Hi all! I’m a senior in high school in the early stages of this college application process (with a deadline coming quickly right around the corner!), and my biggest decision to make right now is for the school I want to apply early to.
I have visited both, and for the longest time Yale had always been more of a pipe dream for me while Duke has been the school I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to. However, I love different aspects of both schools (the community feel/residential colleges at Yale and the school spirit and flexibility at Duke). I plan to major in psychology with a minor/double major in music. Academically, I feel I could be qualified for both (35 ACT, 4.0 GPA UW, 9 AP classes taken by the end of junior year with 4/5s in all) but Yale still seems a bit of a reach for me. The only advantage I would have there is that while I do not have a lot of extracurricular activities and I was not as involved in my community, all of my extracurriculars and essays are heavily centered around music. I know Yale has a very strong music program, and this could be the perfect fit for me.
With this being said, though, Duke is definitely the school I’ve always loved and would be more than happy to attend, but I am afraid that if I apply to Duke early I would never know what could have happened with Yale. On the other hand, Duke has a higher acceptance rate early AND I would get this arduous process of applying to colleges over with early, but applying to Yale may affect my chances of that happening.
What advice do you have when choosing a school to apply early to?
@clasede2k18 Conventional wisdom says that if the school isn’t your absolute first choice then you should not apply ED. And by absolute first choice we mean that you would turn down everything and anything else to attend if faced with the choice. it seems to me that if faced with the Yale vs Duke choice you would go with Yale (as would the majority of people in that position).
That said, there are people who do not follow the above rule and do ED at an elite school instead of going for their top-choice HYPS school, just to increase their chances. This is also fine, but only as long as you will be truly happy with your ED school and you won’t lament not being able to try for your top choice.
You are perfectly qualified for both, but it all comes down to how much risk you are willing to take. Also Duke is definitely easier to get into than Yale, but it still isn’t a certainty by any means. It is an elite school after all.
I would suggest applying EA to Yale and then RD to Duke. The music opportunities at Yale are probably the best of any elite (non conservatory) school. Plus, this way you get an answer from both and can make a choice later if you are accepted to both. Both are long shot schools for nearly everyone. Good luck!
Some schools are earlier to double majors than the others. You may want to look into it.
My S is taking piano performance lesson with credit with a piano professor at Yale School of Music (basically a conservatory at the graduate level). He is not interested in musicology etc. Thus he is not doing double majoring. The performance faculty lineup available to him (possible few lessons at professors’ private studios), master class series, concert series, quality of studios and pianos, and an additional new music building really spoil him.
He was also admitted by Duke with a likely letter. The amount of efforts from Duke to get my S’s interest was unbelievable and earned our respect. We sensed that Duke, with its new performance center, really wanted to get more arty kids. I bet you will be very happy it there as well.
You may want to add Rice RD to round out your list. It has residential colleges like Yale, and the Shepherd School of Music is excellent. Rice has a lot of school spirit too. The Rice Psychology department is terrific. My D is a Psych/English double major. Many students double major across the schools in the college. Rice does not take as large a percentage of its class ED as some other schools. SCEA at Yale is a very hard admit. Duke is very protective of its yield so it is much easier to get in ED. Of course, no school can duplicate the Cameron Crazies at Duke. If you want to be one, ED there. If you do be ready to commit without any reservations.
The quality of your EC’s matters a lot more than the quantity, so don’t stress about it. I’d ED to Duke if that is where you really want to go unless there are other compelling reasons (e.g. cost).
Yale has no minors and although it is theoretically possible to double major in psychology and music, understand that once you complete distribution requirements you will have only a few slots in four years for other coursework that does not meet a requirement of one of your majors. I typically recommend against applying ED for the admissions boost (real) if the school would otherwise not be your first choice. Also, if you will be requiring significant need based financial aid, getting offers from a few schools will work to your advantage.
In terms of my top choice, I think it would be Duke, because it offers exciting opportunities to its students seen no where else (like, for example, Duke Engage) and has an environment that I could really see myself attending. The reason I was indecisive with the option of Yale as well was because of the prestige that Yale holds that could truly set me apart from others no matter what I do for the rest of my life. I just was not sure if it that was good enough of a reason to let go of my dreams of attending Duke.
ED at duke. You said you’re going to love Duke and at the level of schools you’re looking at the difference in prestige isn’t big enough that it will make a difference in your career. Applying ED will greatly improve your chances. You can apply RD to Yale, if you get rejected.