<p>I just went and visited Duke, and I loved it, but I'm worried about my chances of getting in.</p>
<p>I'm currently a junior at a very small private school in Maryland (approximately 40 kids in my graduating class.)</p>
<p>GPA: right now it's a 3.8 weighted, but it should go up to around a 4.0 after this semester, plus even higher next year. </p>
<p>Schedule: 3 APs so far, got a 4 on the AP European History test, and am taking APUSH and AP Lang right now. I plan on taking AP Calc, Ap Lit, Ap Government, and AP Music theory next year. Compared to the rest of my classmates, i hae one of the 3 or 4 hardest schedules in my grade.</p>
<p>ECS: </p>
<p>3 years varsity soccer (will be 4)
3 years varsity lacrosse (will be 4)
2 years jv basketball and 1 year of varsity
been in the musical and play freshman and sophomore year
did tech crew and am running the box office this year
play in my school's jazz band and am the leading soloist
I play 10 instruments (counting all 4 types of sax)
I worked at a Camp for underprivileged kids in the community for the past two summer, over 300 hours of community service.
Tri-M Music Honor's Society president
Class President
Member of the National Honor's Society
I will also have 6 hours of college credit from the NOLS trip I am doing this summer</p>
<p>SATS: 2130
790 reading, 610 math, and 730 writing
33 ACT, with a 36 in the reading section</p>
<p>Do you think I have a shot? I think my Ecs are good, but i'm worried about my GPA being too low.</p>
<p>Can’t say. Duke has its own reasons for accepting candidates . Sometimes we find people getting rejected even if they had scored exceptionally well.</p>
<p>Your Math Score is low indeed.</p>
<p>Well yeah, but I’m not trying for the engineering school, so I figured that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Math is not really my strong suit, as you can probably tell.</p>
<p>You look strong, definitely try to raise your math score or maybe try to raise your ACT by a point or two if you can. If not a 33 is still a great score, but a higher score is obviously better, probably not by that much though once you hit a certain point. Anyway, you look qualified, is Duke your top choice? If so, consider Early Decision, it really helps.</p>
<p>Yes, Duke is by far my first choice. My only issue with applying early is that my GPA is low, and that I could maybe benefit from them seeing my first sememster grades next year, which I can definitely make all A’s and would definitely help my GPA. If I apply early, can they see my first quarter grades?</p>
<p>For ED they see your first quarter grades and if you are deferred they will see your second quarter grades too. I got in ED with under a 4.0 weighted, so its definitely possible, end this year strong and start off next year on the right foot. Personally, I think the ED boost will be better than one more quarter of good grades, but obviously I am not an adcom. If you have a chance to be admitted in their eyes but they think your GPA is a tad low they would defer you and then see your second quarter grades.</p>
<p>Your GPA isn’t ideal but I don’t think it will weigh you down either… Standardized scores help colleges guess about how much (or how little) grade inflation occurs. And on that note, I really really encourage you to study for the SAT math section and take it again! It is theoretically the easiest section to study for, since critical reading and writing skills are developed over a very long period of time. Based on your CR score, it’s apparent that you obviously have the aptitude to make a similar score in math.</p>
<p>That 3.8 is not weighted right or is it a private school score?</p>
<p>Yes, it is weighted, but I do go to a private school. In a class of 40 kids, I probably rank around 5 in terms of gpa.</p>