You made a wise decision at the time, and it paid off. Trust your own judgment. Go back and read your Duke application and try to live into why you decided Duke was a great fit for you. As the wife of a Duke alum, I know the school spirit can’t be beat, and it is a terrific place to grow academically and personally. Wait a few days and you will see on the Duke forum many students with stats just like yours that get rejected from all the HYPSMC and from Duke RD. Many will have gone all in for an Ivy ED or SCEA and now are kicking themselves for not applying to Duke ED for the admissions bump. If regret continues to consume you, maybe it is indicative of a bigger problem. is there a counselor at school you can talk to or a psychologist? The college admissions process is extremely stressful, and many students experience self doubt and anxiety at this time of year.
This. You’re upset right now because you think if you hadn’t committed to Duke you’d be going to an Ivy in the fall. The more likely outcome if you hadn’t committed to Duke is that you’d be going to a lower-ranked-than-Duke school in the fall… maybe even much lower… maybe a safety.
Maybe go read some Duke wait list threads. There are so many kids that would have LOVED to have the financial privilege required for the ED cycle including my own senior. You played the ED game and won. Congratulations. If you are truly depressed, talk to your parents and get some help. If you are just playing guessing games with the grass is greener, just let it go. Get some Duke swag and get on some future student boards to generate some excitement.
You are clearly smart, but as a 17-18 year old, self-absorbed. You are wallowing in romanticized intellectual self-pity. My suggestion to you is to print your post and read it in 20 years. You will probably cringe, but also hopefully laugh.
As others have pointed out, you did not have a “decent” shot at any of those schools. Nonetheless, you could have ED’d to one if you chose, but you didn’t. The reality is that Duke is a top institution, filled with people just as smart (and smarter) than you. You are demeaning all these people and Duke with your post, though I know you did not think about that or mean to do that. You are extremely lucky to have gotten into Duke.
Back in the day, before rankings, Internet, etc., my H chose to go to Duke (over other now “higher ranked” options). He visited, it was beautiful, the weather was great and there were pretty girls everywhere. He loved Duke, had amazing opportunities and graduated summa cum laude. Most importantly, our whole family are now huge Duke fans. Last night’s Duke-UNC game was a nail-biter! You would never get that feeling of spirit and devotion that Duke fans have for Duke from your listed schools.
I suggest you read the following article from the most recent Duke Chronicle to get insight into the types of kids you will find at Duke. The young man highlighted just happens to be the son of one of my H’s Duke friends. If you take your place at Duke, I wish for you the amazing experiences he has had. http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/something-wise-this-way-comes
@winterton That’s the nature of the admission game, if instead you took risk of going RD and getting rejected from HYSPCM then you very well could be picking between local state school and Tulane at the moment while kicking yourself for not using ED card to a place you actually want to attend.
Although the OP of this thread is not particularly sympathetic, the feelings are no doubt genuine. Let this be an object lesson for any student or parent contemplating an ED application. It should only be the true first choice school, and not as some sort of elaborate calculation about “best chance for the best school.” No. Because then the thought will always exist about “what if”, in the event the ED application is accepted and there is no reconsideration possible.
People who ED are in fact legally gaming the system. By going ED they may end up with a high reach school which may not be their top choice but by RD, they may end up with bottom three safeties to pick from. With the information he provided, as an Asian his chances to get in there were negligible. I feel sympathy that unfair system corners students but it was a good calculation to ED.
@damon30
I actually think OP’s strategy (“best chance for the best school”) is a valid one, and I don’t think it should be a “lesson” for future students. However, I think it should be a “lesson” for all colleges using ED as means to “lock in” students and potentially “artificially” inflating its reputation and allure because ED increases their “rankings” by improved yields and/or increased application pool - they are attracting students who might not be true fit for their schools.
I am pretty skeptical about the sincerity of this post.
@makemesmart On the predatory institutional practice of ED admissions, I agree completely. For students (and/or parents), I stand by what I wrote above. Someone should make this OP into some kind of “this could be you” PSA on the danger of applying ED to any school except your absolute, 100% positive first choice school. How about
“Not your dream? Don’t ED!”
or
“winterton was accepted ED to his fifth-choice school - Don’t be a winterton!”
or even
“This is your brain after ED acceptance to non-first choice. Any questions?”
@Lindagaf , it is consistent with poster’s previous postings.
@damon30 I enjoy and respect your posts but I think for some students ED produces better results. I don’t view it as predatory just a set of rules to be played based on the needs, wants and resources of the individual candidate.
So I propose the following alternative PSAs with tongue firmly in cheek.
“Friends don’t let friends squander their best odds of getting into a reach… apply ED”
Or
“A mind is a terrible thing to waste at your RD safety school, when a reach was accessible through ED”
Or
“Just say no…to the dismal odds of regular decision”
@Nocreativity1 No argument lol 
I supposes “predatory” is maybe too strong, considering that the applicants are supposed to be smart. But, as we’ve seen with the “big thread”, “college” and “smart” don’t always go together. Smart people can make some dumb decisions.
I think whenever 17 year olds are given “options” that result in adult consequences, regrets will emerge. Whether or not those second thoughts are justified is purely speculative. Of course the inexperience mind will dwell on the theoretical “what could have been” as opposed to the mature focus on the new reality.
That said… OP you are either going to Duke or taking a gap year. Unfortunately there is new door number 3 that includes an admission to Yale. Deal with your reality which in all honesty is pretty awesome!
OP will be thankful when he/she see how many friends are left out in the cold in the RD round, and end up going to the state flagship. For someone in OP’s position, the best shot is likely ED to T5 to T15. Don’t waste your time on RD/EA to HYPMS—even if you have the goods–unless you just want to play the lottery and are happy ending up at the state flagship. It’s different calculus if you have some kind of hook or can’t afford the ED financial cost.
Agree with @Nocreativity1.
18 year-olds
- change their minds all the time
- are heavily affected by emotions due to excessive hormones in their system
(1. due in large part to 2.)
IMO, OP has underlying issues that need to be dealt with. If he had chosen to SCEA, most likely he would have been rejected* and berating himself for not ED’ing to Duke.
The problem is that OP’s underlying issues would make him unhappy and miserable no matter what strategy he chose.
*It’s far tougher to get in via SCEA to Yale or RD to Duke than through ED to Duke.
OMG-NOT that! Gasp…choke…wail…gnash teeth…the STATE FLAGSHIP???
Yup. The Duke admissions page not once but twice says ED is for those for whom Duke is clear first choice https://admissions.duke.edu/application/timeline
My daughter’s ED school was so clearly first choice for her that she didn’t even hesitate when her offer was to her second choice program (so the offer wasn’t binding). No, it wasn’t top 20, but it was top for her.
@Skrunch - imo that kind of calculus (post #34) is exactly the calculus that leads to ED regret: you are strategizing “best chance of somewhere in T15” rather than strategizing “best chance to get in the school I most want to go”.
There is an underlying assumption when I read this thread that OP wants a T10 school. And, I don’t hear any differentiation in HYPMS by OP—other than more “prestige” than Duke. I’m not dissing state flagships. That’s where my kids are.
I agree. Whenever I see someone lump all of those schools together as where they would want to go, it raises a red flag for me. They are such vastly different schools-rarely would they all be the RIGHT fit for any one given person. So this OP does sound very wrapped up in prestige rather than any particular notion that Duke isn’t measuring up academically for him.