Duke ED 2025 (Pratt or Trinity)

Hi I am a rising senior in the class of 2021 planning to ED to duke. I was wondering whether to apply to Trinity or Pratt. I am in the international baccalaureate program at my high school and ranked 5th in my class. I have a 3.98 unweighted and 4.75 weighted GPA. My SAT is 1540 but I am planning to super score it to a 1570 hopefully if I do well on my next SAT. I don’t have any hooks but I have a couple of relatively good ECs. I was a 2 time state finalist for DECA. I played soccer since I was 4 and was on Varsity since my freshmen year. I am also on a club team that is ranked 8th in the nation. I am also Vice-President of the class of 2021 for 3 years. I have a couple of other clubs and have volunteered for over 300 hours. My SAT Math 2 is 800 and SAT Biology is 780. I have gotten 4s and 5s on all my ap exams and have taken 23 AP and IB courses. I know I don’t have any extremely strong hooks or any spikes in engineering, but I am interested in computer science and have heard that Pratt is easier to get into for ED. I am still ultimately deciding what to major in. I was wondering based off my stats which school I would have a better chance of getting into for ED. I know it is still a long shot but Duke is my number 1 choice.

You would probably get better responses under “Duke University” forum instead of “College Admissions” since this is a Duke specific question. Pratt is stricter on test scores/grades, but Trinity could mean more unpredictable competition because the pool is large in comparison to number of spots available. I’d say you have a high enough test scores/weighted gpa to be competitive for Pratt, although I’m not sure how they’ll view your unweighted gpa (I’m guessing it probably won’t make a huge difference). I don’t know anything about your course load, but judging by the number of AP/IBs you’ve taken you most likely have taken hard stem classes like AP calc, AP Physics, etc. Course rigor is very important. If you’re the most confident on your “numbers” part of the application, Pratt would probably be “slightly” safer because they weigh other things like extracurriculars and essays less than Trinity does, and vice versa. In the end, whichever school you choose, make sure you have a solid reason why you want to attend.

I wouldn’t overthink this. If you want to major in engineering than I would apply ED to Pratt. I think there were about 170 applicants accepted ED to Pratt last year. You are competitive applicant and if the trend continues this year there will be less applicants applying ED. Having strong test scores is helpful to you as some applicants will be applying test optional. Note: if you apply to Trinity but ultimately want to transfer to Pratt, it might not be as easy as going from Pratt to Trinity. Good luck to you.

The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program Merit Scholarship at Duke is hosting webinars for interested students to learn about the program and tips for the application process. https://calendly.com/rslp/robertson-scholars-high-school-student-info-session

Disclaimer: I’m an incoming First-Year at Brown who was rejected from Duke RD, but know a student admitted ED last year who attends Trinity.

I did get into Vanderbilt RD, and as both universities are split up into multiple schools unlike Brown, my ADVICE should still apply.

At the end of the day, Duke overall is difficult to get into, so there is no point in worrying about slight discrepancies in acceptance rates between the schools. At this stage in the application process, you should be pondering what “story” your application tells: what field (s) do your essays, interview, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation etc. demonstrate your interest in? Duke and most similar universities are looking to create a well-rounded CLASS, so it’s important that your application shows, not tells, how you’ve taken advantage of your high school’s resources and will take advantage of Duke’s resources/curriculum to become a future Doctor, Lawyer, Researcher etc. that the school would be proud of as its future graduate.

A quick google search finds that CS is offered as a major in both Pratt (as ECE) and Trinity (BS, BA, and a minor.) A major difference between the two schools lies in its curriculum, Trinity has a more traditional liberal arts/general-ed curriculum with the Areas of Knowledge/Modes of Inquiry etc. whereas Pratt appears to have broader distribution requirements (5 classes in humanities/social sciences, 4 in the natural sciences etc.) For a student who wants a liberal arts rooted general education, Trinity’s the more obvious choice, or for the student who wants an engineering education w/the freedom to choose the courses inside broad distribution requirements, Pratt would be better suited for that student. You should also research the specifics about double majoring/major & a minor between the two schools, if you have deep interests in another field and desire a transcript designation.

As you stated in your original post, you intend to apply ED, and I highly recommend applying ED to your top choice as long as ALL of the following are true:

  1. You LOVE Duke and would 110% attend if admitted.
  2. You're extremely confident that you can present a well thought out and crafted application by the ED deadline of November 1st.
  3. You and your family can afford Duke if admitted (run the school's financial aid calculators if applicable.) Also, don't count on receiving one of Duke's highly competitive merit scholarships as anything but a pleasant surprise. If you would REQUIRE one of these to afford Duke, you would be better served by applying RD.

Hope this helps! Good luck with admissions!

Duke moved the ED deadline out.

DUKE HAS EXTENDED ITS EARLY DECISION DEADLINE TO NOVEMBER 16 IN RECOGNITION OF THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND VARIOUS NATURAL DISASTERS. WE ALSO PROVIDE FEE WAIVERS FOR STUDENTS WHOSE FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO PAY OUR APPLICATION FEE. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR APPLICATION.