Hi everyone… haven’t seen a thread yet for Duke deferrals so decided I’d make one. I was wondering who else got the same result as me about a week ago. Since Duke is still (slightly) possible, I was wondering if anyone who has been in my position before had any advice at all. I still have my heart set on Duke and I don’t want to give up on that dream!
Don’t give up hope! Last year they took 81 ED, but deferred applicants, in the Regular Decision round!
I believe Duke defers about 20% (800?) of ED applicants and of those the acceptance rate is 10% which is much higher than the RD acceptance rate. FWIW, when we toured Duke in April, our freshman tour guide was deferred ED and accepted RD, so don’t give up hope and continue to update the regional Adcom about any “great things” you are doing.
Thanks for giving me some hope @jans1090 and @socaldad2002 !! Do you think it is too late for me to start doing some additional “great things” that I can then update my regional Adcom with?
Absolutely - you probably have until March to update your admission rep with anything new! And while you are at it, assure him/her that Duke is still your #1 and you would enthusiastically accept an admission offer! Best of luck to you!!
I’m in the same boat. Hoping for the best come April!
Does any one happen to know what percentage of deferred students reject the deferral from past years?
@Collegesearch2024 No clue, but I am assuming that there will definitely be some qualified applicants that will choose to ED II to other schools such as UChicago or Vanderbilt. I considered ED II for a couple of days but decided against it because I still have a chance at Duke.
There is absolutely no reason to lose hope just yet! I am a current student that does some work with admissions and gotten to know the department relatively well and confidently can say that, if they didn’t think there was a chance for you, they would’ve rejected you. Remember, they are trying their best to recruit a balanced group of people and a deferral possibly might mean they need to see the rest of the class before seeing if you fit! Additionally, I know many people who have came through the ED/deferral route. In fact, one friend of mine got deferred in ED, waitlisted in RD, accepted in June, and now attends. Everyone has their own road 
That being said, of course be prepared for the prospect of them ultimately not giving you your desired result but deferral =/= rejection by any means.
@TheNerdyOboist thank you for sharing, I really appreciate the advice from current students!
For those of you following along, Duke extended its RD deadline by three days. Does this mean that applicant numbers are most likely down? Or, does anyone know if Duke typically extends the deadline?
Do we need to submit interest form after defer? Some school ask deferred student to submit interest form after defer, what about Duke?