Who wants to see what happens inside the Duke admissions office?

<p>Well, this is just some info im passing along for all of you applying RD to the Gothic Wonderland. I just got accepted ED, and this helped me a ton. It is a book (around 200 pgs) that is all about what goes on inside the Duke admissions office. It was written by this ex admissions officer from Duke. I have to warn though, it can make you already stressed out kids even more stressed and self-doubting, but still, it is truly pretty interesting. I have a few complaints though. It is very very negative and cynical about the whole process. Also, it is written from a radical left, feminist point of view. Additionally, I think that the women who wrote it probably got fired, is really bitter about it, and just wants to make some money. That said, here is the book:</p>

<p>Admissions Confidential : An Insider's Account of the Elite College Selection Process
-By Rachel Toor</p>

<p>That book is great (even if it is a little outdated). It's as much of a story as a look at the process.</p>

<p>I went to the bookstore today and looked at it for a little while. I was reading the part where she is describing applicants and what she marked down for them. It seems a little cruel for her to say their name's, locations, schools and then to say that they had no chance at all pretty much. I wonder if they still use this method of selecting applicants because I went through and it seemed like unless I do horribly on my essay, then I won't be an auto-deny, although a likely letter seems a little bit out of the picture for me, unfortunately. Also, since it was several years ago, she just said that to get a 10 out of 10 for testing, one would need a 1480 on the SAT I, but didn't say anything about SAT II's, but hadn't the II's just come out when she was just about to retire from being an admissions officer (late '90's) or did they come out earlier?</p>

<p>yea, i think a lot has changed in the duke admissions office since the '90s so I wouldn't take cut-offs, numbers, etc. too seriously. however, i have heard that the book does offer some insight into the general procedure, which could be helpful.</p>

<p>I would say that the cutoff for a 5/5 on SAT is probably around 1520 or 1530.</p>

<p>And, about the SAT IIs, UC has been requiring them since 1968, so they have to be at least that old.</p>

<p>I didn't know that they were that old. </p>

<p>I wouldn't think that the process changed a whole lot since she left (5 years ago, or so), but things probably still have changed a little bit on what they might consider a 4 or 5 or if anything has more weight. I was a little glad to see that they have a routine they follow (or at least she did) when it came to reading and also taking breaks to give everyone the same chance. That was something I had worried about.</p>

<p>yea i have the book..rachel toor is quite the harsh yale tool if anyone didn't notice her hardcore Ivy loyalty. hopefully we will all prove her wrong. good luck everyone! :) duke '09</p>