<p>Is Duke an institute that requires naturally intelligent students to succeed?</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the admissions office, only for myself, but I’d say that the notion of “naturally intelligent” bears less fruit than the notion of “fully employing all gifts and opportunities.”</p>
<p>I’d say that even at Duke, the truly gifted students constitute a minority. The rest of the students are [merely] hard-working and ambitious. The latter attribute in particular I think is much more important to succeeding at Duke. The drive and motivation to achieve one’s dreams and goals go a long way to make up for any [perceived] deficiencies in intelligence or talent.</p>
<p>Yes, after graduating from there and having some experience with “real world” people, the level of talent at Duke is absurd. I would actually go so to far to say that Duke isn’t for you if you aren’t naturally smart.</p>
<p>As a recent Duke grad, I think SBR said it spot on, and I disagree with DukeStudent12. I’ve known peers who were very intelligent but didn’t work hard and had peers who might be considered “average intelligent” but worked very hard, and the ones in the latter group tended to have more success during their time at Duke and afterwards. A willingness to work hard, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, and ambition will allow you to be successful at any university more-so than intelligence. Of course, you need to be somewhat intelligent to succeed at Duke or at most universities, but having “average intelligence” is fine if you are willing to work hard and seek help when needed. Various studies in the psychology literature have shown that those who have a fixed intelligence mindset (the idea that intelligence is fixed at birth and can’t be changed) often are less successful in many measures than those individuals who employ a growth mindset (the idea that intelligence is a quality that can be grown and expanded throughout one’s lifetime) anyway; attitude toward’s one academic studies is more important than “intelligence” in achieving the goals you desire.</p>
<p>I think “average intelligent” has significantly meaning at Duke compared to outside of Duke</p>
<p>What are the chances that I,an international student ,who excels in subjects related to my intended major(which is genetics or biology) and languages ( subjects like say biology,chemistry,English and so on) , can get into duke keeping in mind that there is one subject in particular that severely lowers GPA??( PHYSICS)</p>
<p>applepie24 - some schools, like Stanford, will accept students who are gifted in one area. They call that the lopsided student. Some schools are looking for an overall top student in academics, athletics or arts, leadership, community, etc. Duke may be one the schools that accepts the “lopsided” students who may be weak in some areas, IF you are nationally exceptional in another area. If you feel that you are ‘nationally’ exceptional in your area of strength, then you don’t have to be concerned as much with a ‘weakness’ in one area. </p>
<p>Cast a wide net when applying to schools and surely you will be accepted to many universities. The schools that accept you are the places where you belong and the places you will do best at. </p>
<p>“Cs may get Degrees” but they won’t get you into a graduate program. Think about that.</p>
<p>@ applepie: Don’t discount applying to Duke just because you did poorly in one subject. Duke looks at applicants holistically, so it’s still worth a shot if you did well in your other classes.</p>
<p>I did really poorly in Spanish, but I got in, but I did apply ED</p>