It’s crazy that the ED acceptance rate dropped to 18%, I mean the admit rate has constantly gone down over the last 10 years atleast. So I am not too surprised, however 18% and 12% for unhooked applicants is steep! But I guess this is still better than the RD admit rate of 8% and I bet that rate is going down this year too compared to last year just like it’s been over the years. So I am thinking ED unhooked applicants are still at an advantage.
Also regarding the discussion on sibling being legacy, that’s not true. I once asked an AO and they said point blank that siblings are not legacy and that it doesn’t really help other than the fact that they think that you know what you are getting into in terms of fit.
ya siblings dont count as a legacy given youre not an offspring of them…but ya 18% is really steep and it almost seems pointless at this point if its really 12% for an Unhooked app like me. at this point i just keep telling myself theres nothing i can do about it ive done everything up until this point to just try and bet on myself at this rate and whatever happens happens. 16 days esketiiiit
I agree with @joerbnsn that there’s nothing that can be done now. Also, my father got a form email from Duke yesterday encouraging me to apply. Obviously, the auto-email didn’t know that I already had applied. Duke wants to encourage as many to apply as possible, so they can get their admit rate down to the low single digits — like HPSY & MIT. This is a game. It helps with Duke’s prestige. Some will win at the game and get accepted, and others will “win” by being accepted to other great schools.
If you want to see how you stack up for Duke and other schools, I would encourage everyone here who has applied to go onto Collegedata.com and create a profile (it’s anonymous). Put in your stats. It helps you see how you compare to others who have applied ED and RD to other schools. Just a thought.
@SlimJim005 Guttentag, not Guttenberg
My son is a Freshman to Duke now. Applying to schools these days is a crapshoot. You have to have good gpa etc. to get a foot at the door. Everything else depends. My son got waitlisted where his brother was attending. Legacy is overrated unless you donate tons of money. My nephew’s parents went to Ivy, where my nephew didn’t get in. You probably should apply as ED to school where your heart desires provided you have the scores. Then, you should apply to EA. Not very many schools have that. It reduces pressure that you have gotten into some school. Then, you should really choose some safety. What considers a safety is also debatable. May be the schools rated 60 -100 in USNews? I see here applying to 14/15 all top-notch schools only.
Good luck to everyone.
@GammaDelta Thank you very much. Yours is the best advice on the board. It’s a total crapshoot. If you have the scores (meaning above 1500 SAT and/or above 34 ACT), then you will probably get into a pretty decent school somewhere, but not necessarily your first choice. We will all survive.
@sailcatmom Sorry about the error. Yes, Guttentag.
Did your son, have a brother who attended Duke at the time? Did your son apply ED to Duke ? Was he waitlisted at Duke ?
Legacy is helpful, but the applicants should be good too. One thing surprises me that when I read Harvard Legacy statistics. Legacy admits at Harvard have average higher SAT scores than the rest of the student body in the freshman.
Hi all. I did not apply ED to Duke, but I did just visit. I know this is pretty late, and I apologize. This may not be very helpful anymore, but during the info session I attended, the admissions rep did say that students must focus on Duke’s special programs (i.e. Bass Connections) and how they will support your interests or plans. So if any other Duke applicants read this, I hope this helps tackle the Why Duke? question. I know the word limit is tough, but I think going on their website and looking at their special programs will help you narrow down your writing. Best of luck to all! And be super sure not to include the name of other universities in your essay as well. The admissions rep confided that she had just read an amazing app, up to the point of the Why Duke? question, where the student wrote “Michigan” instead of “Duke.” It really happens, so be super careful!
@ctgirl2019 Thanks for the advice. I visited too and I remember that’s one of the things they mentioned at the presentation. Did you visit recently?
@madp01 I went 3 days ago! Such a beautiful campus. They also said to not be worried about kids applying from your school. They review each student independently. It is not about a school’s relationship with Duke, rather it is simply about the students and what they admissions team is looking for. 8 kids were accepted from a school in Austin last year, so they do not have a “maximum” number of students they can admit from a given school. Just because your school has not gotten kids admitted in a few years should not discourage you.
@ctgirl2019 That’s great info thank you! ikr the campus is so pretty. did they mention anything about their admit rates for ed and how that changed? also did they say anything about what they think is most important besides numerical data on apps
@madp01 their ED admit rate was around 16% last year, but the admissions rep predicted it to decrease to around 14% this year. And she said that extracurriculars are important to them. They want to see how you would take advantage of what Duke offers, and how you may add to their community. The essays are also vital. She mentioned them a lot, and they believe that that is where they really learn about the student. It’s where they can visualize in their minds how the student could thrive at Duke.
@ctgirl2019 the ed rate was 21% last year and is 18% this year lol
@sanjanagupta1 oops. Sorry! Ignore that point, then. I must have misremembered. But the rest of the info is correct. I paid less attention to the stats than to what they care about. 
My son who is a sophomore at Duke is currently doing two Bass Connections programs this semester. Plus he did a pre-orientation program, the Focus cluster first semester, and Duke in China study abroad this past summer. So many, many opportunities!
@ctgirl2019 oh it’s no problem lol just got scared for a sec. that information u heard was valuable and reassuring, thanks for the advice. where did you apply ed?
@sanjanagupta1 I applied EA to Yale. I have a sister there and a grandfather who attended. Fingers crossed. Best of luck to you with Duke! It was amazing when I toured. My mother correctly pointed out that it is almost as though it is its own microcosm. It seems so different culturally from its southern surroundings, almost as though it should be in the northeast. As my mother said, it’s a northeast school—an Ivy is an easier term—set in the south. It bears more architectural and cultural similarity to Ivy institutions, and there are few universities of its caliber in the south with its distinct, dare I say northern (in all respects besides climate), atmosphere. And with all of the trees, and the length of Campus Dr, it almost seems like it is setting itself apart from the outside, though it strongly identifies with Durham. Seems like a great place!