<p>1) When making your assertions, you should present all evidence (indeed it is polite to do so). You really shouldn’t cherry pick them and then when they are refuted, present more fresh evidence. In many debate clubs and I would imagine courts of law, that’s considered inadmissible. Since you really haven’t brought up the withdrawn/incomplete apps issue before (I haven’t read the entire thread in detail so forgive me if I’m wrong) and never really focused on it I fail to see why you would bring it up now.</p>
<p>2) Press releases are by nature released soon after the event to which they refer. By incomplete applications, you could mean that the applicant didn’t have they SAT scores in. However, Duke accepts Jan SAT testing, so those scores wouldn’t be in when Duke releases a figure say at the beginning of Jan when the apps are due. So those are technically incomplete but will still be considered by Duke when the applicants take their tests. So including those number is reasonable and Duke is actually helping applicants by allowing them to take the SAT in Jan.</p>
<p>Same is true for many other materials such as recommendations, supplemental materials etc. While Duke’s deadline may be Jan 2, exceptions are commonplace for things out of the applicant’s control, so those might delay application completion. </p>
<p>3) Given the deluge of applications that floods Duke at the beginning of January, any institution would be hard pressed to sort out withdrawn/incomplete apps from the thousands of others that they must input into the system. Yet, they have to provide press releases often due to institutional policy. So including those is also only reasonable. </p>
<p>4) Also can you give a ballpark figure for the number of withdraw/incomplete applications? I don’t really read all those articles on a regular basis so I don’t know them. But I would say that the figure cannot be more than a few hundred. So in the context of 20K, where 1% is 200, the error is 1-2% max. Not bad for a press release dated a few days after the deadline…</p>
<p>I’m sorry I must be mistaken then. Your argument is based largely on the fact that “waitlist impact” wasn’t reflected. When I pointed out that the data available to anyone on the admissions website in fact does reflect waitlist numbers you went on a totally different track with incomplete/withdrawn applications. Judging from your completely non-sequitur response, I assumed that you had nothing more to say to contradict my claims… In that case, I would venture to assert that I refuted your claims. </p>
<p>Also I never said we were in a court of law. I was merely pointing out that your response would be inappropriate in a variety of situations in which a debate is being conducted in a civil manner ranging from the informal (debate clubs) to the formal (courts of law). </p>
<p>On an unrelated note, this thread is becoming seriously off topic.</p>
<p>Are you suggesting that Duke officials should have prescient knowledge to predict how many admits from waitlist and then add it to the total in their press releases a few days after RD decisions? </p>
<p>The waitlist numbers vary greatly from year to year. In 2004 it was 86, in 2005, it was 22, two years ago it was 200. There’s really no way to predict. </p>
<p>Even if they did incorporate a ballpark figure, I’m sure people such as yourself will immediately jump on that and point out the inaccuracy. </p>
<p>Also, it’s not at least one year. Profiles for the previous year’s class is available to current cycle applicants from the beginning of the cycle. Since the application cycle starts around August/September and Duke really only finalizes waitlist admits over the early months of the summer, I’d say that the lag is 3-4 months max. Not exactly the one year that you claim. </p>
<p>Finally, plenty of applicants care and obviously since both you and I look at, debate over, and reference them, we also do.</p>
<p>cs444, most people choose their college based on where they get in and what they want in a college. I wanted a school where I could get a great education, where there was school spirit, a beautiful campus, and fun sports. I wanted it all. I also didn’t want to freeze in the winter and I wanted to get out of the Northeast where I lived most of my life.</p>
<p>Maybe Prodigal Son is right and Amherst is more selective - I don’t care as I would not have gone there. A small liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere was not what I wanrted, though Amherst may be exactly what others want and it is an excellent school. University of Chicago is an excellent school also, but not for me - took a look and didn’t apply.</p>
<p>So it’s not about yield and all that garbage - it’s about finding a place that’s right for you. Your success in life will not be determined by whether or not you go to Duke or Vanderbilt or Princeton or U.Va.</p>
<p>catherine, i completely agree. I wanted Duke because after researching a bunch of schools I liked, and continuously changing my mind about which I liked most, I discovered that Duke was everything I loved about all those schools put together. Before Duke, my first choice was dartmouth, but I had to realize that no matter how much I’d want to tough it out-- I would hate life in nh. I hate the cold. I’m from south tx and am one of the few ppl i know that ENJOY the 100 degree weather [weird, i know]. i am still not looking forward to winter in nc. I also didn’t want to give up the beach so nc is great. [plus as a kid I told myself I wanted to live in nc when i grew up & live my life as if i was in a nicholas sparks book-- ironic]</p>
<p>And it’s beautiful! [and I havent even visited…]
forests, gardens, a lemur reservation [woah], the chapel, gothic architecture… i realize i sound like a brochure but the campus is easy to sell.</p>
<p>and all the while even friends and family who kno nothing about the pretige of duke are amazed that i’ll be watching blue devil basketball. </p>
<p>i couldn’t care less about the yield. i’m going.</p>
<p>forgive me but i havent read much of the thread. what’s ur admission status? r u RD or have u already received ur verdict?</p>
<p>I’m a freshman at Duke. I applied ED last year. I, too, visited Dartmouth but I don’t ski and I wanted to get out of the Northeast for at least a part of my life. I thought about Stanford but I didn’t want to be that far from home - never being able to go home for a weekends, etc. Duke has been great so far. Facing facts there are many great schools!</p>