Doing away with ED?

<p>Duke isn't going to catch Harvard's early admissions phobia and do away with ED anytime soon, will it? I really hope not.</p>

<p>i dont think they will be getting rid of ED anytime soon. the admissions dean if im not mistaken has said its still a very valuable practice. I think if they are getting rid of ED they would give a 2 year notice or something like that</p>

<p>are duke ED application rates likely to remain fairly steady over the next few years?</p>

<p>Hopefully, they will get rid of ED, and fast. ED heavily favors the wealthy--pure and simple. It favors those who have the resources since they don't have to worry about financial aid, etc. ED is a burden for those in the middle class since it doesn't allow students--and yes parents--to compare the financial aid packages of Duke compared to other schools that the student applied at. I attended Duke's orientation for prospective applicants with my daughter, and when I asked the question, the Duke spokesperson really weasel-worded the reply so as not to raise that issue. If Duke is reading this board GET RID OF ED</p>

<p>i think you need ED to offset affirmative action.</p>

<p>Well, I agree that ED generally favors the wealthy, but you can get out of your ED commitment if you can't afford to pay. I don't think it's in Duke's best interest to get rid of ED and I don't see them doing it anytime soon. It certainly does not exist to "offset affirmative action," though. That would make no sense.</p>

<p>committing ED shows that you truly want to go to a certain school, sure u don't get to compare financial aid packages, but if duke is where u want to go then its a viable options. Their are plenty of middle and lower class students whose family is committed to the best education possible, and those families are willing to go to any lengths to ensure that. a lower class student applying ed would get the same amount of aid regular so really the only disadvantage is not being able to compare packages or being "unsure" and there is no point in committing ED if you are not sure. so i think it definetly serves its purpose for students and families who know precisely what they want.</p>

<p>Duke doesn't have the name power of Princeton or Harvard to do away with ED. Duke needs to lock in students, or else we would lose too many to other schools.</p>

<p>I'm a Duke student BTW, so don't see this as Duke bashing.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Hopefully, they will get rid of ED, and fast. ED heavily favors the wealthy--pure and simple. It favors those who have the resources since they don't have to worry about financial aid, etc. ED is a burden for those in the middle class since it doesn't allow students--and yes parents--to compare the financial aid packages of Duke compared to other schools that the student applied at.

[/quote]

A lot of the people I know of who are ED accepted applicants at Duke aren't wealthy- some are on financial aid, some didn't get financial aid, aren't wealthy BUT knew that Duke was the right school for them.</p>

<p>I think many have missed my point. I have no doubt that many who aren't wealthy went the ED route to Duke. Middle and lower class too for that matter. My point is that ED favors the wealthy in that they do not have to worry about whether the financial aid package they will receive is adequate. For example, my daughter wants to go to Duk--first choice, period. But based on my numbers (I'm a government worker) there is no way we can take the chance of not seeing if she gets a better deal from her second, third choice. I've read plenty of articles about ED over the last year and all agree that it does favor wealthier applicants.</p>

<p>I agree with that. Money problems do deter a lot of people from applying Early Decision, that was part of my reason for applying early to Harvard (EA) instead of Princeton (ED)- not that it mattered anyway lol.</p>