In at Duke, but waitlisted at Northwestern?

<p>at least you guys got into somewhere..
i got rejected by BOTH.. a bit too overwhelming because i naively and foolishly thought they were both my 'target' schools.. now im completely screwed because im waiting for seven other replies and each college has a MUCH smaller acceptance rate than either NU or Duke.. possibly the worst day of my life</p>

<p>NU > Duke in engineering beside BME.</p>

<p>Ever since the lacrosse scandal the acceptance rate of Duke hasn't really decreased significantly. On the other hand the last few years apps at NU have skyrocketed. The gap has shrunk although Duke is still more selective.</p>

<p>got into Duke and Rice today but rejected at northwestern....</p>

<p>Um...so what? Admissions doesn't work on a scale aligned with US NEWS rankings.</p>

<p>The schools mentioned: Brown, Northwestern, Duke, UChicago, WashU, Rice; these are all in the same general tier of selectivity. So, acceptance at one or another isn't really indicative of anything else.</p>

<p>When you step up into HYPS where the acceptance rate is almost HALF that of these others schools, it is a little stranger. But still. Admissions at top schools where the acceptance rate is < 25 % is a total crapshoot. =/</p>

<p>wow, it seems that NU is really becoming selective nowadays. It has become so much more selective in just last 2 yrs. Just few yrs ago, I think that most students admitted to Duke also got into NU. It is probably bc NU switched to commonapp 2 yrs ago, skyrocketing number of applicants.</p>

<p>I'm also surprised that Duke's acceptance rate is 23%. I read it as 16% somewhere. I think it was 16% RD and then with ED rates it goes up to 23%.</p>

<p>Because I thought Duke was more selective than Georgetown but I guess there isn't a difference really - or if any G-Town is more selective. Yeah, Duke may have a stronger applicant pool but not by that much. Oh well, whatever it means, Duke is still my #1 right now :D</p>

<p>padfoot: Brown's selectivity is close to the selectivity of HYPS, more than Northwestern, Duke, UChicago, WashU, Rice. Brown's acceptance rate is in the low teens. It is really hard to get into (I got rejected from there last year along with all 14 other Brown applicants from my h.s.....)</p>

<p>Predator,</p>

<p>FYI: the following is undergrad engineering ranking from USN:
Duke
Engineering program rank: 25
Biomedical rank: 2
Environmental rank: 19</p>

<p>Northwestern
Engineering program rank: 14
Biomedical rank: 11
Chemical rank: 23
Civil rank: 15
Computer rank: 16
Electrical rank: 13
Environmental rank: 12
Industrial/Manufacturing rank: 7
Materials rank: 6
Mechanical rank: 17</p>

<p>You got into one of the very best schools in the country; there's no need to put down other schools.</p>

<p>I was waitlisted at Duke, but I got into WUSTL and I got a likely letter from U Penn.</p>

<p>well these are all top schls, and so the selection is quite random~</p>

<p>
[quote]
wow, i always thought that duke is so much harder to get into than NU. i thought it was as hard as ivies, but i guess i was wrong...i still think it's really weird that people get into duke but not NU. For these people - will you go to duke? just out of curiosity...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Duke.. just as hard to get into as Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn... don't be mistaken. </p>

<p>Some schools such as Penn wait-list/reject many HYP admits to keep its acceptance rate low. That is how a school such as Penn keeps having a yield rate as high as Princeton's...</p>

<p>Penn actually manages the yield by admitting 50% of their class early. Compare this to around 30% at some of the other Ivies.</p>

<p>This stuff is so random. I'm in at Duke, WashU, USC and Northwestern, but then wL by UNC.</p>

<p>Thankfully it was more of a safety than anything cuz they don't have engineering.</p>

<p>Try Rejected by Northwestern, Wait listed at Duke, but Accepted at MIT
Explain that one</p>

<p>Wow you beat mine. I'm just using the out of state as my excuse but I got nothing on that one lol.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Try Rejected by Northwestern, Wait listed at Duke, but Accepted at MIT
Explain that one

[/quote]
</p>

<p>haha that is whack indeed</p>

<p>
[quote]
Duke.. just as hard to get into as Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn... don't be mistaken

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Last year admit rates:</p>

<p>Columbia admit rate: 11%
Brown admit rate: 14%
Dartmouth admit rate: 15%
Penn admit rate: 16%</p>

<p>Cornell admit rate: 21%
Duke admit rate: 23%</p>

<p>On this list, Columbia and Brown seem to be noticeably more selective than Duke, since admit rate is about 10% lower. Columbia's admit rate is lower than half of Duke's admit rate. Out of the ivies, only Cornell's selectivity seems similar to Duke's.</p>

<p>Deferred from Brown ED
Wait listed at Duke
Wait listed at Northwestern</p>

<p>Really could not turn out much worse. I personally think the outright rejection is not as bad as sitting here in limbo. The remaining schools I have to hear from are just as selective, so, needless to say, I am not looking forward to next Monday.</p>

<p>It might be informative to look at some matriculation statistics with respect to the "hard to get into" question and its relevance. For example, Brown's "middle 50" SATs and ACTs
Brown (660/760, 670/770, 660/760, 28/33)
vs.
Duke (660/750, 680/790. 680/780, 29/34) would indicate that regardless of <em>admit rate</em>, the numerical part of the matriculants is similar. Dartmouth
(660/770, 670/780, 660/770, 29/34) and
Columbia (660/760, 670/780, 650/760, 29/33) and
Penn (650/750, 680/770, 660/750, 29/33)
present similar numbers. That would <em>seem</em> to indicate comparable <em>quality</em> of admitted students regardless of the ratio of admit to apps.</p>