i’m stuck between duke and columbia for ed, and i feel like i’m choosing between the school that makes more sense strategically and the school whose location fits the life i’ve always wanted.

academically, i’m interested in both economics/business and biology, probably somewhere in healthcare strategy/management or medicine. but outside of school, i’ve also done acting classes and some modeling-related work throughout high school. i’m from a small town in eastern nc, so actually pursuing either has been almost impossible unless my parents and i drive hours during the school year.

that’s the biggest pull toward columbia. nyc would give me access to agencies, auditions, creative work, and internships in business/healthcare all in one place. i feel like i could finally explore all sides of myself instead of having to pick one.

duke, though, feels like the stronger ed fit for my actual application. i spent 200+ hours this summer doing molecular genetics/microbiology research in a duke lab, am continuing with the lab during the school year, and my pi is writing me a supplemental rec. i’ve also visited duke since i was little and know i genuinely love it. durham is still much bigger than where i live now, so it’s not like i’d have zero opportunities outside academics.

there’s also the money/family factor: my parents are comfortable paying ~90k/year for duke and feel good about me living in durham. they’d be much more hesitant to pay the same for columbia because they’re uncomfortable with me living in nyc.

my fear is basically:

duke ed: maybe i’m making the smarter choice and leaning into an application that has a very natural duke connection — but i might always wonder what would’ve happened if i took the bigger risk on nyc.

columbia ed: i’d be choosing the environment that excites me more and gives me opportunities i can’t really get at home — but i’d be giving up what might be a slightly stronger ed angle at duke and could end up with neither.

very condensed profile:

• asian female, small-town public school in eastern nc + ncssm courses
• 4.0 uw / 4.67 w, top 5% of ~350
• ~14 aps + 10 de courses
• 34 act, retaking
• 200+ hr duke research internship + independent project + continued lab involvement + pi rec
• yearlong ecu medical-school research program
• statewide red cross youth leadership
• founded cancer nonprofit/social platform, 1m+ likes
• school-wide science tutoring leadership
• health sciences/business leadership + healthcare/community outreach

i know neither is remotely guaranteed, and i’m not treating the duke connection like some admissions cheat code. i’m just wondering: if you were in my position, would you use ed on the school where your application seems to fit more naturally, or on the school whose environment might fit the person you want to become more?

chance a lost chud girl 😊

just curious where i stand idk where i should apply or what my stats would give me a good chance for

demographics

gender: female

race/ethnicity: asian..

state: north carolina

grade: rising senior

intended major: economics/business + biology/science interests (depends on school)

academics

school: public small town high school in eastern north carolina, around 350 students in my grade + ncssm online

have taken/planned around 14 AP courses + 10 dual enrollment courses, along with additional ncssm online coursework

GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.67 W

class rank: top 5%

APs taken/planned: AP psych 4, AP gov 5, AP Precalculus, AP csp 4, AP csa, AP lang 4, AP sem 5, Ap calc bc 4, AP Bio 4, AP Macroeconomics, AP Comparative Government, AP Research, AP Statistics, AP Literature

DEs: Calculus III, American History I & II, Music Appreciation, Introduction to Business, Management, Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Microeconomics, Public Speaking, Business Law

ncssm: intro to data science, intro to research & mentorship development class , civic mathematics, international relations

testing: 34 (retaking bc ik i can increase my math)
(33e + 32m + 36r)

extracurriculars

duke research intern: spent 200+ hrs conducting full-time research in a Duke molecular genetics & microbiology lab developed an independent project and presented my research. continuing involvement with the lab after the summer, and my PI is writing me a supplemental recommendation

ecu research intern: selected out of 10 kids in my county for a competitive research program and to conduct year long research at the brody school of medicine.

american red cross NC youth council - selected as 1 of 13 student leaders from hundreds of applicants to help lead statewide youth programming and communications for 1,200+ youth volunteers across north carolina.

