Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.89 out of 5, or 3.9 out of 4 unweighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/764
AP (place score in parenthesis): all 5's on BC/AB, Physics B, Physics C, Chem, Euro, Micro, Comp Sci,
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: Most difficult (AP US MAN...) with AP Bio I, AP Stat, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nope
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Pilot in Civil Air Patrol, Eagle Scout, Mathletes, President of Young Engineers Club, Technology Liaison in National Junior Honor Society
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, low hours though
Volunteer/Community service: Through BOY Scouts and Civil Air Patrol, many many hours
Summer Activities: Boy Scout Camps, mission trips to West Virginia with Church, flying plains (solo flight completed senior year, leading up to it in training over summer)
Essays: Excellent, talking about flying for common app. For Engineering Supplement, talked about mother's death and inspiration to pursue bio medical engineering
Teacher Recommendation: One excellent from AP Lang teacher, one pretty good to great from AP Phys. C teacher.
Counselor Rec: Great
Additional Rec: Incredible, written by philosophy teacher friend.
Interview: Very long, had a lot to talk about. I was very comfortable with my interviewer.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, pretty good
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: < $50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Both parents did not receive a grade (less than 2 years community college). Mother passed away - reinforced supplement essay. Student Pilot
Reflection
Strengths: ESSAYS, RECS
Weaknesses: Not the highest sat
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Excellent essays and recs. Moving essay about the spirit of flying. Well-rounded applicant
General Comments:
Congratulations to all who were accepted. To those who may not be joining me next year, look forward to all the fun you will have at whatever college you attend. The college is not what determines what you will do with your life. You do.
SAT I (breakdown): Comp: 2120 Cr: 670 M:760 Wr: 690
ACT: 32
SAT II: 720 Math II, 730 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11/251
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 USH, 4 Chem, 4 World H, 4 Calc AB, 4 English Comp
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:7 APs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):none
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Treasurer of Rotary, Historian of NHS, a lot more
Job/Work Experience:Tutor for 3 years and Research Intern 2 summers
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours at Bereavement Camp and 200+ at Hospital
Summer Activities: People to People, JHU Summer Term, BU Research Internship
Essays:Great
Teacher Recommendation:Excellent
Counselor Rec:Excellent
Additional Rec:From my boss.. must have been great
Interview: I thought it went well
Other
State (if domestic applicant):NY
Country (if international applicant):USA
School Type:Public
Ethnicity:Asian- Indian
Gender:M
Income Bracket:250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none
Reflection[list][*] Strengths:My essays and extracurriculars[*] Weaknesses:Standardized test scores[*] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly can't tell you. All I can say is DUKE CLASS OF 2016. I can't wait to meet all you!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/470ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC 5, AB Subscore 5, Chemistry 5, World History 4, Government 3 (didn't report)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics B (school doesn't offer C), AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Stat, AP Comp Sci A, AP Psych, AP Art History 1 (1st semester), Personal Finance (2nd semester/required to graduate)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Co-author of a published paper, Finalist at local science fair
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): robotics, math club, research, other stuff
Job/Work Experience: research
Volunteer/Community service: youth group
Summer Activities: summer school/research
Essays: meh okay
Teacher Recommendation: idk
Counselor Rec: idk
Additional Rec: Brother - it was really good
Interview: meh okay
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Missouri
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k
Reflection
Strengths: Research, Leaderships, Extra Currics in general, State, gpa
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Literature and Composition, AP Computer Science, AP Chemistry, IB A2 HL Chinese Y2, Orchestra 2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): School Champion of American Math Competition two successive years
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): APAC Tennis, APAC Quiz Team, APAC Orchestra, Unstrung Music Foundation (Vice President), National Honor Society, Tri-M Honor Society, Socratic Club, etc.
Job/Work Experience: Internship at Arkema Inc.
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ Hours
Summer Activities: NSF-sponsored University of Pennsylvania Summer Science Initiative Materials Science Program
Essays: Thought they were quite good, teachers were impressed
Teacher Recommendation: Very good
Counselor Rec: Very good
Additional Rec: Sister (Duke alumni) wrote a recommendation for me
Interview: N/A
Other
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Taiwanese
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy
Reflection
Strengths: Test Scores, GPA
Weaknesses: Major Awards, Leadership
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don't know, maybe ECs not strong enough?
