<p>So, I applied to both Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill (EA there). I was reading the Fiske Guide to Colleges the other day and was surprised when it said getting into Duke was easier to get into than UNC-Chapel Hill for an Out-of-State applicant. I am an out-of-stater, and am aware of UNC's strict 82% of incoming class being in-state kids, but even with that, I can't really believe that it would be easier for me to get into Duke than UNC. I understand that it is very difficult to get into either as an out-of-stater but still...</p>
<p>I think the "educate the young minds of the carolinas" part was one of the reasons the Duke family gave tons of money to Duke. Nowadays, that part is mostly manifest in that merit scholarship (BN Duke I think) that's only for kids from the carolinas. </p>
<p>As for 82% from NC quota, according to wikipedia, it's the minimum threshold set by state law. I guess when you get tons of state support, you pretty much have to do what those people tell you to. This isn't unheard of though, I hear from adcoms that med schools in TX is required by law to have 90% of their admits be from in state.</p>
<p>From what I've seen with college admissions in New York, it's easier to get in UNC-Chapel Hill OOS than Duke.
At least, I know of more people who got into UNC but not Duke than vice versa and those that chose to attend UNC have lower stats than those who chose to attend Duke.</p>
<p>Considering the maximum that is able to get in from OOS at UNC-CH is 18% I'm not very surprised that the 10-15% figure. </p>
<p>Interpreting those statistics might not be so straightforward, however. It could just be that UNC doesn't market itself on a national scale as heavily as Duke, so they have fewer OOS applicants and accept fewer OOS applicants.</p>
<p>don't be fooled by the numbers, duke is still harder to get into than chapel hill. you have to examine the pool that you are competing against. sure the unc only accepts about 18 percent out of state but the applicant pool is smaller and i would be willing to bet not as competitive compared to duke. ALSO, look at the size of unc's class as well. Duke's freshman class is about 1600 and while they accept much more than that they will not accept as many as Chapel hill because chapel hill has more students per class.</p>
<p>Also, "value" wise, a parent (me) might find it easier to justify tuition at Duke vs OOS tuition at UNC.....just barely. Also, FWIW, UNC doesn't use the common app.... given the odds, and after 5 or so (plus UC) apps, THAT was the tipping point in our house. That might affect the numbers too. Similarly, the numbers LOOK even more selective for UC's (California), but the details make it more complicated than that.</p>
<p>I can't find the latest data for UNC easily but I can come up with an estimate based on what's out there. According to this official UNC article UNC</a> General Alumni Association :: Admissions FAQs, the acceptance rate for legacy out of state is 39.2% while non-legacy out of state is 19%. The 19% is about what Duke's total out of state rate is (note that Duke's total legacy acceptance rate is in the 40-50% range, so Duke's non-legacy acceptance rate is considerably lower than the stated 20.6%). Using a weighted average based on 80 legacy out-of-staters matriculated as stated in the article, that puts the total out of state acceptance rate at around 20% assuming that about 9,500 applications are received from OOS. </p>
<p>So, even going by acceptance rates (which isn't the best indicator), it does **not **indicate UNC is harder to get into OOS than Duke.</p>
<p>From anecdotal evidence from a high school in IL, I know many (at least six) people who got into UNC OOS and not Duke. I don't know of a single person who got into Duke and not UNC, although the majority of people who apply to Duke don't apply to UNC from my high school. Quite a few people use UVa and UNC as target schools when Duke is more their reach school.</p>
<p>In summary, both are very competitive to get into out-of-state. Since UNC doesn't provide test scores/GPA breakdown of out-of-state applicants, it's hard to ascertain which is really more difficult. The acceptance rates indicate they are about equal. Acceptance rates only tell you part of the story, though. From anecdotal evidence, I have seen that Duke is considerably harder than UNC to get into out of state. But there is really no way to definitively prove one way or the other based on the data I have seen.</p>
<p>They are both very competitive out of state.</p>
<p>I know people who got into Duke but not UNC OOS. But I know more people who got into UNC OOS but not Duke.</p>
<p>My rough calculations show that UNC-Chapel Hill admits about 1,500 OOS students out of more than 10,000 who apply, for around a 15% admit rate. But admit rate alone is not the whole story, as others have pointed out.</p>