ensemble, County Honors Band
- Vice-president of Tri-M Music honor society
- National Honor Society
- Paid Summer Internship at National Institutes of Health (2008 and 2009)
- Tutor, both for money and as a volunteer for small children.</p>
<p>Awards/Honors:
- National AP Scholar (for 8 APs +)
- The President’s Volunteer Service Award, Bronze Level
- Multiple small state-level piano awards.</p>
<p>That’s everything of importance i think. Oh, and i’m thinking of applying ED. I know my EC’s aren’t spectacular. Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Just wondering, why do you want to be chanced? There is no point in chancing somebody with stats like yours. Your pretty much already know that answer. 3.94 GPA, 2400 SAT, National AP scholar etc.? (what I am saying is that you really don’t need to be asking for “chances” when you have like good ECs, good GPA, and a perfect SAT–execept Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton maybe). Your pretty much a match.</p>
<p>cdz, agreed. As I see it, there really is no such a thing as estimating your chances as much as identifying, among the things one can control, how can the record be improved. If the record is immaculate, then there is nothing much to say.</p>
<p>Some of these college entrance records baffle me. Sometimes the people are just special, but other times there are college entrance machines that have been at this for years. I find that sad, and very exclusive…it is no surprise that adcoms look for people with disadvantages and unique talents; if it were a numbers game their freshman classes would look pretty homogeneous.</p>
<p>I will also say that some students on here have truly remarkable levels of accomplishment, regardless of how that is achieved. It is really impressive.</p>
<p>It would be cool, if somebody good chance me:</p>
<p>I am an international student, Asian from Germany:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/745578-what-colleges-should-asian-germany-look-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/745578-what-colleges-should-asian-germany-look-chance-back.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>ED gives you a good shot at getting in versus RD in this case I believe. The whole piano and tutoring thing + being from California gives you a …how do i say this? stereotypical asian vibe lol. Make your essays distinguish you, 'cause your ECs won’t so much.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>kat1e: Good shot but thats about all I can say to pretty much anyone after seeing the results thread for last year’s admission round. Your stats are solid but it really is a crapshoot for everyone now. ED would probably boost your chances and i would honestly be a little surprised if you werent admitted in the early round as this takes a bit of the randomness out of the process. Keep in mind however that ED is a big committment and you should consider it carefully alongside your parents. Regardless your application is solid and you have a good chance at being admitted-- just write good essays and make sure the subjective areas of your app are nice.</p>
<p>And if your willing to accept what ever Financial Aid offer you get.
Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>i’m not from california but i definitely get that i come off as stereotypically asian =| thanks for the chance</p>
<p>Sex: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Major: BME
Career goal: Medicine
High School: Private school in NC, competitive</p>
<p>Scores:
GPA: 3.89 unweighted, 4.61 weighted
Class Rank: rank by percentages. I’m in the top 10%, probably closer to 8%.
SAT: -2140 (740 m, 730 w, 670 cr)
-2230 (690 m, 800w, 740 cr)</p>
<p>SAT II: Math 2 (800), Chemistry (790)</p>
<p>AP Macroeconomics: 5
AP US: 5
AP Chem: 5</p>
<p>Senior Year Schedule:</p>
<p>AP Latin
AP Calc BC
AP Biology
Honors Physics
AP Language and Composition</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:</p>
<p>100+ hours community service each year; 9th grade Food Shuttle, 10th Hospital, 11th Hospital
Research Job at Duke 11th grade summer, 5 weeks 30-40 hours per week
Sports: 9th- JV soccer + JV Lacrosse, 10th- Varsity Soccer+ JV Lacrosse, 11th- Varsity Soccer, 12th- Varsity Soccer
On a team that is going to run in a 197 mile relay race (I do 17 miles) and raised over $20,000 for the American Cancer Society
Jazz Band (9th + 10th)
Clubs: Key Club (9, 10, 11), Habitat for Humanity (11), Rubik’s Club (10, 11)</p>
<p>Awards/Honors: Made Honor Roll every quarter
National Latin Honors Society (9,10,11)
Presidential Community Service Award- Bronze Level (9,10,11)
Junior Marshall (top 10% of class)
Cum Laude Society </p>
<p>Comments:
I really have not had any major leadership roles which I know is a weakness, because of that I did not apply for NHS this past year but probably should have looking back because I probably would have gotten in anyway</p>
<p>thanks in advance</p>
<p>Duke is my top choice, and although I’ll only be a junior, I plan on applying Early Decision!</p>
<p>Nationality: Ugandan (first generation college student)
Gender: Female
Home state: New York
*(my family income is $70,000 -do you think i’ll get sufficient aid?)</p>
<p>SAT - 2220
SAT II - US History: 780, English: 780
GPA - 4.0</p>
<p>Freshman Year - Honors English
Sophomore Year - Honors English, Honors Chemistry
Junior Year - Honors Trigonometry, AP US History, AP Language
Senior Year - Honors Precalculus, Honors Economics, Honors Government, AP European History, AP Biology, AP Literature</p>
<ul>
<li>I’m captain of the varsity field hockey team since sophomore year</li>
<li>President of the Human Rights Club</li>
<li>Vice President of SADD</li>
<li>Secretary of the Youth Against Racism club</li>
<li>Also in Student Government, Youth Leadership, and Lions Club</li>
<li>Over 1000 hours of volunteer at the local hospital</li>
</ul>
<p>“Just wondering, why do you want to be chanced? There is no point in chancing somebody with stats like yours. Your pretty much already know that answer. 3.94 GPA, 2400 SAT, National AP scholar etc.? (what I am saying is that you really don’t need to be asking for “chances” when you have like good ECs, good GPA, and a perfect SAT–execept Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton maybe). Your pretty much a match.”</p>
<p>didn’t see that post before, but in reply to that, yes i know that statistics wise i am fine, however i was looking more at how strong the subjective parts of my application are (ECs, awards, etc.). plus it never hurts to get some opinions even if i think i know what i am doing. thanks again.</p>
<p>
Really I think you have a good overall stats for Duke. Write a killer essay and ace your interview and you have a wonderful chance. Apply ED if it’s your first choice. </p>
<p>
Just wondering, why do you want to do BME before going to med school? You know that doing BME can (not will) but it does have a big potential to hurt your GPA. And the fact that med school admissions don’t really care about your major won’t give you a boost. But if you want to go to med school, I think that BME can hurt your grades a bit (though I totally can see why you would do BME). (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t go into BME. BME is a wonderful subject. This was an advise I got from a BME student).
Anyways, your GPA is good. Your SAT IIs are wonderful. Your SAT I is a tiny bit of a drag. What I mean is that your Math score (690) isn’t exactly the best if you want to go into Pratt. But nonetheless, your SAT is fine. Your EC’s are quite scattered, there isn’t really a clear focus of your interest (though I like the research job, it will help, what did you do?). You definitely have a good chance, it is not out of your reach. Apply ED if Duke is your first choice. </p>
<p>
Wait wait wait. Relay that back to me. You will be a junior in high school? And you plan on apply ED? HUH? You can’t do that.
Okay, lets consider this if you are going to be a senior. Your SAT scores and GPA are good. I think what will hinder you is the fact that you haven’t took AP Calc yet (I mean it won’t hurt a lot but I think that it might because you are competing against kids who have taken AP calc). You have wonderful leadership I have to say. You have a good chance. Apply ED!</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!!!</p>