pick up the GPA. then do as much community service work as possible. a well rounded list of extra- curricular activities will help. My bud had a 3.89 GPA and didn’t get in because all he did was sports.. I know someone else that had a 4.0 and volunteered at these places helping kids, feeding the hungry,,, you get it. She got in.

You need to get your grades up, unless your school has very strict grading standards and you’re actually in the top few percent of your class with that 3.62 GPA. Duke is extremely selective academically – moreso than anywhere in the Midwest except maybe Chicago and Northwestern.

For extracurricular activites, do something you really care about. It can be an academic club, student government, volunteer work, sports – it doesn’t matter – but you need to show potential to be a real leader in some field later in life – academia, business, politics, something. Don’t pay any attention to people who say you should be well-rounded or have a long list of activities. This is something people without depth try to use to pull the wool over the eyes of admissions officers, and it fails, because they’re trained to see through it.

For scholarships, unless you’re going to be a recruited athlete, you probably are going to rely on need-based aid. There’s not really much you can do to improve your chances at that.

In addition to the wide range of extracurrics and the community service and the GPA, consider these things:

1. Entrance test scores. Don’t know if Duke prefers SAT or ACT or something else, but take ’em in your junior year, repeat them if need be, make sure you submit high scores.

2. Special consideration. If you are outstanding in a scholarship sport, you will guarantee yourself a better shot at admission. If you are committed to a high-demand program like math, you increase your chances.

3. Your high school course work is important. Get four full years of English and Math, lab courses in bio, chem and physics, and a good mix of social studies and arts.

4. Apply early in senior year. That increases scholarships available because some have early deadlines, and puts you in line for each round of admissions decisions.

5. They might ask you to write an essay with your application. The essay will usually have some generic prompt like “why do you think Duke will improve your life” or “what was the greatest challenge you’ve faced in your life so far?” Whatever the topic, go ahead and address it specifically, but as you do so try to suggest these three things: (a) you are a diligent, success-oriented individual who sets ambitious but reasonable goals and achieves them by hard work–and Duke is where you’ll work on your next goal, your career (b) you are an unselfish individual who sees your future career not as only a means to enrich yourself, but as a way to provide necessary good to society (c) you have an “attitude of gratitude” and you honor those who’ve helped you come so far in your life.

Take a look at Duke’s Website. Go to the Admissions section and they should have a “Student Profile.” This will give you an idea of the kinds of activities the students Duke accepted for the 2006-2007 or 2007-2008 academic years.

Review this information and find things that you are genuinely interested in and then get involved in those activities. Do not get involved in something just because you think it will help you get into a school.

You can also contact their Financial Aid Office regarding special scholarships that the school offers.

Finally, go see your guidance counselor and ask them to help you find other scholarships that you may qualify for.

nicely, there are a pair of issues. First, your scores are too low. regrettably, there’s now not lots you’re able to do approximately that. whether you do retake your concern assessments, i think of your typical SAT scores are prohibitively low for many of those faculties. 2d, i ask your self whether you have an outstanding utility. Is it attainable your essays at the instant are not incredibly good? Is it attainable your suggestion letters are detrimental? i do now not would desire to make you paranoid, yet evaluate those 2 issues, because of the fact they’d kill a utility immediately. in spite of the indisputable fact that, i do now not think of your possibilities are high incredibly good given your scores. All of those faculties can take care of to pay for to be very selective. i think of you will desire to provide extreme attention to a pair different faculties. in basic terms you comprehend what you’re in seek of for in a school, so i won’t be in a position to truly supply you with any suggestion on different faculties to look at. yet attempt the Carnegie Mellon, Duke, UCLA, and so forth point of colleges. i think of you’re a extra perfect in good shape there. and don’t low fee UT Austin. that’s a stable college in many matters. i comprehend you do in comparison to their dorms, yet, heavily, dorms at the instant are not that massive of a deal. The poshest dorm may be a residing hell in the adventure that your roommate sucks and a rubbish-bag lean-to may be something you will look returned upon fondly in case you’re with the perfect human beings. Your college journey would be defined lots extra via the folk you bump into than the freshness of the paint (or something, for that remember). i’m hoping you come across a school you’re excited approximately. i comprehend this is oftentimes a coarse time in case you at the instant are not getting the outcomes you have been searching for. yet there are dissimilar surprising faculties that would desire to prefer to have you ever. you only would desire to be slightly extra reasonable in you seek. I choose you the perfect of excellent fortune!