<p>I live in NC I'm planning on applying to Duke ED this fall. On a tour, I heard that Duke admits about 15% of its applicants from North Carolina because they wanted to 'make sure they didn't forget about their backyard students', according to the speaker. </p>
<p>15% from one state is much greater than any other individual state, and although Duke probably gets larger numbers of applicants from NC, it seems being in state gives you a slight advantage. </p>
<p>I'm wondering just how much of a boost NC residency provides- is it only marginal? Is it akin to being a legacy or URM? </p>
<p>I have an SAT in the high 2300s and I'm at least top 10 in my class at a top public school. Although I have a few unique ECs and I do volunteer blah blah blah, they are not nearly as impressive as some of the ECs I see here on CC (call me intimidated). I'm hoping the ED and NC resident status will be able to help me out.</p>
<p>It probably has an advantage, but not a significant enough one to make a big difference in your apps.</p>
<p>If you’re unhooked, you still have a solid shot, especially because of your 2300+ on the SAT. What’s your unweighted GPA, and your class rank? That would help.</p>
<p>And just so ya know, you don’t need out-of-this-world EC’s to get into Duke. Really. It’ll help considerably, but as long as you have a few that you’ve committed to and have at least one leadership position, it won’t work against you.</p>
<p>The one big advantage of being a NC applicant is the scholarships: Duke offers large scholarships to several talented NC acceptees. Unforunately, these are highly competitive, so I don’t think you can get one if your EC’s are lacking.</p>
<p>I think, judging from the glimmer of stats you’ve provided, that you have a great chance at Duke ED. Their charter does pledge to give preference to in-state students, and that, coupled with your stats and your ED devotion, will likely secure you a spot.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments. I will be at least in the top 10 of my class out of about 450, i’m guessing about 6-8. My UW is 3.83, which is nothing special. My weighted is 4.91 in a system where honors is given 5.0 and AP 6.0. Also, my school grades on a 7 point scale, where 100-93= A, 92-85= B, etc. (not that it matters, but I would have gotten a 4.0 UW on a regular 100-90 scale.) I do have a very rigorous schedule- i have taken/will take all APs my junior and senior year as well as one AP my sophomore year. </p>
<p>I don’t really want to make this a “chance me” thread, so that’s all I’ll say about that. Anyways, I figured NC residence would be just like a little nudge forward.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have a good chance.<br>
Regarding grading scales, remember they run all over the place. That’s why your GPA is explained on your transcript. The 4.91 is impressive, no doubt about it. You may have been on a 10pt scale, received a 4.0uw (like you pointed out), however only received 5.0 for APs (as is the case at many schools). Your GPA would not be a 4.91, but your achievement no less.
The admission offices are very good at making sense of it all and evaluating everyone fairly.</p>
<p>Being an in-state resident helps you by 21.34%. Also, 68.4% of statistics are completely made up. But seriously, it’s really hard to say how much it helps. There is no dispute, though, that’s being from NC is considered a positive. If I had to guess I’d say it’s about as helpful as a legacy (who has never donated anything) applying RD, but not as much of a hook as a legacy applying ED. It’s especially helpful if you go to a school that Duke gets a lot of people from annually. Duke wants to keep those relationships thriving so typically accepts a lot of people every year (for example, NC School of Math and Science; like 30% of the class gets accepted to Duke, which is an absurd number). By the way, the charter written at the time of James B Duke’s donation actually specified to serve the “people of the Carolinas” - meaning North and South Carolina. For some reason, it seems like this is an unknown and perhaps the admissions committee doesn’t consider SC residents in the same regard as NC…I’m not sure.</p>
<p>I live in NC and will be attending Duke this Fall. Really, the only thing my residence got me was about $1500 in some kind of NC tuition grant. I don’t think it was too much of a factor in my acceptance, based on who else I know that was accepted. I think the 15% statistic can be explained, to a degree, by the number of NC residents that apply. More people from the southeast apply, so more get in. Kind of gives the illusion that being in-state helps. But I could very well be wrong!</p>
<p>I think NC residency definitely helps your chances when applying to Duke. I went to a top public school in NC, and we put 23 kids into Duke this year out of 80 applicants. That’s a pretty high acceptance rate compared to the average (although it’s significantly less than the 50% rate we had a few years ago, which shows how much tougher college admissions are getting these days).</p>
<p>Honestly, if you’ve got an SAT score in the high 2300s (along with that GPA/rank), you’re an NC resident, and you apply ED, you’ve got a pretty darn good shot at Duke. Just make sure you work on those essays.</p>
But seriously, it’s really hard to say how much it helps. There is no dispute, though, that’s being from NC is considered a positive. If I had to guess I’d say it’s about as helpful as a legacy (who has never donated anything) applying RD, but not as much of a hook as a legacy applying ED. It’s especially helpful if you go to a school that Duke gets a lot of people from annually. Duke wants to keep those relationships thriving so typically accepts a lot of people every year (for example, NC School of Math and Science; like 30% of the class gets accepted to Duke, which is an absurd number). By the way, the charter written at the time of James B Duke’s donation actually specified to serve the “people of the Carolinas” - meaning North and South Carolina. For some reason, it seems like this is an unknown and perhaps the admissions committee doesn’t consider SC residents in the same regard as NC…I’m not sure.</p>