@havenoidea I remember reading a thread a long time ago on CC from a Duke student who was venting about all the things he didn’t like about Duke. It seemed to boil down to the fact that he didn’t get into one of the highest ranking fraternities and not being at the top of the pecking order really bothered him. Responders on the thread advised him to not buy into status ranking and to find other ways to feel good about himself! Other students or recent alumni commented that they didn’t care about the rankings and loved Greek life and others reported that they didn’t participate in Greek life at all and had a wonderful time. If you search in the Duke thread, this thread will probably turn up. You can also search in the Duke thread for “student vibe” or “ED” or “Duke vs” for more info about what it’s like to be a student there.
As your son liked what he saw on campus, and you have family friends who can speak to its qualities, that seems like a good basis to consider ED as a possible option.
@havenoidea It sounds like Duke would be great for your son. My son fell in love with Duke when we visited a few months ago. Of course he couldn’t get a true vibe since there were not many students there but the few that we saw and interacted with were polite, helpful and seemed happy. Duke has the program S21 wants with the ability to explore another area he is interested in, plus the huge school spirit, gorgeous campus (he really liked that freshman all live on East campus), and the strong alumni connections. He was all in and planned to apply ED, but ultimately decided not to simply because he’s discovered he also loves two another schools and wants to take his chances. I’m a little sad since I think Duke is the perfect fit for him and his best chance would be to apply ED. I just have to keep reminding myself that these kids will all end up where they are meant to be. (And I’ll be secretly hoping our kids both end up there!)
@AlmostThere2018 thanknyou for the info on Davidson. It is helpful.
@flyawayx2@havenoidea when we toured Duke one thing that moved it down was the split campus- an example of how different schools can appeal or move off students list.
Glad your students had a chance to visit and decide it was for them. For us it was a great visit because it helped my D21 clarify some of her ‘wants’ and pivot to some schools she had not fully explored that checked her personal boxes.
Fit is subjective- biggest takeaway for me is how important it is to visit before committing to ED. We spent time with a student who is a senior my D21 knew from our town who has been a big booster of Duke to my D21. She is beyond happy there. It works for her, by any metrics she is successful and has benefitted from all Duke has to offer. She said she knew the minute she set foot on campus it was the only place she wanted to go and had to drop everything to write her supplementals because it was only days away from the ED deadline. My D 21 has now experienced that feeling just not at Duke. My hope is my D21 will be as accomplished, confident and happy when she is a senior at whatever college she ends up choosing.
Absolutely! I am looking forward to the opportunity to congratulate your kids when they get into their ED (and RD) schools. Some good news would be really welcome right about now!
It finally hit me guys. 2021 kids are going to college! D21’s teacher sent a copy of the letter of rec and I just made my coffee salty. Happy tears. The days are long, but the years are short.
Clemson announced yesterday after Thanksgiving all classes are on-line and encouraged students not to come back to campus if they go home but not closing up dorms at least as of now.
First time posting on this thread. S21 got his first acceptance today. A cute personal video from Upitt. He applied to a lot of colleges but he’s happy to know he’s going somewhere. Good luck to all!
joining the ranks of those who have sent in apps! Got five out today. Six others are ready to go but D ran out to have lunch with some friends. We’ve pretty much just been sitting on completed apps but had to copy and paste essays into the Common App and proofread. Should be able to get those six out this weekend some time and then D has one more set of essays to complete for one school she decided to add but it’s RD and she’s got time.
Just had lunch with a friend whose S20 is at Texas Christian going hybrid half online. Things are going very well for him. They had an initial outbreak at arrival but got it well under control. She said some of her son’s friends are in big name schools (Stanford and Michigan I think) paying up, living in an apartment near home and 100% remote. She also told me a couple of his friends at U Dub were particularly miserable because so many things were closed in Seattle and they came to live at home.
She totally understood how I am feeling anxious about my S21’s first year getting canceled since they had to deal with that last year. For their family, a smaller, private school was a lucky choice under the circumstances.
lots of kids here have a lot of supplements! I think D21 had 17 - something around there. Some around 150 words, some up to 500. She started back in June!
As for TCU, we know a student there too. I don’t really think TCU is taking the virus too seriously. She’s posting kids hanging out in dorms, going to parties. Same at SMU. Friends just got back from Parents Weekend and it was practically business as usual. On the other hand, Bowdoin’s Parents Weekend is all online. How these schools are dealing with the virus widely vary. Families have to decide what they are comfortable with.
Well ACT has screwed the pooch. My son is scheduled to take it tomorrow at a high school 10 minutes from our house. Printed the ticket and it’s assigned him to a high school an hour away. Looks like it changed yesterday when he removed colleges from his where to send scores to list. On hold with ACT now, but I doubt there is anything they can do.
@sccaflagger74 Oh no! How does that even happen?! That is so incredibly frustrating! I’m sorry you and your son have to deal with this last minute change.
In July D21 was scheduled to take it at a school 20 minutes from here and was reassigned to one 2 hours away. No real hotel options there either, so she got up at 4:30 that morning and drove to the test. It went about like you would expect. Hopefully your S will have better luck tomorrow.
Could be worse, I have a buddy who drove 2 hours in July to a center that was closed, with a bunch of angry people milling about in the parking lot. He was definitely one of them.
@homerdog no they insisted that kids were going to come back after Thanksgiving. Crazily enough they are still having a fall break from October 30 to November 4.
My D18 and her 3 best friends all tested positive on Wednesday. We were actually supposed to drive down Yesterday for the “Ring Ceremony” where the seniors are given there class rings by the school president. Apparently that is a big thing down there. My daughter is very disappointed as it is just another part of her Clemson experience that has been taken away from her by the Pandemic. She reports no fever and just feels like she has a cold. Has to quarantine for 10 days.
D21 taking ACT as I type. She is glad it is her last standardized test.
As to apps D21 was moaning last night that she thought she was almost done and then realized she had about 8 honors college essays to right by Nov when most are due. You was especially moaning about Miami of Ohio who want a 500-1000 word essay about its Code of Love and Honor and what it means to them and how they will honor it while at the school.
@burghdad Are are classes at Clemson set up that students are able to do them online if they can’t go to class…like your D and friends during quarantine? Are they allowed to go outside for fresh air or stay in room at all times? Is food delivered?