What are my chances of getting into Duke University?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I recently applied to Duke University during regular decision and wanted to get a perspective. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Academics:
<em>end of junior year, subject to go up after this semester ends</em>
5/535 (~ top 1% of class)
Unweighted GPA: 3.75
Weighted GPA: 4.8889</p>

<p>Freshman Year Courses:</p>

<p>French I
French II
World History (Honors)
Geometry (Honors)
Apparel Development I
English I (Honors)
Biology (Honors)
Physical Education
Algebra II (Honors) </p>

<p>Sophomore Year Courses:</p>

<p>AP Environmental Science
AP Statistics
Anatomy & Physiology (Honors)
Pre-Calculus (Honors)
French III (Honors)
Civics & Economics (Honors)
English II (Honors)
Chemistry (Honors)
Calculus (Honors) </p>

<p>Junior Year Courses:</p>

<p>AP Biology
Research Methods & Techniques (Honors)
AP Chemistry
AP English Literature & Composition
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics
French IV (Honors)
AP Human Geography </p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:
AP English Literature & Composition
AP Psychology
AP Government & Politics
AP European History
US History (Honors)
Introduction to College Math (Honors)
Holocaust & Genocide (Honors)
French V (Honors)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
<em>these are in no particular order of importance</em>
1. National Honors Society
2. National French Honors Society (historian) (helped out Haitian refugees)
3. Environmental Club (treasurer, vice president) (started a recycling clothing fundraiser, school supply drive, refurbished school garden, and cleaned up a local river, adopted a polar bear)
4. Volunteered at a soup kitchen
5. Art Instructor to children in my community
6. Swim Instructor to children in my community
7. Captain of Bollywood Dance Team
8. Tutoring peers in Anatomy, French, Geometry, and Physics at school
9. Volunteered at a medical camp in Jammu/Kashmir
10. Volunteered at a regional hospital
11. Clinical Coordinator/Volunteer at a behavioral institute
12. Research Project on how Organic compounds affect the longevity of fruit fly life</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>AP Scholar with Distinction (12)
50 Hour Volunteer Award at Hospital (10)
Gold Presidential Service Award (9, 10, 11, 12)
National Honors Society/French National Honors Society (10/11)
Certificate of Success in Le Grand Concours (9,10, 11)</p>

<p>Test Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 33</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Do I even have a chance, or am I doomed for the beginning lol? Be as harsh as possible! Thank you</p>

2

<p>I applied to the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, sorry I forgot to mention that!</p>

3

<p>66 Views and not one response guys? come on now…help a fellow out.</p>

<p>I’m an Asian female, Indian to be specific. I live in North Carolina also.</p>

<p>How does that impact my chance?</p>

4

<p>holocaust and genocide? you learn how to be a Syrian dictator or something? Zing. You got a good shot. Its a match. However being Indian will hurt you. Try to play down any ECs that make you look more Asian. Make yourself look rich, but not Asian. Its popular misconception that colleges like poor people. They like rich people. The race thing however is unfortunately true. Being Asian or white hurts.</p>

5

<p>Ah…I guess affirmative action, if I’m politically correct, does hurt one’s chances. Except for being captain of a Bollywood dance team and writing my CommonApp essay about my experiences in Kashmir, I didn’t really emphasize the fact that I was Asian. </p>

<p>In my essay of why I wanted to go to Duke, I mentioned the following:
-in state convenience
-located near Durham
-Neuroscience/Psychology Program</p>

<p>In my essay asking to briefly elaborate on an extracurricular experience, I talked about my hospital volunteering. </p>

<p>Does anyone want to read my essays? I could PM them to you.</p>

6

<p>Low Reach, you know colleges hate stories about volunteering right? Lol.</p>

<p>[Do</a> you even chance?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1591336-do-you-even-chance-bro-ucs-private-schools.html]Do”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1591336-do-you-even-chance-bro-ucs-private-schools.html)</p>

7

<p>Id work on showing a connection between all your volunteer work so it doesnt seem as scattered (in your essays). I think duke wont be a problem for you though</p>

8

<p>@menacing,</p>

<p>Talk about harsh…no one’s opinions on CC are completely correct. How do you know that they hate stories about volunteering? I talked about how two of my most significant volunteering experiences tie together (the hospital and behavioral health institute). Mind you, you haven’t read the essay. You can’t tell me that a college will hate or love it.</p>

9

<p>dont listen to menacing, colleges really just wanna hear passion for somehting whether it be volunteering or sports. menacing might be refering to those people who simply write about volunteering when its clearly evident its just for college.</p>

10

<p>Perhaps he/she was. Hopefully I made it compelling though! What do you guys think of the stats, though?</p>

11

<p>I’d say you have a pretty good shot. Of course with Duke, you never know what it takes to get in. Did you apply anywhere else?</p>

12

<p>I applied to Brown (but got deferred), a couple accelerated med programs in New York, UNC Chapel Hill, and Columbia haha.</p>

13

<p>I’m sure there isn’t a single correct opinion in the world, hence it’s why it’s an opinion i.e. how I see things. I’m sure you spun your essay into something not utterly cliched and boring, something admissions will love. I can see why you’d get defensive though.</p>

14

<p>Why is your rank so high and your unweighted GPA so low?</p>

15

<p>I suspect OP’s school weights class rank hence it’s based on weighted GPA (smartest idea in the world in my honest opinion since it accounts for rigor)</p>

16

<p>Exactly, it’s based on weighted GPA. Not unweighted.</p>

17

<p>I have no idea what you mean.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.75</p>

<p>What does this stand for? I am assuming you have several grades less than an A.</p>

18

<p>She’s giving us her unweighted and her weighted GPA as a point of reference for those of us not used to weighted GPAs. But odds are she probably reported her weighted GPA and class rank to colleges. She has many grades below an A but she’s taken numerous honors and AP classes which has buffed her weighted so high that she’s that high in class rank. At most schools, having both of these GPAs is meant to allow students to pick which GPA they wish to report.</p>

19

<p>whartondreamer - there is only one way to do unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>Not sure why you need to explain it for her.</p>

20

<p>Hey guys…</p>

<p>You’re right, there’s only one way to do unweighted GPA. However, weighted and unweighted GPAs are different. My weighted is going to demonstrate the rigor of classes I’ve taken—honors, standard, or AP—my unweighted is going to show basically the ratio of A’s and B’s I’ve gotten. Hopefully that makes sense…</p>