<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I plan on sending emails to adcoms asking about specific program and opportunities at Duke. I guess should I provide a background about myself. I do not wish to come off gloating or bragging about any of my past experiences. I am not sure how I should address them.</p>
<p>they dont take e-mail inquiries into account when they review ur file from what I know. You dont really have to provide any background info, just ask ur questions</p>
<p>Provide biographical info-- like your name, where you're from, which high school you attend, but don't overwhelm them with stuff they're ultimately going to read in your application. It's not necessary and it's rather obnoxious. Ask your question-- and if you have questions that can't be answered by looking through the Duke website, it makes a lot of sense to do so. </p>
<p>I also heard that they print out a copy of your email and save it in your file, just to show that you've initiated contact. but that could be a rumor.</p>
<p>they dont have time to keep track of all the overly zealous kids who email them.</p>
<p>They don't keep track of communications, but if you're asking about programs you should go directly to the program. The admissions officers deal with admissions and are plenty busy just doing that. They won't be able to answer questions about programs, etc, the same way the people who work in those programs will. It isn't hard to find contact info for programs, just go to <a href="http://www.duke.edu%5B/url%5D">www.duke.edu</a> and do a search in the top right hand corner.</p>
<p>you dont need to email your adcom, but i talked a bunch with mine and she was impressed. i suppose if you're not as great as me it might be easy to bother them. so don't do it. unless you're as great as me.</p>
<p>have u guys ever seen the article on duke's adcom on howstuffworks.com???</p>
<p>"Now that we've looked at admissions generally, let's look at how Duke, specifically, does it! It all starts with 14,000 applications in the mailroom. (Considering all the different parts of an application, this means well over 100,000 separate pieces of paper!) All of the pieces must be sorted and ordered and put into file folders, so that everything is in the right place in the right order. Each complete application is then evaluated by one of 15 to 20 "first readers" -- temporary professional staff (former admissions officers, faculty spouses, alumni, graduate students). These applications are randomly distributed. </p>
<p>Applications then receive a second full evaluation by the staff member responsible for the region of the country in which the applicant lives. So each application is evaluated at least twice. The strongest 5 percent to 7 percent of the pool (as defined by all parts of the application, not just the academic and quantifiable parts) then comes directly to the director of undergraduate admissions -- Guttentag -- for review. Most of the time, if both the first and second readers recommend an admit, the student will be admitted. But not always. Guttentag reserves the right to have a student discussed in selection committee."</p>
<p>That's a little old since I believe this last year there were more like 18,000 applications, but otherwise it sounds pretty accurate from what I know.</p>