General Comments: Very disappointed in myself, but congratulations to all that were accepted!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3 out of 148
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US 5 AP Lit 4 AP Stats 4 AP AP Human 4 AP Psych 4 AP Art 3 AP Calc AB 3 AP Env 3 AP Euro 3 (<Self Studied)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov AP Lang AP Calc BC AP Physics B AP Bio (And like 5 college courses)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Recognition Scholar, National Merit Commended, AP Scholar w/ Distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): SGA Treasurer (11,12) Science Honor Society Treasurer (10,11,12) English Honor Society Treasurer (10,11,12) SO weak I know!
Job/Work Experience:N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 600 Hours or so tutoring young children
Summer Activities: Volunteering and Dual Enrollment classes
Essays: I was happy with them
Teacher Recommendation: Great
Counselor Rec: Great
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went just okay
Other
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Noncompetitive Public Charter (Only sent one kid to an ivy, EVER)
Ethnicity: Hispanic>> Cuban
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 80,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, First Gen
Reflection
Strengths: URM, First Gen, Test Scores are good?, Recs
Weaknesses: EXTRACURRICULARS
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My extracurriculars were just too weak to be made up for by my demographic awesome-ness (URM, First Gen, Female Engineering major lol)
General Comments: I am really disappointed, I wanted it so bad, but ah well! Time to move on! For those deferred, I feel your pain but on the bright side at least its not rejection! For those rejected.. I'm sorrier :/ Great luck to everyone and Congrats to the Duke Class of 2016!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/550 (10-12); 5/550 (9-12) xferred after 1st yr from HS that offered fewer honors and no APs to freshman
AP (place score in parenthesis): Mostly 5s, a couple of 4s for quite a few
Senior Year Course Load: All APs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mostly clubs, some leadership
Job/Work Experience: Worked in Internet company during summer, part-time during school
Volunteer/Community service: Thru church youth group
Summer Activities: Work
Essays: Strong
Teacher Recommendation: Very Strong
Counselor Rec: Strong
Additional Rec: Mother (Duke Alum) wrote optional recommendation
Interview: Very positive experience, interviewer really seemed impressed
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Northern CA
School Type: Large public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy (Mother graduated from Fuqua)
Reflection
Strengths: Excellent academic record with the hardest class load available
Weaknesses: ECs were not as strong as many I've seen here; not the highest SAT
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Strong academics, great recommendations, legacy hook
General Comments:
To all those who were rejected or deferred, keep you head up. You'll have a great college experience somewhere, and you'll be happy, I'm sure. Two years ago our daughter was very disappointed she didn't get into MIT or CalTech. She decided to attend UCLA, where she's majoring in Astrophysics. She's doing amazingly well, and loves every minute of it.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10-15%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 AP Calc AB, 5 AP Chem
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, IB Lit, IB History, Engineering Class, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Latin
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National honor society
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity fencing all 4 years, first place in the district
Model UN, won awards
Biology research
Volunteer/Community service: worked as a counselor at a camp for inner city kids for 2 summers
Job/Work Experience: Intern at a pharmaceutical company, working in diabetes care
Summer Activities: counselor at the camp for inner city kids, took a chemistry course at columbia, continued my biology research.
Essays: My main essay was about how I taught a girl from the camp I worked at how to swim, even though she was really scared. I think it was good..
I also had a lot to say in my "Why Duke" essay, and I do research so I was able to write the optional research essay.
Teacher Recommendation: Both were very good I think..
Counselor Rec: No idea.
Additional Rec: Got one of the directors at the camp to write it for me.
Interview: It went very well! My interviewer told me that she thought I was a great candidate and was really hoping that I would get in!
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
School Type: Magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none.
Reflection
Strengths: I go to to one of the tops schools in the country, I have a decently high GPA for my school as well as good test scores. I don't do very many extracurriculars but I have gone far with each one of them.
Weaknesses: Not very many ec's... but I still got in.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think overall my combination of good scores, good ec's, good recs and good essays are what got me in. I also think applying ed really helped.
