How Did I Get Waitlisted By Duke?

<p>It might have been your pomposity.</p>

<p>I got rejected (not even waitlist!) by MIT and accepted into Duke. I think applications really are a crapshoot. Also, you are a bit pretentious.</p>

<p>LOL everyone took the words right out of my mouth. how can anyone feel ENTITLED to gain admission to a top 10 university? that's arrogance at its finest.</p>

<p>^It's not total entitlement, because he DID he get into MIT, which is harder to get into. I see where your coming from OP, but your "I don't really care.." comment is still teeming with arrogance.</p>

<p>MIT is easier for stats driven robots to get into than Duke. So, its no surprise that you weren't accepted. The real question that you should ask yourself is, "Why did I waste so much of my life studying for so many SAT IIs?"</p>

<p>lol I would personally choose Duke over MIT anyday </p>

<p>went to visit both schools...i would be driven insane at MIT...people looked so tired and stressed there</p>

<p>sorrry to all MIT people...just my opinion</p>

<p>MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT</p>

<p><a href="https://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My D applied to both Duke and MIT so we have read their statements about who they are looking for many times. I copied the links above. There does seem to be some logic to the process. </p>

<p>Regarding Duke, the statement I quoted below from their website probably accounts for your not getting accepted. My D got accepted to Duke and I think it was because she was president of several clubs at school and participated in a variety of activities inside and outside of school. </p>

<p>"Successful Duke applicants typically have significant extracurricular commitments, all of which we value. Most students admitted to Duke have demonstrated, in a word, impact. In some venue they have made a difference. It might be in the classroom, in the community, or on the athletic field. It could be doing one thing brilliantly, or several things exceedingly well."</p>

<p>From the list of activities that you posted on CC it doesn't appear that you met the criteria that MIT has listed as what they consider to be a good match. However, they must have seen something in your recommendations or essays that led them to believe that you were a good match. We can't really see your complete application. </p>

<p>I would recommend that you be thankful for your MIT acceptance since that could have easily gone a different way and not dwell on the decisions that didn't go your way.</p>

<p>I think you got waitlisted in order to determine whether you really want the date-- you know, how bad do you want it. I think admissions understands that some apply but will likely go elsewhere, particularly when the why Duke question doesn't show strong connection. If you hang around long enough and really want it, you probably could get in. Just my opinion because otherwise, based upon scores, gpas, recs, and ecs it doesn't add up otherwise. There is nothing wrong with that!</p>

<p>^the overqualified argument strikes again!</p>

<p>No top 10 university would use that methodology. It would be idiotic. If they did, they would reject every applicant above a certain threshold and have SIGNIFICANTLY weaker classes. As an isolated example, the valedictorians of the past two graduating classes at my school have both gone to Duke. Both had phenomenal test scores, ECs, etc. If your argument is that no top top students want to go to Duke, please, for our sakes, visit the campus just once and talk to a few students before you start speculating and rambling off lies.</p>

<p>To clarify all this confusion up, OP, you were not overqualified, you were not entitled to acceptance and in the end Duke didn't feel you were a match. There is nothing more to it. They are picking people who would fit in at Duke. If you were planning on choosing MIT over Duke anyway, congratulations, but please dont complain about making a false prediction because you hold yourself in such high esteem.</p>

<p>Schools can usually get a sense of where you want to go. I really wanted to go to Wash U and was accepted there whereas I just applied to Duke and Northwestern without really caring and got a waitlist and denial.</p>

<p>^ JoeL gets the point being made, KPT missed it.</p>

<p>This thread is hilarious. </p>

<p>Your name is perhaps the most arrogant statement I have ever read on this site. You constantly write about how you want to party in your posts and this just looks down right desperate. </p>

<p>Congrats on your 115 on the AMC, and I am so sorry for your 4 on the AIME (because you partied too hard). </p>

<p>I can imagine your conversations with your friends next year:
"I haven't been to class in two weeks"
"Well I haven't been to class in two weeks and Ive been drunk every night"
"I had 5 beers last night"
"That's it! I had 7 beers and 2 shots in 20 mins"
"Damn, we're so cool"</p>

<p>My twin brother goes to MIT. People like you flunk out there; have fun. College is going to be a big slap in the face. You better lose the arrogance fast, or you're not going to get that job on wall st.</p>

<p>^ouchhh....</p>

<p>174IQPartier is just gettinn pwned left and right. :D</p>

<p>Haha, reminds me of a case study that my pre-med advisor told us about when he sat in on the med school adcom discussion. Phenomenal MCAT scores and GPA but one of the comments was "the essay was so pompous I had to read it twice" followed by rejection. Maybe the Duke adcoms had the same reaction to the app?</p>

<p>Wow, you are a pompous peice of work, huh, OP? Duke is ranked 8th in the nation, better than Dartmouth--sorry to burst your bubble. Moreover, the reason you were waitlisted is because the adcoms saw you were a pompous arrogant whiner and decided they didn't want to put up with you at Duke.</p>

<p>-Helicio :)</p>

<p>@OldCard</p>

<p>I don't exactly know what point I missed, but if you took the time to read the WashU forums, you'd see that most of the people that were accepted have admitted to showing practically no interest. Interpret that however you wish, but joelyam2 is one example that you're trying to equate as a representation of the majority.</p>

<p>The point that I'm making is that the OP was not a match for Duke. He felt that he was entitled to admission, and he got a harsh reminder of how unpredictable college acceptances are. </p>

<p>If you're arguing that Duke is a victim of Tufts Syndrome and that's why the OP was waitlisted, please refer to my post. I'm not going to restate things that have already been said.</p>

<hr>

<p>
[quote]
"I can imagine your conversations with your friends next year:
"I haven't been to class in two weeks"
"Well I haven't been to class in two weeks and Ive been drunk every night"
"I had 5 beers last night"
"That's it! I had 7 beers and 2 shots in 20 mins"
"Damn, we're so cool"</p>

<h2>My twin brother goes to MIT. People like you flunk out there; have fun. College is going to be a big slap in the face. You better lose the arrogance fast, or you're not going to get that job on wall st."

[/quote]
</h2>

<p>I do believe this post and reply wins as the best I have ever seen on CC :)</p>

<p>KPT- Wash U isn't Duke. All I am saying is that if your application doesn't show true love, and it shows for example a sibling in the Ivies or summer terms in the Ivies, they know you aren't going if you are in the upper tier of scores, grades, ecs, and recs. Apps can show biases and Duke is fortunate to be in the position to accept those qualified that show true love-- WashU not so much so.</p>

<p>bbbbbbahahahahhaha 174IQPartier is getting banged! anyway.. My best friend wrote down 2 sentences for the Duke essay. He got in. International student.</p>