I applied to Duke University RD, and recently my dad saw that Duke had viewed his LinkedIn profile. I’m curious as to if anyone has any insight on why they would do this or if it indicates anything as far as admissions are concerned. Thanks!
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Interesting observation. Also worth noting that many ultra-selective schools do research prospective admits online profiles.
P.S. Based on your posted stats & ECs are your other thread, you appear to be a strong candidate for admission to Duke.
Can you clarify what you mean by “Duke” viewed it? Does it say Duke admissions, or is it more vaguely someone who works at Duke?
I ask because i get occasional views by people from various colleges on my profile. In other words, it could just be a random landing on there through some keyword search that matches your father’s profile.
I hear what publisher says about online research of applicants, but not seeing why (or how they would have time) to be researching parents as well as the applicant.
It was simply listed as Duke Higher Education and it could certainly just be coincidence but it would be unusual considering my dad’s unrelated career field. Thanks for the response.
A college like Duke has little time for random snooping into student web presence, much less family. You get your basic 12-20 minutes, same as everyone else, in the first phase.
It’s pretty far fetched that this is meaningful. There could be umpteen reasons someone looked- including not by admissions, at all. Could be completely random.
Besides, for a need blind college, what do you really suppose they’d gain?
Not a coincidence. LinkedIn viewings are rarely random. However, I wouldn’t read too much into it. I often cruise a LI profile out of sheer curiosity. I doubt it is anything official.
There is a growing number of schools randomly trying to verify certain ecs and claims. Especially following the issues recently seen in admissions.
Probably nothing but a coincidence.
As mentioned earlier they have little time to do anything but a speed read.
If you are close to the edge perhaps a little extra was added by a reader or assistant. If you perhaps listed an internship that was unique, or a ses category That didn’t make sense based on other factors. Or a unique story about moving a lot for your fathers job or your personal essay talked about something to do with his career. That’s the only thing I can think. If none of this applies, it’s not anything to read into at all.
However much more likely that it was a random event.
Perhaps an eager development department intern checking high income zip codes to see if there is someone of interest.
Quoting @sherimba03 above: “Not a coincidence. LinkedIn viewings are rarely random.”
Thanks guys, I wasn’t trying to imply anything I was just genuinely curious if anyone had any info.
Is your dad particularly successful or well-known in his field? My guess is that if so, it’s not random at all. Much more likely to be for some reason having to do with coincidence or curiosity if not.
I disagree. I often have people from tech companies viewing my profile. My work has absolutely nothing to do with tech. I definitely assume those are the results of an ill-defined search term.
For OP even if it’s not random… what would it mean? If father is an alum or donor they would know that already, and other than possibly verifying something in the essay as mentioned above, father is irrelevant to the application.
@PetraMC No, above average career but nothing spectacular. It’s probably just a coincidence then.
I think that plenty of people do check LinkedIn at random. (Raises hand.) It’s part of the nature of social media use today. I’ve checked my kids’ hs friends to see what they’re up to. Or something else might intrigue about a parent.
A number of the admissions staff at Duke do have their own account profiles and wouldn’t need to check in under “Higher Education.” There could be independent reasons someone researching at some institution could be looking at Dad, separate from anything to do with OP applying. Or more likely, looking at (or for) staff at his employer.
For now, there’s nothing certain to make of this. In roughly a month, you’ll learn your results. Best wishes.
FWIW My relatives whose son recently graduated from the same school had their profiles reviewed.
OP: Probably not a coincidence, but also not a guarantee of anything.
I find it unlikely that folks engage in totally random LinkedIn reviews. There is a reason.
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Once again, thanks for all the replies. I’ll keep you guys posted on if I get in for the future reference of others who may encounter the same thing.
My guess is that the development office looked. We were solicited right after acceptance for a reception/meeting with a very large University’s president for what was going to be a fundraising effort. Pretty sure they ran our zip code etc to gauge income to see if we would be good donor proapects.
I doubt that Duke’s development office reviewed your dad’s LinkedIn profile–especially in light of the recent & ongoing admissions scandal involving bribery.
P.S. If you matriculate at a private school, everyone receives solicitations.
And the reason is often that a search term is too broad, or some other suboptimal search issue. Remember that “X viewed your profile” does not differentiate between the X who scrutinized it closely, and the X who spent one second on the page before moving on once realizing it wasn’t what they were looking for.
But in this case the OP has an application pending at Duke and someone at Duke viewed the father’s LinkedIn profile. Sometimes, actually often, a coincidence is not a coincidence.
I suspect that OP is seeking answers from other Duke applicants or parents of applicants who either have had or did not have a similiar experience.
I suspect there would be much talk of it if it was a regular occurrence. Again, what could it actually mean if it’s not a coincidence? Any relevant donor or alum or other hook info would be known. In what other way is the parent relevant to the application?