I am 19 and just finished my first year at an NC community college (wake tech), I wanted to know what my chances are at transferring to Duke for my junior and senior years.
I have a 3.9 GPA. I’m a senator for my colleges student government program. I hold a position as an orientation leader for my school which is both a leadership and paid position. I own a 1.5 year old online business selling vintage clothes and hand-painted items to people all around the country and I have made about $1500 in total doing this. I am a professional model and have walked for designers in NYFW; I am also newly signed to an agency in NY. I am a caucasian woman and my family income is around 60,000 annually,
I plan on adding a few more things to my EC list this year like volunteer work and possibly getting involved with a few more clubs, but I wanted to get some insight from you all. I have already spoken to my advisor numerous times and she says I am right on track for admission into UNC Chapel Hill which is where I am still definitely looking at applying. Is Duke even worth applying to? Wake tech is the largest and arguably best community college in NC and I know Duke does accept transfer students from community colleges, but I want to make sure I’m not wasting my time applying there. Does anyone have experience with or know in-state students that Duke has accepted from a community college and can give me an idea of what these students looked like on paper and how to boost my chances? I was planning on majoring in Business Administration or something similar, but would certainly be willing to change paths slightly if it means admission into a great school. At UNC, Kenan-Flagler has some weird selective rules about admissions which I am aware of, but would appreciate any knowledge you all can share about that as well.
Thanks!!
If you’re from an underprivileged background and you have distinctive ECs you may have a shot. Stranger things have happened.
Your odds of getting in would have been negligible if you were applying a few years ago. Duke has made a conscious decision to become more welcoming to transfer students.
What does the Transfer Advisor at your CC say? Usually they are very good at evaluating things for colleges and universities in the same aNd nearby states.
My advisor said that the chances are pretty low only because of how many incoming transfer students are vying for so few spots (which I already figured), but that of course I should apply anyway. She also said my best bet is to just continue earning high As and stick with my ECs or even try to add to them. However, this is the same advice that she gave me for UNC and was so general I really wanted to get more detailed insight from this community. I was particularly looking for maybe an example of a student from a similar CC background that got into Duke as a transfer student and what they did to stand out? I know every students situation is different and there’s no sure-fire way to get in, but I would appreciate any tips you could give me! Especially if they are specifically tailored to Duke admissions.
It looks like the acceptance rate for transfers into Duke is between 3% - 7%. https://admissions.duke.edu/images/uploads/process/Transfer_FAQ_2017.pdf Apply to a wide range of colleges when it is time to transfer.
As a Duke transfer from UNC, I can’t speak to your chances. However, I know a ton of UNC transfers who got into KF.
Duke does not offer undergraduate business. What would your major there be?
I don’t know of anybody that transferred from a community college to Duke, but apparently, Duke joined something in 2015 saying they wanted to increase their numbers. When I was there, I know Duke didn’t even accept community college course credit for current students to take classes over the summers.
To get a better sense of your chances, would need HS GPA and test scores as they should be competitive with the rest of the applicant pool. Without that information, I’d say it’s a long shot as it’s the ~5% acceptance rate includes a lot of applicants from peer schools of Duke, but you never know. And $60k family income is not “underprivileged” – it’s right at the median for a U.S. household, so I don’t think that’ll serve as a significant hook. (Not saying you suggested that, I’m responding to another reply).
Good luck.
As I mentioned previously I was planning on majoring in Business Administration or something similar, but would certainly be willing to change paths slightly if it means admission into a great school like Duke. I was looking into the Economics program if I do apply to Duke specifically.
Yes - I did always anticipate it to be a bit of a stretch especially with my background, but just wanted to know if applying was even worth it. Although I know Duke has a bit of a reputation for being extremely economically disparate with more students coming from 1% families than the entire bottom 60% (I believe the average household income for students is around $180k+). In this case, 60k a year would be quite an advantage with admissions, but of course not something I plan to rely on. What would you suggest as being a significant “hook” in my case? Or an example of something to highlight if I do apply?