Duke Class of 2022 Results

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

Haven’t seen one of these yet, so let’s see some stats!

Follow the format:

Pick one:
Decision: Accepted
Decision: Waitlisted
Decision: Rejected

State intended major

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):
ACT:
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendation:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
Intended major(s):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

2

Decision: Accepted!!! Never been this happy in my life!!!

State intended major: International Comparative Studies, 2nd choice History

Objective
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 Combined, 770 English and 780 Math
ACT: Didn’t take.
SAT II: 790 US History, 740 Literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 unweighted, 4.507 weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1st Decile (top 10)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Stats (5), APUSH, (5), Lang (5), US Gov (5), Calc AB Subscore (4), Calc BC (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Don’t have IB.
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP Lit
AP Human Geography
AP French
AP Computer Science A
Creative Nonfiction Writing (Dual Enrollment)
Gender Studies (Dual Enrollment)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
-ROBERTSON SCHOLARSHIP SEMIFINALIST
-Two Gold Keys, 1Silver Key in Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (regional)
-Topical Winner American High School Poets Contest (regional)
-2nd Place SPI Travel Blog Contest (international)
-Avant Garde Poetry and Short Story Awards (school)

Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Euro, Fed Challenge (President, one of top 25 teams)
-Model UN Club (President)
-French Club (President)
-Political Activism (Protest Leader)
-Band (Assistant Drum Major, Soloist, Section Leader)
Job/Work Experience: I didn’t put any on my application.
Volunteer/Community service: I didn’t put any on my application. I was involved, but it wasn’t really important to me.
Summer Activities:
-Very, very prestigious summer program
-Study abroad in France
Essays:
-Common App: 9/10. Shows one instance of my political activism and how I fought sexism in my town to become a leader.
-Why Duke?: 7/10. Honestly thought this was not that great BUT I am a fabulous writer and that probably helped. Compared Duke to my summer program.
-Diversity Essay: 10/10. Compared my mother, a communist, to my next door neighbor, who is a staunch Catholic.
Teacher Recommendation:
-English teacher: 10/10, made me SOB.
-History teacher: 9/10, detailed intellectual curiousity and our really close relationship.
-Band teacher: 7/10. More of a “fluff” recommendation letter, but well written. He put a bunch of stuff I couldn’t include on my application, including honor societies and band awards.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t show it to me.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Fabulous! Wound up talking to my interviewer for closer to two hours. He liked me a lot, and I found him extremely interesting. He’s one of the reasons I started to seriously consider Duke.

Other
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
Country (if international applicant):
Intended major(s): International Comparative Studies, History
School Type: Public, average ranking
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $200,000 but applied for financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection
Strengths: I have extremely strong and unique ECs, as well as an obvious writing talent. I was also a Robertson semifinalist, which I think pushed my decision to an acceptance.
Weaknesses: I submitted my Duke app before I revised my common app acitivities section, so it was kind of a mess.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Great stats, good awards, leadership roles. I was honestly very shocked. I’ve been waitlisted at Vanderbilt, Brown, and Penn, American, and Lehigh, and I was SURE I was going to be waitlisted here. The tears flowed when I saw my decision

General Comments:
Focus on your essays and don’t worry if you don’t have some fancy shmancy college counselor to edit your Common App! Also, if you’re not doing well with elite schools, especially Ivies, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get into Duke. I’ll put my results below so you can see what a total crapshoot it is.

Rutgers Honors College (full ride): ACCEPTED
Miami University of Ohio Honors and Scholars Progams (full ride): ACCEPTED
University of Toronto (partial scholarship): ACCEPTED
McGill University (partial scholarship): ACCEPTED
University of South Carolina Honors College (full ride): ACCEPTED
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Honors Program: ACCEPTED
Duke University: ACCEPTED
Lehigh University: WAITLISTED
American University: WAITLISTED
Vanderbilt University: WAITLISTED
Brown University: WAITLISTED
University of Pennsylvania: WAITLISTED
Harvard University: REJECTED
Yale University: REJECTED
University of Virginia: REJECTED (idk, man. Beats me too)

3

Decision: Accepted!!!

Pratt School of Engineering
Biomedical Engineering

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 35C (36S 36M 34E 35R) One sitting
SAT II: Math I 750 Chem 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0UW 4.99W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem (5) Psych (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Lit, AP Earth, Honors Spanish 5 (no AP offered), AP level Engineering class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended and Multiple STEM awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, National Spanish Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (President), National Art Honor Society (VP), Beta Club, Impact Club (President)
Job/Work Experience: private Tutor
Volunteer/Community service: over 800 hours of volunteer tutoring and other community service since 9th grade
Summer Activities: nanny and took required history classes due to school year scheduling conflicts
Essays:
Coalition 9/10 wrote about love of tutoring and the process with one particular student over the last 4 years
Why Pratt 9/10 wrote about introduction to engineering in 8th grade science class
Diversity 7/10 wrote about exposure to new culture through exchange program

Teacher Recommendation: Feel they were all great (didn’t read)
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rev Teacher that is Duke alumni
Interview: Did not have on

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
Intended major(s): BME
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: applied for Financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation

Reflection

Strengths: Scores and leadership positions
Weaknesses: Writing
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: feel like exposure to engineering gave a push.

General Comments: also accepted to MIT, UVA, UofSC Honor’s, NC State, Virginia Tech. Waitlisted at Vanderbilt and Case Western. Rejected from Princeton and Yale.

