Will I get accepted with my tough classes and awards for research?

Colleges & Universities Duke University
1

<p>Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Residence: Minnesota
HS Class: 2012</p>

<p>GPA: 3.74 Weighted
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program
ACT: 22 </p>

<p>AP Biology - (Testing Senior Year)
AP Psychology - 4
AP Spanish - (Testing Senior Year)
AP Chemistry - (Testing Senior Year)</p>

<p>IB History of the Americas HL - (Testing Senior Year)
IB English HL - (Testing Senior Year)
IB Chemistry HL - (Testing Senior Year)
IB Spanish SL - (Testing Senior Year)
IB Psychology SL - 5
IB Math Studies SL - 6 </p>

<p>University of Minnesota- Twin Cities CIS Principles of Microeconomics</p>

<p>IB Creative Action Service (CAS)</p>

<p>C - Science Fair
A - Triathlons
S - Volunteer in Ask An Expert Forum on Science Buddies .org</p>

<p>Awards and Experience</p>

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<p>Work Experience - Caribou Coffee Team Member since August 2010</p>

<p>Lab Assistant
August 2010 – February 2010 University of Minnesota: Twin Cities – Graduate Department of Neuroscience; Neurochemistry , Minneapolis MN</p>

<p>Lab Assistant
September 2009 – May 2010 University of Minnesota: Twin Cities – Graduate Department of Psychology</p>

<hr>

<p>Student of the Month - Chemistry
Student of the Month - Health</p>

<hr>

<p>Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)</p>

<p>Grand Award: Third Place in the world for Behavioral and Social Sciences presented by Intel and Society for Science and the Public $1,000 (2011)
First place award of $1,500 for “Excellence in Behavioral and Social Sciences” from the College of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) (2011)
$60,000 Tuition Scholarship to IIT for Outstanding Excellence in Behavioral and Social Science Research. (2011)
$50,000 Tuition Scholarship to Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada (2009, 2010, and 2011)
Intel ISEF Finalist 2009, 2010, and 2011 </p>

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<p>Minnesota Academy of Science: Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair</p>

<p>Recipient of Gold Medal (2009, 2011) – Awarded to top 5% of projects
Wolfram Award, Best in Category for Behavioral and Social Sciences and License to Wolfram Mathematica Software (2011)
Secondary Teachers of the American Psychological Association - Outstanding Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences and Best in Category for Behavioral and Social Sciences: (2009)
JMP Division of SAS Institute, Data Discovery Award – Best Data Visualization, Statistical Analysis, and Mathematics – 5 Year Personal Access to JMP Computing Software (2011)
Seagate Rising Star Award for Top 40 First Year Projects (2009)</p>

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<p>Minnesota Academy of Science: Tri-State Junior Humanities and Science Symposium</p>

<p>Callback Finalist – Top 9 Research Papers and Presentations in the Symposium: Recipient in 2011
Outstanding Achievement in Tri-State Junior Humanities and Science Symposium and Monetary Award: Recipient in 2011</p>

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<p>St. Cloud State University – David F. Grether Central Minnesota Regional Science and Engineering Fair</p>

<p>Secondary Teachers of the American Psychological Association - Outstanding Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences (2010)
Outstanding Achievement in Regional Research Paper Competition and Research Symposium – Advancement to Tri-State Junior Humanities and Science Symposium (2011)
Best of Fair and Advancement to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (2009, 2010, and 2011)
Premium Award and Advancement to the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair (2009, 2010, and 2011)
United States Air force Outstanding Achievement Award (2010)</p>

<h2>David F. Grether Memorial Scholarship $1000 (2009, 2010, and 2011)</h2>

<p>Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) Competition</p>

<p>YES Semi-Finalist in Public Health Research Paper Competition sponsored by Collegeboard and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation $1000 (2011)</p>

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<p>Anoka-Hennepin District ISD#11 District STEM Fair</p>

<p>1st Place and Outstanding Achievement (2009 and 2011)
United States Navy Award for Outstanding Research (2009)</p>

2

<p>Your ACT scores need to go up, Up, UP!! Have you tried SAT? SAT II? Other than that you would be a more than amazing canidate at Duke!</p>

3

<p>I signed up for the SAT in the fall, but the standardized tests are driving me insane. Do I have absolutely no chance with my current score?</p>

4

<p>You have absolutely no chance of getting admitted with that current ACT score. You need to get it to at least 30 to have a fair shot.</p>

5

<p>I’m going to have to say that “no chance” is probably overly harsh but still very close to the truth. The reality is that while the research is certain very very impressive, it is just a component of your application, one that unfortunately do not give any indication as to your academic abilities. While your courseload is challenging, your test scores are average and mostly pending. Your GPA is also average on the low side, with a weighted 3.7-ish. The problem then becomes whether your extracurricular research and awards adequately compensate for the academic side. I would speculate that it’s a very hard case to make as high quality research at the high school level, while unusual, is highly dependent on the variable availability of facilities and opportunities which tend to even out in college. So, while your research is outstanding and demonstrates great potential, such attributes become more common among college students as research positions become more available. What the adcoms absolutely do not want is someone who will have problems handling college-level work and that’s the impression you must avoid presenting as an applicant.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, did you do well in the U of M microecon class you took? That may bolster your case along with stellar first semester senior year grades and better retest scores.</p>