<li>Which one is harder to get into ED?</li>
</ol>
<p>as question number 2. Does it help not needing financial aid?</p>
<p>please bump</p>
<p>If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, then Duke admissions is need-blind. Which means that the admissions office will not see anything related to your finances.</p>
<p>bump to question number 1 thanks</p>
<p>I can't find Northwestern's ED stats rather the fact that 25% of Northwestern's class is from ED. (<a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/facts/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/facts/</a>) Duke got 29% of its class from ED (<a href="http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp</a>) with an acceptance rate of 42% (note: this was a huge anomaly last year; typically it is around 30% acceptance rate). </p>
<p>Comparing the overall admissions stats (since that's all that Northwestern gives us), Northwestern accepted 29.6% of its applicants, while Duke accepted 21.1%. Northwestern's ACT, SAT Verbal and SAT Math ranges were 29-33, 650-730, and 660-750 (<a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/faq/)%5B/url%5D">http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/faq/)</a>, while Duke's were approx (combining Trinity and Pratt averages) 30-34, 690-770, and 730-800. From those stats, it appears Duke is a bit harder to get into. It also appears that applying ED to Duke is more helpful than applying ED to Northwestern, but the data isn't available to fully support that conclusion.</p>
<p>Both schools are need-blind; they don't take into account financial considerations in admissions. However, Northwestern has notoriously awful financial aid packages (at least when comparing it to similar schools), so if finances are a concern, Duke will most likely be giving you more money. You also pay 3 times a year as opposed to twice since Northwestern in on quarters. </p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>bluedog,</p>
<p>The numbers for NU were outdated and for enrolled students while the numbers for Duke were the most updated and for admitted students. </p>
<p>NU just got a huge jump in test scores; the most current stats for NU's admitted students are found here:
<a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/intl/applying/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/intl/applying/</a>
Verbal 690-770
Math 700-790
Mean 1463 (from another source)
ACT 31-34</p>
<p>OP,
Duke's ED is slightly harder.</p>
<p>Duke is harder baby!</p>
<p>Admissions is not like a footrace where the top person gets into Harvard, etc. </p>
<p>Duke and NW look for similar things, and admissions is somewhat luck of the draw, but your particular hook might fit better at one place or another, which is why there are lots of people at Harvard who didn't get in to Duke and/or Northwestern. In general, though, DU and NY are remarkably similar (aside from the fact that one has the superior football team:))</p>