nonprofit – Founder: founded a student-led organization focused on cancer awareness, youth advocacy, and supporting patients/families, particularly children and underserved communities. organized fundraising/community initiatives and developed care-kit projects for pediatric cancer patients. social media outreach has reached 1M+ likes on tiktok and thousands of users across platforms

science national honor society prez/secretary: helped lead a school-wide tutoring initiative connecting tutors with 45+ classrooms and 1,500+ students, including courses such as honors chemistry, earth/environmental science, and AP Biology

sole ambassador for my school in this county wide health sciences career pipeline program (idk how to explain it): 4,000+ student program with ECU ; led donation drives and ECU Health leadership training.

county chamber of commerce teen leadership delegate: led project collecting 1,000+ hygiene and personal-care items for immigrant farmworkers and helped organize a beautification project at a county arboretum/children’s garden

mu alpha theta (math honor society) vp / activities coordinator — ran tutoring, service, and all American Mathematics Competitions (amc) operations

fbla vp of membership — led recruitment for a 200+ member chapter

healthcare strategy & outreach intern at local nonprofit focused on child development

science olympiad & beta club competitor

health/community outreach: pursuing youth health outreach and communications work with local healthcare/community organizations, including creating student-friendly materials and helping connect young people with community health resources

local internship: working with a local nonprofit focused on children and families through community impact/outreach projects and events

other activities include piano, track, and additional school/community involvement

awards / honors (so weak bruh )

ap awards

fbla state finalist awards

beta club top 3

school recongition

IDK i need to think of more

volunteer/community work

local hospital volunteering

cancer patient and family support initiatives

immigrant farmworker hygiene drive

school-wide peer tutoring

children’s garden / arboretum beautification

American Red Cross youth service and outreach

community health outreach

schools

Duke (ED...........)

UNC Chapel Hill

Wake

NC state

Temple

ivies ?

idk where else lmk!! give advice and lmk where u think i have a shot!

ok basically all my ecs and everything are health&science related but i wanna be an econ major + bio minor and then prob med school however would this decrease my chances of admission bc my ecs are technically 'disconnected' from major, am I better off applying as a bio major and econ/business minor? Or does this not matter if I find a way to connect science and business/econ in my essay

should i go to boston university or unc chapel hill to major in business/econ and minor in bio

On common app can it hurt me to put my parents occupations (engineer+doctor) and give other optional details that allude to me being wealthy and asian? This might be a stretch but won’t they expect me to have better stats if coming from a better background

is it okay and still effective to do like online english and reading practice even if testing on paper?

The percentage of each unit that like college board gives for representation on the exam is actual bs bc there was like no unit 7 natural selection on that exam like maybe a tiny bit but no hardy weinburg?? Like

I knew all the bio math but not percent change vro y did they not ask abt hardy Weinberg…

Is it possible to have ok mcq and ok frq and make a 5…..

How much does a 1 actually matter on AP exams?

I’m currently taking AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Lang, and AP CSA. I took CSA last semester, and honestly my teacher taught us basically nothing. He mostly just talked about his life the whole semester, so I feel like I learned almost no actual coding.

Because of that, I was honestly planning on just taking the 1 for CSA and not self-reporting it to colleges. The problem is I just found out that some of my top schools, like Stanford and MIT, may require all AP scores to be reported, so now I’m kind of stressed.

I also didn’t have the strongest Calc BC or Bio teachers, and I know I need a lot of work in those classes to get 5s. I care way more about Bio and Calc, and I think if I actually focus hard on them, I have a real shot at getting 5s.

So now I’m stuck. Should I still prioritize Bio and Calc and just accept CSA as a loss? Or should I cram CSA in the two days I have after my Calc exam and try to at least get a 3, if that’s even realistic?

Basically, how bad would a 1 in AP CSA actually look if I have to report it? Does it matter that much, or would colleges mostly care more about my stronger scores/classes?