SAT I (breakdown): 2250 (800 math, 690 reading, 760 writing)
ACT:
SAT II: 780 Math II, 780 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 AP World, 4, AP Eng. Lang, 5 Chemistry, 3 Spanish Lang
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Physics, AP Spanish Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Biology, AP English Lit., Chamber Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Virginia Governor's School for Math, Science, and Tech; AP Scholar with Honor; Scholar Athlete; Academic and Varsity Letter; Science Fair - Honorable Mention
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Club Soccer (captain); Varsity Soccer; Science Club (President); Orchestra (principal cellist);
Job/Work Experience: Internship as Networking Assistant for one month; Cashier at a restaurant
Volunteer/Community service: Community Volunteer Orchestra -- play monthly at Senior Centers (since 2008); volunteered in a nonprofit childcare program every summer; humanitarian mission trip to Bolivia;
Summer Activities: Virginia Governor's School for Math, Science, and Technology; Internship; Research Projects
Essays: Witty, played around with metaphors and wordplay.
Teacher Recommendation: EXCELLENT, AMAZING!
Counselor Rec: probably generic ( big school)
Additional Rec: OUTSTANDING
Interview: went pretty well
Other
State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large public
Ethnicity: Asian - Korean
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a
Reflection
Strengths: Teacher recs and essays
Weaknesses: extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Teacher evaluations and essays
General Comments: IM GOING TO DUKEEEE!! CONGRATS TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO MADE IT. AND GOOD LUCK TO THOSE APPLYING REGULAR!!
SAT I (breakdown): 2040 (620 CR 800 M 620 W), submitted
ACT: 33 (35 E 30 M 32 R 36 S), submitted
SAT II: 790 Chem 770 MathII 760 Physics 680 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):6/248
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5) Physics B (5) Chem (5) English Lang (5) World History (4) US History (4) French (1) submitted them all
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov AP Econ AP stat AP Physics C (Mech and E&M) AP calc BC AP Bio AP English Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Multiple UIL science awards, top finisher in two meets so far. AP scholar with distinction, multiple school awards, multiple hockey awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Hockey (12 years) Key club (founding member and senior class rep) NHS (along with the other 2 million high schoolers), UIL (Captain senior year along, founded science and math teams), plenty of other, smaller ECs
Job/Work Experience: Worked as a Barista for a year, shadowed a surgeon for 3 hours every week for 36 weeks last year, shadowed an anesthesiologist last year.
Volunteer/Community service: Altar server, community service projects through my school and for NHS / Key Club
Summer Activities: Shadowed Anesthesologist, took a chem class at a CC over last summer and got the highest grade in the class (honestly it was a blowoff)
Essays: my Why Duke was really good, it explained why I liked Duke and why Duke should pick me; I also wrote over my experience staying with my sister at Duke for 2 days. My Common App essay was good but not ridiculously amazing, it had voice and that was all I was after
Teacher Recommendation:One from my AP chem teacher (I aid for him this year): Counselor told me it was one in a million. Another from my English teacher last year who wrote it in an hour, it was probably really humorous though lol
Counselor Rec: Didn't read
Additional Rec: Had my sister write it since she is a current student. Im assuming it was awesome.
Interview: We were pretty dang close to being twins
Other
State (if domestic applicant):TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:Public, third graduating class, 1000 kids for 4 grades
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Sister goes there, not sure if it helps but it can't hurt
Reflection
Strengths: Sciences
Weaknesses: Dumb mistakes by sending in my failing AP french score and my bad SAT and world SAT II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: A little bit of luck and a whole lot of hard work. GO BLUE DEVILS!!!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 9% from ELC, but school doesn't report tank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem (5), Calc BC (5), Language and Composition (5), Chinese (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, Ap Government/Economics, Contemporary Literature, Leadership (mandatory for those on student gov't), AP Statistics, TA
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Japanese National Honor Society? LOL not really a "major award"
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Government, Health Awareness Club (President, founder - seminars, research nights, held walk and raised a substantial sum), Tennis (Team Captain), few clubs in which I held officer positions in .. etc
Job/Work Experience: English Tutor at Kumon Learning Center
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital Information Desk Volunteer
Summer Activities: not mentioned in app
Essays: I didn't like my CommonApp one, it was about breaking out of insecurities through Student Government in high school. Supplement I personally thought was good. Connected my involvement with Health Awareness to BME - went for the whole humanitarian scientist thing.
Teacher Recommendation: U.S. History and Calculus Teacher.
USH - Quoted deep thoughts from my reflection papers, I think this one should've been really good. Didn't get to see.
Calculus teacher - basically wrote my own rec.
Counselor Rec: Should be good. Had a good conversation with her during my senior interview and she really likes me because I work with her for my commission on student gov't.
