happyman2

Just to clear up a few misconceptions:

1)Penn is not 'rumored' to accept 40% of its class ED. It does accept 50% of its class ED.

2) After reading the entire post it seems as though the OP is insinuating that Duke is a 'poorer' school than Penn. OP, I find your assertion to be without merit and patently absurd if not down right outrageous. A high school senior with a 1900 SAT should not have the audacity to call a school of Duke's calibre 'poor' (if that is really what you meant). Dukies love their alma mater, and although your odds of getting admitted are slim to none, I would hate for Duke to be tainted with a student with your mentality. You'd probably be better off going to Penn (although I think you'd have to be extremely fortunate to be admitted to either school).

Bill73

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but with an ACT score of 30 and a class ranking in the upper 1%, you aren't an exceptional candidate for either Duke or Penn.

I went to the University of Illinois, and the middle 50% of incoming freshman in the College of Engineering there scored between a 30 and 34 on their ACT. In other words, you would be in the lower 25% of all admitted engineers at a school that isn't as well regarded as Penn or Duke.

Good luck with the process, but I would encourage you to apply to your state's flagship university as a safety school. You'd be amazed at how many students at those schools are walking around campus with 30+ ACT scores, so it wouldn't be a "poor" choice.

Fickle

Overly defensive much? The OP clearly was not calling Duke (or Penn) a "poor" school. Maybe you should read that first post again.

Also, someone suggested to the OP that he write about his poor test taking skills in his app. I think that's a terrible, terrible idea. Admissions officers don't want to hear a (even implied) rant about how the whole process is unfair to students who don't test well. You'll come off as overly defensive or whiny. Just take some more prep courses and try to bring your scores up, because they're quite mediocre.

cc123sb

Keep in mind:

If you apply to Penn ED, you will have to send ALL of your scores.

If you apply to Duke ED, you only have to send your improved scores (assuming you bump them up).

Jara123

The person who thought the suggestion that you write about your poor scoreswas a bad one totally failed to understand what I meant.

NOT to complain about the unfairness of the tests. But to explain how even though you test poorly you see that as a challenge not an obstacle. My niece had scores and class rank similiar to yours. She wrote about how she had to petition to gain access to Honors and AP classes during high school (beacause placement decisions were made based on standarized tests) About how that her to able to focus on her strengths and convey that to others. How it made her reach out to other students in a similiar sitaution to find ways to do the same. She was admitted to 3 of the 5 Ivy's she applied to.

patriotsfan1

true for Duke you only have to send your best scores, not all of them. I still think you need to improve a little in the test taking side though, but if you apply to Penn and send all your scores (like you need to, apparently Penn isn't one where you can send just your best) the multiple attempts with low scores will hurt you

Fickle

@Jara: OP has a perfect GPA and is ranked first in his class. Your niece's situation is not at all like the OP's. There's quite a big differene between passionately fighting to get into challenging classes and doing poorly on a standardized test.

Jara123

My neice was also Valdictorian with poor test scores. As I said in my post "My niece had scores and class rank similiar to yours.
She had to fight to get into Honors AP classes BECAUSE of her history of poor standerdized test scores. If the OP has a similiar experience...like not being thought of as smart by teachers or other students intially that could tell a good story.

patriotsfan1

When you have high grades and then low standardized test scores, a red flag is raised IMHO about school quality

MyaSavesTheWorld

Okay there are some serious jerks on this post. Don't count yourself out because of your SATs. I had poopy SATs but an amazing GPA and awesome extracurriculars and I got accepted to Duke RD but I chose to go to Brown. I honestly spent 3 months crafting the perfect CommonApp essay because I knew that I would need something to set me apart, I needed something to stand out. I didn't just scrape by either because I received Likely Letters from both Duke and Brown. They clearly wanted me there despite my test scores. I'm not saying that you should bank on getting in to Duke or UPenn but if that is what you really want then you should definitely pursue it. There is no hurt in trying.

Apply to the school that you like better for ED don't worry about the acceptance rates. I wish you the best of luck.

boysx3

before applying ED to either of these schools, check the naviance at your school and see how applicants to both universities do.

Also realize that the ED numbers at these two schools are somewhat skewed and are not as "generous" to early applicants, as compared to RD applicants, as it might appear.

For example, Penn is quite up front about the fact that if applicants with legacy status want a boost in admission, they receive the boost only if they apply ED--so the Penn ED round is heavy with legacy applicants that Penn is actively looking to accept so as not to upset any more alumni than necessary (it's not that Penn accepts ED applicants that don't otherwise have qualifications, it's that in general and with few exceptions these kids have the qualifications but have better odds of getting in given the overall low rate of acceptances).

Also, both schools ED rounds are somewhat athlete heavy....so more apparently available slots taken.

These caveats aside, it is still a bit easier to get in ED because these schools like knowing there are students in the pool who want them above all of the other elite schools. It's just not as much easier as it first appears.

perfectanpink

1. I'm female
2. Would it maybe be smarter not to apply ED at all?

happyman2

Ahh, it appears as though I have misinterpreted the OP's intentions. Clearly he was not insinuating that Duke is a poorer school than Penn. I'm sorry about the glaring error OP. I hope you accept my sincere apology and consider becoming a Blue Devil next year. I'm certain you won't regret it.

lacrossemom

OP - Please remember this is CC and we look at test scores differently due to the high scores on this site. A 30 is great! Try taking in September to raise 1 or 2 points.

If you are female, I encourage you to apply engineering. Some schools have a % of acceptances within different majors. Due to low number of females in engineering, this wi increase your chances.

If you can afford the college or qualify for a lot of financial need, PLEASE apply early. This will only increase your chances.

You should also research good safety schools. Both schools have such low acceptance rates that you should be prepared.

Good luck!

LmaoZedong

Personally, I think that you're in a great situation because standardized test scores are much easier to improve than class rank/extracurriculars. As people have already stated, SAT scores tend to vary greatly.

My humble advice is to take the SAT or the ACT as many times as possible from August to November. Even with comparatively minimal preparation (took half of one practice test and the PSAT beforehand), the difference between my Junior year and Senior year SAT scores was significant- 2020 vs 2250.

As to which school you should apply to, I've always had the impression that Duke was a preeminent biomedical school, and that pre-med is one of the most popular majors there. While Penn is also a spectacular school, I've never personally heard anything that remarkable about its strength in medicine. But if you REALLY like Penn and if the only reason you're applying ED to Duke is because it's slightly less selective, then I think you may come to regret such a decision.