What's my best option?

personn3edschool
Tue, 13 Oct 2020 14:57:28 +0000

I’m a senior in high school and am fairly deep into the college process. I’ve submitted early action applications to some schools already but my biggest issue is deciding whether I should ED to Duke or not. My resume looks good and I think I have a decent chance at getting into Duke if I applied ED (decent chance being around 50%). The one issue is that I’ve never visited the campus, and I’m not sure it’s right for me. I have several friends with similar views and desires for their ideal college as me that have loved Duke and want to go there or currently go there, but I haven’t visited the school for myself. I believe that if I got into Duke I’d likely enjoy my time there, but I have a gut feeling that I’d have more fun at other schools. My top two favorite schools are USC and UCLA, as I love the warm weather, the size of the school, and I think they both are the perfect mix of partying/social life and academics. However, they don’t offer early action or early decision, and since UCLA isn’t taking test scores this year and USC is also strange with admissions for my school, I don’t have a clue as to whether I’d get into my two favorite schools. Duke is also one of the best schools I’m looking at and is one of the best in the country, and I’m worried that if I don’t apply ED there, I’m ruining my only chance at going to that good of a school, that I could potentially love. Everybody says that you shouldn’t ED somewhere if you’re not certain you want to go there, which I understand, but I still think that it might be my best chance. I wonder if USC had early decision if I would be considering the same thing. I just feel like I need to see the campuses but my tours were canceled last spring and it’s unlikely I can get to any campus before November 1st (ED for Duke). Does anybody have any advice for me?