<p>Is not doing the Why Duke? suicide for your application? I did it, but got into a debate about this with some other applicants - some said Duke doesn't particularly care about it. I personally think it's the way they can distinguish true interest in the school.</p>
<p>Well, think about it this way - if they didn’t care about it, why would they ask for it?</p>
<p>Here are a few things to consider…</p>
<p>With the rise in popularity of the Common Application over the past decade, applications to elite universities are now in the 30,000 range. A decade ago the typical applicant that might have submitted applications to 4-6 schools is now submitting applications to 10-15 schools. As it gets harder and harder to differentiate between the 2300+SAT/4.0GPA/top-1pct applicant, more importance (IMO) is now placed on essays, techer rec’s, and interviews to differentiate applicants. In addition, with the ease of use of the common application, many students apply to schools without much thought about the school, research into whether it is a good fit, etc. As yield is an important statistic for schools, they are certainly trying to determine the level of interest of an applicant. For Duke, the “Why Duke” essay is a great opportunity to show that you know the school and can articulate why it would be a good fit for you. I, frankly, cannot understand why an applicant that is REALLY interested in admission to Duke (or any other school for that matter) would not use every opportunity possible to strengthen his/her application and help differentiate themselves from the other 30,000 applicants. I think the same can be said for the interview. Having done these for many years for Duke, I have the feeling in recent years that this is growing in importance. Once again, it’s another chance to add to and strengthen your application, add more of a personal face to it, and hopefully differentiate yourself from other applicants.</p>
<p>I would advise strongly to anyone applying to Duke that they submit the “Why Duke” essay and, if offered an interview, accept it.</p>
<p>Yes, I fully think it is suicide not to complete the ‘why Duke’ essay. I am willing to bet probably about 30% of the applicants don’t complete it, however. Just a guess. But I bet.</p>
<p>the kitesurfer.</p>
<p>I didn’t do it as a high school senior, and I was offered admission. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend to every applicant that they do it because it is another opportunity to differentiate yourself and articulate why Duke is a strong fit for you.</p>
<p>Isn’t it stating on the application that you don’t have to write the “Why Duke” essay? I’d take their word for it, well, actually my D took their word. She got accepted to Duke last year. She did accept the interview when asked.</p>
<p>^Yes, the essay is optional but I think that just means that in the admissions rating/scoring system, the essay has no official point value. However, think of it this way. Duke auto-rejects half of its applicant pool and auto-accepts a couple hundred of the creme de la creme. That leaves about 10,000 applications that go through the admissions committee discussion. What do you think they talk about at those meetings? I’m willing to bet that score assignments do not make up a majority of the discussions.</p>
<p>I think it definitely hurts for RD, no matter what people say about not completing it and getting in. Duke knows they are often the 5th choice or later for students applying to HYPSMCBPetc… not doing the essay means that Duke’s prestige+ short supplement made you want to apply there to see if you could get in, which is a big red flag for yield/ people who actually want to go to Duke…</p>
<p>Aha! The Blue Devil, it may surprise you, did not write a “Why Duke?” Essay! “Why, Blue Devil?” you may ask. Simply put, there was nothing I wanted to write about. In hindsight, I would have written about becoming The Blue Devil, but the truth is, as any admission’s officer will tell you, it’s a chance to bring something YOU-nique to the table. (See what I did there? Very clever.) </p>
<p>Being you-nique is the entire point of the essay. If you write about being in warm weather with intelligent peers, it may not help your application very much. However, if you write about the remarkable confluence of laid-back happiness with astute intellectual rigor that lead to the distinguished Duke culture, then it may help. </p>
<p>In the end, I can only advise you to write from the heart. Don’t try to be tactical or come up with the “best” answer. There is no right answer to this question; it is meant to present a stage upon which the student can use their heart strings and passion to perform a wonderful marionette show conveying why they should be a Blue Devil.</p>
<p>I didn’t write a “Why Duke” when I applied in the Spring of 2007 and I just graduated from Duke this past spring.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. If they say it’s option, then it really is optional.</p>
<p>I would say that its only beneficial if you can do well on it, but when I visited in the summer they did say that it says it’s optional, but you know what that means, do it. Still, people have gotten in without one, and people who wrote one got denied, so it’s not a huge factor.</p>