<p>Hey guys, I just got an email from Duke today...
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Greetings from Duke's Office of Undergraduate Admissions!</p>
<p>Congratulations - you are one of Duke's very best applicants! We'd like to arrange for you to participate in Duke Up Close, a special, expense-paid campus visit program for students like you. The program will be held from Tuesday, April 10th through Thursday, April 12th and will give you an opportunity to see some of the many exciting things Duke offers...
<p>Haha, thanks! Did the likely letters in February say the same thing? I was kinda confused cause I saw all the above but I was looking for the words "likely candidate" or something.</p>
<p>The likely letters in Feb. told us that we were the top 350 candidates, and that we were possible scholarship candidates. A few days ago, most of us (the 350 Feb. likelies) got invites to Duke Up Close. A minority of the 350 got scholarship finalist notifications and scholarship weekend invites.</p>
<p>So it looks like Duke is inviting more people (like theoneo) to Duke Up Close than just the original likelies. Cool! Can't wait to meet you.</p>
<p>Yeah I haven't really got Duke spirit. I'd never even consider going to Carolina but I love Carolina people much much more (having spent a lot of time on both campuses, etc.). Why I am saying this on the Duke Up Close thread, I do not know...</p>
<p>Duke isn't even one of my very-top choices, but it's my first acceptance, so I'm sooooooo excited!!!! No getting stuck at my safety school, whoot</p>
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If Duke never intended to give me money or consider me as a finalist for money, I'd rather that I didn't receive a "top 350" letter at all. No one likes to be told that they're "not quite good enough." Of course Duke is entitled to do it, and I am not trying to act arrogant here, but still--don't send me a letter that makes me feel rejected and inadequate. That defeats the purpose of a likely letter. I know people at Duke who felt the same way last year when they got their Duke Up Close invites--one of them goes to Duke now, actually, and pays full tuition like any other student.
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<p>I'm a junior at Duke and receved a likely letter in Feburary. I do recall that it mentioned something about scholarships, and I was going to be considered, I would be notified by mid-March.</p>
<p>I wasn't.</p>
<p>While it's a wonderful honor, I have spent a large chunk of a Duke career wondering "what if?" What if I had taken the SAT a third time (and broken 1500 like I knew I could have), had put together a better application etc. I must admit, whenever I meet a scholarship student I do have a little pang of jealously that I was good enough to be told I was at the very top of the applicant pool, but not good enough for a scholarship. [For the record, I also got likelies for Yale, Virginia, WashU, as well as went to Stanford FVP (where they extended the SCEA deadline for me).] I have immensely enjoyed my Duke experience and realize that its a part of life - you won't always be the best. Yet I would have rather not known at all.</p>
<p>Edited to add: Duke offered to pay for my flight out there whenever I wanted. I elected to attend BSAI instead and it's definitely the reason I chose to attend. I'm sure UpClose is fun too, though.</p>
<p>In my thing, it says that you have to register for Duke Up Close by March 14 at 11:59 PM EST, but I just registered about 5 minutes ago and it didn't say "NO!" or anything like that. If I get the confirmation email, do I just assume that I'm OK even though I registered late?</p>