Updated Engineering ED Chances Please - Am I being realistic here >_>

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Applying ED to Bioengineering</p>

<p>Cali/Male/Asian</p>

<p>1st generation to go to college in USA
born outside USA
One of the most competitive schools in Cali (1H, 1Y, 1P, 2S this year, 6-7 to each UC, 1UPenn, 1JHU, 1Cornell)
68/646 until 1st semes Junior year (10.5%).. awaiting 2nd semes. rank (will go up into or very very close to 10%)</p>

<p>GPA: Apparently Duke has no formula to calculate GPA so here are my grades (Do +/- count for anything?)</p>

<p>H = Honors</p>

<ul>
<li><p>9th (yea I really screwed up 9th grade... moved here from MN & the classes were wayy more advanced here in CA - I'll try to talk about that in my essay)
H Global Studies/Health A- / A-
Eng A / A
Bio A / B+
Span 1 A / B
Marching Band/Symphonic Band A / A
H Geometry B+ / B
PE A / A</p></li>
<li><p>Summer @ local CC
H Alg. II A</p></li>
<li><p>10th
Span 2 B+ / A-
Phys A / A
Marching Band/Wind Symphony A / A
H Eng B+ / B+
Chem A / A
H PreCalc A / A
AP World Hist. C+ / B-</p></li>
<li><p>Summer @ local CC
H US Hist. A</p></li>
<li><p>11th
AP Phys A / B
Marching Band/Wind Symphony A / A
AP Calc A / A
AP Eng Lang. & Comp. B- / B-
CS A+ / A
Span 3 A- / A</p></li>
<li><p>12th
AP Stat.
AP Bio
AP Eng Lit.
AP Gov. & MacroEcon
AP CS
Marching Band/Wind Ensemble II</p></li>
</ul>

<p>SAT: Superscore 2140; 2100 (640CR, 720W, 740M), 2100 (600CR, 720W, 780M), retaking for 2250+</p>

<p>SAT II: MathIIc 800, Phys 750 (retaking), Bio (pending)
APs: Calc BC (5), Calc AB Subscore (5), Eng Lang. (3), Phys Mech (3), Phys E&M (3), World History (3)</p>

<p>ECs:
Piano - 7yrs, Marching Band - 4yrs (Instrument for 6yrs)
Bio-related Research Internship - current summer, Siemens/Intel - (pending), Local Science Fair - (pending)
Math Club - 4yrs, Riddle Club - 2yrs (President)
Website Design both commercially & for non-profit organizations (ie. school band, ptsa, teachers, chinese school, etc.) - countless hours
Chinese school student council committee chair - 1 year
Volunteer @ local museum, thrift store - many hours during summer</p>

<p>Pretty much increasing GPA trend from 10th - I'll be busting my ass of 1st semes. of 12th
Had an ugly cold on my 2nd SAT retake which explains for same score.. should do much better next time</p>

<p>Thanks very much!</p>

2

<p>Get the SAT up and you have a good shot, class rank sort of hurts but isn't that bad.</p>

3

<p>How would you rate "good shot" in terms of far-reach, reach, slight-reach, match, etc.</p>

<p>And my GPA is pretty bad, especially with 9th. Won't I get pwned for that?</p>

<p>More chances please! Thanks!</p>

4

<p>i believe the appropriate euphemism would be <em>dinged</em></p>

<p>i dont know... noone really knows... everyone is on the border...</p>

5

<p>don't bank on it. but i dont know how i got in, so you definitely have a chance.</p>

6

<p>Suggest you retake the SAT and consider the ACT. Some do better on one than the other; you may surprise yourself.</p>

<p>You'll want kicker recs and essays.</p>

7

<p>It's a tough call. Applying ED will definitely improve your chances (~30% acceptance ED vs. ~18% acceptance RD). In addition, Duke saw a decline in the number of applicants expressing interest in the engineering school last year so they may want to maximize on the ED pool.</p>

<p>As others have mentioned, it might help to retake the SAT (but only if you can improve your verbal score as it is almost 100 points below the mean). Otherwise, you may want to consider the ACT as an option. The writing, math, and subject test scores are fine.</p>

<p>From what I see, the biggest hurdle appears to be your grades. Unfortunately, this is also one of the factors that, if you apply ED, cannot be improved since decisions are made before first semester ends. Most (over 90%) of matriculating students are in the top 10% of their class. For classes that you did not do particularly well in, you might want to identify the problem(s) that you faced and discuss them as you've mentioned. That will show maturity and that you've learned something from the experience.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me: <a href="mailto:w.lee@duke.edu">w.lee@duke.edu</a></p>

8

<p>I wouldn't retake the physics SAT unless you really think you'll get an 800 no question. Even then, hardly worth it.</p>

9

<p>i agree... i'm not sure it matters all that much</p>

10

<p>yeah, I doubt Duke looked at my SAT IIs except to see that i went above and beyond and took them</p>

<p>be yourself in your essay. i think that makes a huge difference</p>

11

<p>definitely be yourself in the essay. they can smell ******** a mile away at duke and tend to take people who are interesting and well-rounded. i wrote mine about surfing and got in.</p>

<p>work on your SAT's and class rank.</p>

<p>ultimately, i would call duke a moderate reach for you. your class rank is something of a liability (you say your school is hard but 3/year at hyp is by no means exceptional for high schools) and your SAT does nothing to back you up. you should definitely apply though! good luck!</p>

12

<p>yea.. there are not many high schools in the country where you can expect to get into a top school from out of the top 10%</p>