<p>In the wake of a scandal of this sort? If you had told me in March that we'd see apps drop 3%, even in a good "market", I'd have taken it gladly.</p>
<p>It certainly works well for the "contrarians" who are applying.</p>
<p>musictoad: "Hell" is in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever been to Duke? If not, then learn more about Duke, surely you must know the importance of learning if you are posting on a college forum. :p</p>
<p>Also congrats on your son getting into W&L, it's a great school!</p>
<p>I don't see why you guys are celebrating. That 3% could very much likely be the top applicants who would normally consider Duke. Now that they, who typically are academically inclinded students who could care less about Duke's superb partying and drinking scene-- now that they hear about the negative press they have no reason to pick Duke over, say, Columbia, JHU, NU or Cornell. </p>
<p>Then again, the 18,500 could well contain hundreds of opportunists, normally weak applicants, who are applying here to take advantage of Duke's vulnerability this year. Hey, if I only had a 2100 SAT, I would definitely apply to Duke this year and sneak in while its image is still weak. Top notch education for an unqualified applicant! Great deal for me.</p>
<p>^I'd say that Duke is a super-reach for you, :p</p>
<p>You have no facts to back your claim.. it could be that people on the lower end are no longer applying.. since they associate the scandal as representative of Duke as a whole...</p>
<p>Despite the fact that ED apps dropped 20%, the quality of those who were accepted, according to Guttentag, was the same as last year.. hmm... I also know of high-quality applicants who were deferred/rejected ED.. (who have higher than GASP 2100!)</p>
<p>First of all, I already go here.</p>
<p>"I'd say that Duke is a super-reach for you"
I'm going to have to ask you to check that big ego at the door. Let's not get all too cocky before you even step on campus here.</p>
<p>I accept that I have no factual evidence yet, just raising two possibilities. Notice the qualifiers "likely," "could well," "if." And what makes you believe only people on the lower end are no longer applying "since they associate the scandal as representative of Duke as a whole?" If the scandal tainted Duke's image, applicants across the spectrum should be hesitant about applying. But as I explained, the ones who are most affected are likely to be the very top applicants: would-be A.B. Dukes, regular decision applicants who receive likely letters. One more thing: Guttentag is a seasoned professional and will protect Duke's image first and foremost. Did you honestly expect him to announce something like: "Ed apps have dropped 20%, and overall applicant strength is significantly weaker than the previous class's?"</p>
<p>I know someone who is local, applied early, is a legacy, and has a 2150+ SAT score, and she still didn't get in. It's not like Duke's standards have fallen astronomically or anything...</p>
<p>Will people ever tire of using case-by-case evidence when it comes to admissions? </p>
<p>"I know someone who got X SAT score, is Y race, has Z extracurriculars, got rejected/accepted by..." There's simply too many confounding variables at hand for you to draw any sound claims from that.</p>
<p>True, but I just felt it was appropriate to throw that out there because some people like to think that this year Duke is going to have much lower admission standards/weaker applicants</p>
<p>And even if it did, why would you EDers be complaining? It'll probably benefit more than hurt you. </p>
<p>Being in a much weaker Duke class will boost your ranking, and you might actually make the Dean's list every semester without even trying, hehe.</p>
<p>JimmyJ: Sorry for seeming like a jerk, I didn't know that you were already at Duke.
I thought you were a sub-2100 kid who was thinking,
"Hey, if I only had a 2100 SAT, I would definitely apply to Duke this year and sneak in while its image is still weak.".. </p>
<p>I now understand that was a hypothetical situation, but just to let you know..</p>
<p>My response to you and any other person who would say this is that Duke's still a reach for you! You wouldn't "sneak in"...
I was a little annoyed by your post because of that.</p>
<p>I used qualifiers when I was explaining why less qualified people may be more hesitant about applying to Duke such as "could be", but I'm sorry for not proofreading my post before... I should have added "since they probably associate the scandal"..... </p>
<pre><code>I say this because people who really think about and research colleges and not let the media help them decide are probably smarter on average than those who don't.. I personally found (from knowing people who attend Duke and doing research on academic quality etc..) that the whopping majority of Duke students are nothing like the boisterous lacrosse players or the immature "frat kings". I just also think that smarter people are less likely to make such harsh generalizations.
</code></pre>
<p>However I do agree with you that Guttentag wouldn't tell the public that the quality of those ED accepted is lower than last year.. </p>
<p>I know you don't like to hear specific examples of people applying.. but out of the people applying to Duke from my school.. they are very highly qualified and not prestige-whore opportunists who are taking advantage of Duke becoming "easier". </p>
<p>We'll see what happens.. but from what I know of the people accepted so far along with me.. all have stats which are definitely deserving of Duke, despite its "weaker image".</p>