4

Accept/Reject/Deferred: ACCEPTED
SAT I (breakdown): Did not take
ACT (breakdown): 32, 11/12 writing
SAT II: 740 USH, 580 Literature (Did not send either- I took them last minute and did not study)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98, W:4.8/5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 17/520
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo (5), US History (5), Lang (5), Chem (2, it’s bad I know, didn’t report), Currently taking Euro, Calc, Spanish, Lit, Government.
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Top 10 International Finalist DECA and FBLA, 1st place in Water Filtration competition, Model UN awards at Vanderbilt, WashU, UVA, Duke, NYU, TN Governor’s School, Volunteer Awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: Personal Tutor
Volunteer/Community service: Student Council President, Model UN Undersecretary General, Youth Leader in Cultural Organization, Volunteer Leader at 2 area hospitals, Library Volunteer Leader, Mentor at Organization for kids with developmental disabilities, Community Service Club President, DECA/FBLA representative, Announcements Producer

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’d say a good 8.5/10 for Common App. Overall pretty good and showed my passion for interaction and communication
Why Duke essay was ok, mentioned the Research Triangle and giving back to Durham, Optional Supplement was excellent tho, talked about the struggles and power of my Nigerian culture
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Got 10/10 recs from my AP US and English teachers, had 2 additional recs written by library volunteer coordinator and director of my governor’s school which were both stellar. Counselor Rec was great too, I’ve been her assistant for a few years now
The interview could not have gone better. Was told personally by my interviewer that I was one of the best she had ever spoken to and spoke with such confidence, poise, and eloquence

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major and College: Public Policy Management
State (if domestic applicant): Tennessee
School Type: Big high school
Ethnicity: AA
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, AA Male

Reflection

Strengths: EC’s, recs, writing to an extent, GPA/grades, ACT writing score, ethnicity
Weaknesses: pretty low test scores, AP scores (I really thought my 2 on AP Chem would do me in)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: While my app was very strong, I know I was given a boost due to Duke’s emphasis on diversity as well as positive notes taken from my interview.

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: UNC (full scholarship), Vanderbilt, UCLA, Miami-Ohio, Rhodes, USC, Berkeley, Brown, Stanford
Waitlisted: Harvard, Princeton, Tulane

General Comments: Congrats to everyone! Honestly, I was banking on being a finalist for the Reginaldo Howard or AB Duke Scholarship to attend Duke since it has a very hefty price tag. I spoke with to a current Reggie Scholar at my school who told me I had an excellent shot and I spoke at length about how I had researched the tenets of the scholarships during my interview. But, I know you can’t expect anything in college admissions. I will likely be a UNC Tar Heel this fall and couldn’t be happier!

5

@Pastpower Good Choice!

6

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1540 [800 – Math, 740 – Reading & Writing]
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Took once
ACT (breakdown): 34 36, 36 – Math / 36, 35 – Writing / 34, 30 - Science / 30, 34 – Reading
ACT superscore (breakdown): 35 (didn’t submit)
SAT II (subject, score): 800 – Math 2, 800 – Physics 1, 760 - Chemistry
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/450
AP/IB (place score in parentheses): Calc AB (5), Calc BC (5), Comp Sci (5), Physics (5), Microeconomics (5 – self studied), Macroeconomics (4 – self studied), English Lang (4), Chemistry (4 – self studied), AP World (3 – didn’t submit), AP US History (3 – didn’t submit)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish 4, AP Environmental Science, AP Psych / AP Gov, Applied Business, Creative Writing, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): 3x FBLA National Placer including one-time National Champion
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National AP Scholar, Bunch of Regional Rubik’s Cube awards, 2x Math League State Champion, Numerous Regional and State FBLA Awards, Coca-Cola Regional Finalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

• FBLA: State President, State VP, Chapter President, 3x National Placer, numerous state awards, super involved
• Math Club: Co-President, 2x Math League State Champion, Pretty involved, led our high school team
• Basketball: Varsity, wasn’t an amazing player, but loved the game and put in tons of hours
• Volunteer: Hospital Volunteer, Special Ed Volunteer – loved working with special needs students, helped with 3 organizations in different ways, 350+ hours in just two years
• Track and Field: 2x Varsity, only played for two years, took a break junior year to focus on basketball
• Speedcubing (Solving Rubik’s cubes): More of a hobby, numerous regional awards, top 20 in the nation for a type of event
• National Honors Society

Job/Work Experience: Math Tutor
Volunteer/Community Service: A lot of time
Summer Experience: Lots of FBLA experiences, exploring, research opportunities, grinding hours playing basketball
Teacher Recommendation #1: Comp Sci Teacher –REALLY nice person so an 8
Teacher Recommendation #2: Physics Teacher – Kinda goofed off in his class so a 7
Counselor Rec: She loved me, but new to the district so about an 8
Additional Info/Rec: My FBLA adviser who watched me grow through high school, so a 9

Other:
Date Submitted App:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nada
U.S. State/Territory or Country: A state in the US
School Type: High School about 2000 students
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: Good
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development):

Reflection
Strengths: Extracurriculars, Test scores were alright (not amazing)
Weaknesses: Common App Essay - Risky
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
• Accepted: Duke, Johns Hopkins, USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UW
• Waitlisted: Penn, UChicago, UMich, Vanderbilt
• Denied: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Northwestern, WashU

What would you have done differently?:
I took a risky path on my common app essay, idk if I should have done that
Other Factors:
I’m blessed to be in the position I am in. I rolled the dice and these are the results I got, now I choose which game I want to play. I may not have control over where I go, but I have control over how well I do. College Confidential kept me sane through this year so I hope this helps others in the future!