Additional Rec: N/a
Interview: Went okay! I was really nervous LOL
Other
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public and VERY competitive
Ethnicity: Chinese/Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female engineer?
Reflection
Strengths: Grades/scores, supplemental essays
Weaknesses: No major awards, lack of math/science type activities
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was so surprised!
I'm really sorry I'm not in the mood to type out all my stats right now, but here are the standardized test scores and stuff.
This post isn't really...coherent? This is not really my typical writing style. Can't really think straight right now, but I hope this helps.
If ANYONE has any advice for me, I'd love to hear it. Thank you.
Objective:[list][*] SAT I (breakdown): ~1900? I don't remember and I'm not going to check.
Yes, this is a horrendous score, but I'm not that good a test taker tbh, and yes, I've taken it twice. Guess some things are just not meant to be - my grades reflect my ability better.[*] ACT: /[*] SAT II: French 760 Chinese 770 Lit 670[*] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): (international applicant - no GPA system, but if you calculate it then I guess around 3.8? Not sure.)[*] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
IGCSEs -Took a couple as a supplement to my school curriculum.
Strengths: Essays, great recs (an awesome personal rec from my best friend), interview went pretty well.
ECs were cohesive - displayed my passion really well, my essays + interview all reflected this.
My grades are pretty good as well, I would be a better applicant if my SAT scores were much higher.
All I can is that my application was cohesive. Yep.
Weaknesses: SAT scores. Yeah.
GENERAL COMMENTS:
I've applied to a few other universities so I'm not too sad, but I'm surely going to do my best to get off the waiting list. Duke is <3 and I would do anything to get in.
TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE LURKING ON CC: Just apply and try your best. I'm living proof that Duke will read your applications, after all, they looked past my SAT score and didn't reject me instantly.
Aim high. At least you won't have any regrets - by aiming for Duke, I set the bar for myself REALLY HIGH. Pushed myself to the limit - or else I would have gotten the two scholarships (I was a HORRIBLE student in Freshman year. Not kidding. 3Ds, 4As and a couple of Bs). Got to get out of my comfort zone.
Essays can really make or break your application, don't think I would have gotten so far without them. All I did was write 'em, ask my English teacher to proofread and ask my friends to read 'em to see if they sound "like me", i.e. my own voice.
If ANYONE has any advice for me, please, please tell me.
---
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE WHO WERE ACCEPTED.
And to those rejected, don't lose heart - other universities will be really lucky to have you. Duke is not the only place where you can get a great education and be happy.
Awards: National AP Scholar, George Washington University Book Award, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society
Forgot to add in 5 on AP Lang and Comp. exam.
Decision: Accepted
Pick one:
Pratt School of Engineering
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 740 CR, 760 M, 780 W
ACT: Did not take
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.89 out of 5, or 3.9 out of 4 unweighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/764
AP (place score in parenthesis): all 5's on BC/AB, Physics B, Physics C, Chem, Euro, Micro, Comp Sci,
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: Most difficult (AP US MAN...) with AP Bio I, AP Stat, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nope
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Pilot in Civil Air Patrol, Eagle Scout, Mathletes, President of Young Engineers Club, Technology Liaison in National Junior Honor Society
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, low hours though
Volunteer/Community service: Through BOY Scouts and Civil Air Patrol, many many hours
Summer Activities: Boy Scout Camps, mission trips to West Virginia with Church, flying plains (solo flight completed senior year, leading up to it in training over summer)
Essays: Excellent, talking about flying for common app. For Engineering Supplement, talked about mother's death and inspiration to pursue bio medical engineering
Teacher Recommendation: One excellent from AP Lang teacher, one pretty good to great from AP Phys. C teacher.
Counselor Rec: Great
Additional Rec: Incredible, written by philosophy teacher friend.
Interview: Very long, had a lot to talk about. I was very comfortable with my interviewer.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, pretty good
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: < $50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Both parents did not receive a grade (less than 2 years community college). Mother passed away - reinforced supplement essay. Student Pilot
Reflection
Strengths: ESSAYS, RECS
Weaknesses: Not the highest sat
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Excellent essays and recs. Moving essay about the spirit of flying. Well-rounded applicant
General Comments:
Congratulations to all who were accepted. To those who may not be joining me next year, look forward to all the fun you will have at whatever college you attend. The college is not what determines what you will do with your life. You do.
Last edited by Guuber; 12-15-2011 at 09:50 AM.
Reason: forgot to add in information to my result
