<p>
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Are you all saying that the AB scholars try harder than you do? Do better work? Have more on the ball?
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Well, yeah I guess that is what we're saying. If AB scholars have more of the positions, then yes, they must work for them more. That's the way it works.</p>
<p>As for if the OP is wrong, no he's not wrong for asking the question. I can definitely see where he would get that impression. I'm glad he brought it to light. We're trying to tell you that there's no conspiracy, no inherent favoritism, but you're simply not listening.</p>
<p>
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But the advantages over the four years, starting at admittance of having "connections" because of what you did in highschool is immeasurble.
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What's the rest of the student population to you? Chopped liver? We're all making connections, many with ABs, Robertsons, BNs, and other brilliant kids that aren't on scholarship. I'm here right now, and I just do not see the exclusivity you're manufacturing.</p>
<p>kritarch, i wanna know how many AB scholars are on the Honor Council Right</p>
<p>citygirlsmom and kritarch, i know what you guys are talking about. because in my hs (which is public) there are a few people who are favored by admin/teacheres and thus some stuffs are given to them.
YET i think what ay and incollege are trying to convince is that it's NOT like that in Duke.</p>
<p>of course what do i know ?! :P</p>
<p>p.s : kritarch, you SHOUDLNT go Duke and go serve the nation.
My decision wouldnt be affected in anyway because of this AB scholars thing.</p>
<p>Not manufacturing, just wondering. Still, no one has said the OP was wrong. College is about chances, growth, and fairness. And, no it is not necessarily the way it works. "They must work for them..." That implies that no one else works to get the same positions but doesn;t get them.</p>
<p>The point the OP is making that for the total number of very qualified, outstanding, driven students at Duke, why are so many positions held by the few in a particular program? It does smell of elitism no matter how you look at it.</p>
<p>AB scholars definitely have the advantages of the program - especially access - but I agree, they still have to work hard to succeed. In fact, the scholarship is dropped if a 3.0 is not reached (or 2.8 in freshman year, I think).</p>
<p>I was at the finalist weekend... nobody was stuck-up at all! I still don't know what 90% of them did, nobody bragged about their achievements; everyone was as normal as could be. I don't think it's fair to label these kids as snobby when you haven't even met them.</p>
<p>NO, No, the kids aren't. It's the institution that is at fault in my opinion.</p>
<p>They are innocently being groomed to succeed. It's no their "fault" but I still feel that if an institutional predisiposition toward helping the chosen few out exists, I will not attend.</p>
<p>Nobody pushes them though - they're basically on their own, only with the few perks of: 1) free tuition 2) free trip to oxford and 3) president's research fellowship (of which you need to apply for).</p>
<p>And why are we only focusing on the AB students? How about the other scholarships?</p>
<p>The program itself is elitism. With such large student body, the positions given to those in a particular program hugely out of proportion to the rest of the student body is a redflag. </p>
<p>But I guess if that is acceptable to those attending Duke, who seem very protective and defensive of it, without refuting what the OP said, it shows me that the school has created something that is 'special" but masked as equalitarian.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don't know why everyone is targeting AB scholars!! Duke gives out more scholarships than just 20. And plus, I thought it was 15 per class??</p>
<p>if you think about it, 1750/1800 kids per class have no special merit scholarships at all</p>
<p>I don't have a problem with them having more officer positions and stuff, as long as they earned them with the equal effort of a non-scholarship person</p>
<p>I believe many schools have programs that provide benefits to those students whom the admissions committee identifies as top applicants. Check out the Morehead Scholars program at UNC. I do agree that sometimes these merit programs are a way for the schools to diversify a particular class, and that they may or may not be based strictly on academic merit. There are so few recipients that I doubt that the general campus population is even aware of who the scholars are. I think that Johns Hopkins has a few select scholars programs, as do many elite schools. UVA has the Echols program, etc.</p>
<p>Other examples of select (or elite) programs that have been discussed on various CC threads include the Emory Scholars program, in addition to some prestigious scholarships at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>These are all programs designed to attract students that may be interested in attending other schools. The "perks" associated with some of these programs may be the deciding factor for some students.</p>
<p>They have merit programs at Columbia too...and probably other Ivies.</p>
<p>Yea, so my friend who's an AB wants to know if he's treated so differently why he didn't even get into his first choice FOCUS program...how's that for something to chew on??</p>
<p>The A.B. Scholars are selected because they are at the very top of their game. One my best friends won it this year and she is just a natural genius. She's taken like a ga-billion A.P.s and maxed out our high school's math and science departments (and won the Siemens AP Award in the process). Was accepted to Harvard EA, but is turning them down for Duke. She is also President of our high school's 200+ Key Club organization. The people who win the award are 1) smart, 2) determined, 3) highly ambitious, and 4) are constantly setting the bar higher. </p>
<p>It comes as no surpise that they compromise a lot of senior leadership positions. Maybe it's not that they have all benefits and opportunities per se, but that they have the same hard working and ambitious traits that they had in high school (and that they have so clearly demonstrated through their ECs, academics, and life passions). Those traits didn't disappear folks. It comes as no surprise that they are also some of the most highly accomplished applicants coming into Duke and some of the most highly accomplished graduates leaving Duke. They are some of the smartest, hard working kids to begin with. Why else would they give this group of kids a scholarship with as much prestige and opportunities as the AB? They don't just dole them out to ordinary Joe and Elena. They give it to the best of the best. The best of the best are the best of the best for a reason. They continue to be the best of the best and that's why they have such prestigious accomplishments and accolades.</p>
<p>No, no, no, it isn't inherent superiority, and I refuse to believe it is. High School is an AWFUL indicator of actual potential when you don't go to the right schools, don't have that helpful support system, etc.</p>
<p>And it's that even among the AB's only a few comprise a vast majority of those who comprise the vast majority of the best positions, as if there is a pecking order even among these 20 individuals as to who will be selected to be "best".</p>
<p>I always saw college as a great equalizer, making it finally a fair place for me to bring all I have to offer, to bear... and it is... for 6400 of the students.</p>
<p>After all, we need to make at least a few (80) better than the rest.</p>
<p>I agree with Seven Nights. The people who got it deserved it, and they will continue to work hard regardless of whether they have it or not. (By the way, who is your friend? I might have talked to her during finalist weekend).</p>
<p>Ok honestly, they are not selected to be the best during college. The classes aren't set in stone, you can take whatever class you want to take and succeed if you work hard. You can contact professors about research, etc. In high school, there is the "elite", but I am sure in college is it almost nonexistent. There are so many different groups of people that the individual factions eventually cancel themselves out (yay Madison and Federalist 10! :P).</p>
<p>There is no pecking order. ABs dont get natural benefits (aside from monetary value). Heck if they didnt offer them so much money then chances are they would lose the top crop to HYP and Mit and CalTech.</p>
<p>kritarch, i dont get why you're so pumped about this issue. True that it would be nice for all of us to start from a beginning with equal everything. But life (and the real world) is NOT like that.</p>
<p>As people have already mentioned there are those kinda scholarships or special programs in nearly every colleges, even in ivies and top tier schools (Cornell, Columbia, UPenn, Rice, Emory, and Georgia Tech to name a few).</p>
<p>P.S : i am not familar with Naval Academy, therefore I can not talk about that. But I can tell you that if you really like Naval Academy, go for it. No need for dissing those ordinary civilian colleges.</p>