<p>I have a few questions. Would you mind sharing your stats (you don’t have to be extremely specific if you don’t want to- for example, you can just state your overall SAT score instead of your individual critical reading, math, and writing scores.) Any information at all would be great. Also, saying what your average grades were, what your essay topic was, how your interview went, etc., would be really helpful! Anything that you feel helped you get into Duke!</p>
<p>SAT Score: 2270 (CR:800 M:700 W:770)
Essay: my summer job
Average grade: all A’s; valedictorian
I didn’t have an interview. I was also a National Merit Finalist and a National Achievement Finalist. I played varsity athletics and had over 100 hours of volunteering with one of the service organizations I was in.</p>
<p>Any other Duke students? Yes, the Duke website can tell us what they are looking for, but having the stats of real actual students that got in are so much better, because they are not averages, or percentiles, they are real stats. So any other Duke students mind sharing any stats? Or what they felt was the main thing that got them in?</p>
<p>SAT: 2210 (CR: 700 M: 800 W: 710)
Essay: metaphor between driving and my grandmother (it’s kind of hard to explain…)
GPA: 3.85
My interview was really great, my interviewer was a really nice guy and we basically just talked about our families. I know he liked me though because he told me so and when I got in he called me to congratulate me.</p>
<p>Note: in general, i don’t think it’s a good it’s a good idea to get so hung up on average scores etc…every student is different. You could have perfect scores and grades, but if you are unoriginal and lack a certain umph, you don’t stand a chance. If you are a determined person who will be sure to add diversity to the school, you can afford to have somewhat lower scores.</p>
<p>M 760 CR 670 W 720
3/326.
Essays: Solid, creative.
Interview: Good, but short.</p>
<p>Don’t pay attention to these posts though, they really don’t tell you anything.</p>
<p>SAT: 2280 (M 800, CR 760, W 720)
GPA: 3.8
Essays: About how I changed over the years, the why Duke essay elaborated on my visit.
Interview: Long, asked a lot of questions about Duke (FOCUS, frat life, etc).</p>
<p>SAT: 2210
GPA/rank: 4.0/3rd
essay: future goals
interview: very good
hook: well-rounded, state awards in science and music</p>
<p>i submitted my act score (35) instead of my sat score (1520).
i couldn’t tell you what my hs gpa was if you paid me money (i’m graduating from duke this yr - this was a long time ago) all i know is that it was top quartile or quintile or whatever the hell we did.
i believe my essay i sent to duke was about photography- i know i used that at a bunch of different places. i remember being especially content with my “why duke” though i don’t remember what it said.
my interviewer and i REALLY clicked though… we REALLY got along, and i felt comfortable asking him about his specific duke experience and talking about duke traditions (from kegs on the quad which doesnt exist anymore, to tenting, etc) and why i was so excited for that / why the duke experience seemed different than everything i’ve been accustomed to and every other school i was applying to and why i loved it so much. but just in general, he and i got along REALLY well from the get go, so i think my interview was beneficial to me.
another thing, i went to the duke info session during my high school, when our admissions officer came. it was during lunch period and only one other kid went in addition to myself, so we got to talk a lot about ourselves and what we were interested in. it put a face to our application (and a more thorough explaination to “why duke” and what we were interested in) and she was AWESOME. </p>
<p>sure there are outside factors that may have had weight and may not have been remotely factored in, but i think i inadvertently showed more interest in duke than i did with a lot of other schools (it wasn’t my first choice when i set out to apply, but wound up as my first choice before i heard back) and i think it came across well.</p>
<p>bluestar7, was the duke interview your first interview? Some people have said that first or second interviews usually aren’t the best, and I wouldn’t want that to be the case for duke, but it’s obviously not up to me to decide when I get interviews. Also, I have one more question, what was the worst grade you received in high school, if you remember, or were you a straight A in all AP classes student? Thanks!!!</p>