Chance an In-State for Pratt?

Colleges & Universities Duke University
1

<p>Here’s my life at the end of junior year:</p>

<p>Asian Male
First generation student to goto college
Low family income
ESOL
School listed as #80 in nation by Newsweek
North Carolina</p>

<p>School:
4.0 Unweighted GPA at the end of junior year
5.0 Weighted GPA at end of junior year</p>

<h1>8 in Class of 351 at the end of junior year</h1>

<p>Filled up my junior year APs (AP Calc AB, AP English, AP US History, AP Environmental Science)
All APs during senior year (AP English, AP Psychology, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Physics)</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:
SAT taken 3 times (does it hurt you if you take it more than twice)?
1st: CR600 M730 W570 Essay7
2nd: CR670 M720 W640 Essay8
3rd: Scores haven’t come back yet.
AP World History Exam: 4
Other APs that haven’t come back yet:
AP Environmental Science Projected: 3
AP United States History Projected:: 5
AP Calculus AB Projected: 3
AP English 11 Projected: 4</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (Junior Year):
Leadership position in city organization (100 hours)
152 total hours of volunteering in city organization
-Organized several programs for the city (trash pickup, sexual education, mocked city council meeting)
Secretary of World Culture Club
Christian youth group (Young Life) for 30 hours + Camp Trip</p>

<p>Summer:
Christian Camp for a Week
Self-initiated Community Service Awareness program on Darfur
Self-initiated Fundraiser for Darfur</p>

<p>Future Extracurriculars:
Vice-President of City Organization (already elected)
Secretary of National Honor Society (already elected)
Student Council
High IQ Quiz Bowl
More World Culture Club
More Christian youth group</p>

<p>Awards and Honors:
City Organization’s Spirit Award
Most Oustanding Student in Fundamentals of Technology, Civics and Economics
First Most Outstanding Student in AP United States History for my teacher who’s taught 11 years
National Honors Society
Beta Club
Perfect Attendance</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Working for city in Senior Year
Part-time employee at a nail salon</p>

<p>Questions:
-I’m worried that my ECs are extremely weak because I only did extracurriculars during my junior year and after. How bad does this look on colleges?
-Does it look bad if you take the SAT more than twice? (I’ve taken it three times, one during my sophomore year because of parental pressure).
-How do AP scores affect admissions?
-What does Duke classify as ‘talent/ability’ for admissions?</p>

<p>Any comments are welcome~</p>

2

<ol>
<li>The majority of my EC’s were junior and senior year and I got into pratt. That being said, it’s not favorable.</li>
<li>Don’t take it a 4th time. Three is fine, try the ACT if you don’t like your third score.</li>
<li>They don’t, unless you have a string of 5’s or a string of 1’s.</li>
<li>Most likely unique things that most students would not have, such as art ability, musical talent, etc.</li>
</ol>

3

<p>maybe…just hope you get a good new SAT score</p>

4

<p>I think your EC’s are fine, and show leadership positions. I believe Duke does look at AP scores, but I know they aren’t impressed with scores of 3 or less. However, having taken the most challenging curriculum available to you (AP courses) is very important, so you rank high in that regard. My only concern might be the low AP Calculus score if you are expecting admission into Pratt. Hopefully it will come in higher than you project.</p>

5

<p>Wow thanks for the reassuring feedback with advice on my life! Now I kinda know what to improve on and work on and whether or not it’d be better to apply to trinity.</p>

6

<p>Apply to the school you’d like to attend. Pratt had a significant drop in applications this year and therefore a much a higher acceptance rate than Trinity. Then again, Pratt’s applicant pool is usually more qualified, so it’s hard to gain any sort of advantage by applying to either school. What’s more important is whether you want to do engineering or not. From the EC’s you listed, there is no obvious inclination towards engineering. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to or can’t be one. You just have to able to show admissions that you do truly want to be one if you plan on applying to Pratt. </p>

<p>As far as what else you can do, definetly take SAT 2’s. I didn’t see you list any, but you will definetly need at least two. And if you are planning to apply to Pratt, you will need a math one (preferably level 2) and try to do very well on that.</p>

7

<p>VJ8’s recommendations are right on. Decide whether you want engineering or not, then apply to that school. You have a nice resume’ (though SAT scores are on the low side), but keep in mind that you are just average when compared to other Duke applicants. That isn’t meant to discourage you, it’s just that most Duke applicants have a lot going for them and have similar resume’s. There is no good way to predict admission chances since admission is so very competitive. But keep up the good work and definitely apply.</p>

8

<p>It sucks because there weren’t many engineering opportunities available to me around my school. I guess my resume seems like I’m more of a liberal arts guy. I just wanted to be an engineer because other than history, math is my strongest area (AP Calc didn’t show it because of a mediocre teacher)while I excelled in drafting classes.</p>

<p>Are there any required SAT IIs for Trinity? Because I know I can score in 780-800 in the US History SATII.</p>

9

<p>Go to duke.edu and look at the application links. It might answer a lot of your questions about what is required. SAT II Writing used to be required along with the old Math-Verbal only SAT, but if you take the new 3-part SAT II with writing, then you don’t need the Writing SAT II. Pick SAT IIs that might represent what you are most interested in and that would support your intended major. Or, you can take the ACT w/writing component, and not have to submit SAT and SAT IIs. Some do better on the ACT than the SAT. Duke will consider whichever is higher. However, with all the universities you apply to, be sure to check what the current requirements are for yourself–don’t rely on the message board!</p>