Did Anyone Here Get Merit Aid to a Top School?

[Anonymous]

I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

Could it be because she was from TJ? kudos to PP's DD!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was someone here whose child got the AB Duke scholarship. Maybe they still roam the forum, would be curious to here what their child did to get it as well, and also where else they got in (I’m assuming they accepted the scholarship)

I'm here. We didn't know anything about Duke's scholarships until they contacted DD and informed her that she is a finalist for one. DD was also accepted by GA Tech, UVA, VA Tech, etc. and waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU. She is exceptionally self-motivated and driven: participated in numerous competitions, won some, volunteered a lot, had a part-time job since the age of 14 teaching math and reading. Co-authored a CS textbook, is fluent in our native language, was a co-captain of the two school clubs, NM Scholar, high SAT and GPA (4.65 at TJ), a dozen AP exams all 5s, took the most challenging classes (e.g., Multivariable Calc and AP Physics C in 10th grade, the most challenging 4xx undergraduate math class at Duke during her 1st semester). She just started her 2nd semester at Duke and feels that 5 classes and several clubs aren't enough, so she applied for various part-time jobs and is about to start working as a software engineer 15 hours a week. She somehow still has plenty of time to socialize with her awesome friends, exercise, read books, watch movies, YouTube, and TikTok.

Congrats & best wishes to DD and mom. You both sound great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was someone here whose child got the AB Duke scholarship. Maybe they still roam the forum, would be curious to here what their child did to get it as well, and also where else they got in (I’m assuming they accepted the scholarship)

I'm here. We didn't know anything about Duke's scholarships until they contacted DD and informed her that she is a finalist for one. DD was also accepted by GA Tech, UVA, VA Tech, etc. and waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU. She is exceptionally self-motivated and driven: participated in numerous competitions, won some, volunteered a lot, had a part-time job since the age of 14 teaching math and reading. Co-authored a CS textbook, is fluent in our native language, was a co-captain of the two school clubs, NM Scholar, high SAT and GPA (4.65 at TJ), a dozen AP exams all 5s, took the most challenging classes (e.g., Multivariable Calc and AP Physics C in 10th grade, the most challenging 4xx undergraduate math class at Duke during her 1st semester). She just started her 2nd semester at Duke and feels that 5 classes and several clubs aren't enough, so she applied for various part-time jobs and is about to start working as a software engineer 15 hours a week. She somehow still has plenty of time to socialize with her awesome friends, exercise, read books, watch movies, YouTube, and TikTok.

You should super proud of your amazing daughter. From what you say here, she will clearly go on to do great things.

I did want to tell you that it took me about 30 seconds to figure out her name from the information you posted here (and I have no tie to TJ or Duke). Maybe you might want to ask Jeff to delete and repost without the identifying information? I am a middle-aged mom of a kid the same age and I worry about things like this.

What exactly is it that you're worried about?

New poster here. This makes no sense--what would you worry about? it's just a kid's resume. Many kids her age (18/19) have a Linkedin account that is open to the public.

New poster here.
My kid would be mortified if anyone knew I posted here, and especially if anyone knew I posted about him on here. So even though PP's daughter's info is "public" through Linkedin and university's websites, etc. she might not want people knowing that her mom posts here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

+1 as a Harvard alumni interviewer it’s always disheartening to see the wonderful kids I get to interview who get turned down each year. But it’s important to remember there just aren’t enough slots anymore, so a class of kids we reject would be just as strong as the class we accepted. Also, it’s not an ivy/non-ivy thing - each ivy has their own deliberations, and it’s just coincidence that PP’s daughter got into Duke and not any ivies. Duke is so good that every year we see many kids get into multiple ivies but choose Duke, many kids who get into multiple ivies and get rejected from Duke, and vice versa. So PP’s daughter not getting into an ivy is really just coincidence, as Duke is even more selective than many ivies. I’ll just say this: I’ve had kids I interview turn down Harvard for Duke on more than one occasion. To the PP, congrats to your daughter, she would have been a great addition to Harvard or any top school, Duke got a great one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was someone here whose child got the AB Duke scholarship. Maybe they still roam the forum, would be curious to here what their child did to get it as well, and also where else they got in (I’m assuming they accepted the scholarship)

I'm here. We didn't know anything about Duke's scholarships until they contacted DD and informed her that she is a finalist for one. DD was also accepted by GA Tech, UVA, VA Tech, etc. and waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU. She is exceptionally self-motivated and driven: participated in numerous competitions, won some, volunteered a lot, had a part-time job since the age of 14 teaching math and reading. Co-authored a CS textbook, is fluent in our native language, was a co-captain of the two school clubs, NM Scholar, high SAT and GPA (4.65 at TJ), a dozen AP exams all 5s, took the most challenging classes (e.g., Multivariable Calc and AP Physics C in 10th grade, the most challenging 4xx undergraduate math class at Duke during her 1st semester). She just started her 2nd semester at Duke and feels that 5 classes and several clubs aren't enough, so she applied for various part-time jobs and is about to start working as a software engineer 15 hours a week. She somehow still has plenty of time to socialize with her awesome friends, exercise, read books, watch movies, YouTube, and TikTok.

You should super proud of your amazing daughter. From what you say here, she will clearly go on to do great things.

I did want to tell you that it took me about 30 seconds to figure out her name from the information you posted here (and I have no tie to TJ or Duke). Maybe you might want to ask Jeff to delete and repost without the identifying information? I am a middle-aged mom of a kid the same age and I worry about things like this.

What exactly is it that you're worried about?

New poster here. This makes no sense--what would you worry about? it's just a kid's resume. Many kids her age (18/19) have a Linkedin account that is open to the public.

New poster here.
My kid would be mortified if anyone knew I posted here, and especially if anyone knew I posted about him on here. So even though PP's daughter's info is "public" through Linkedin and university's websites, etc. she might not want people knowing that her mom posts here.

I actually showed her this thread before replying and asked if she wants to reply by herself. She said that she did nothing special and perhaps should just post a link to her LinkedIn profile. So we agreed that I'll reply for her because in my view she of course is quite special.

We understand how selective all the top schools are, therefore expected a lot of rejections, especially since she has no hooks (not an athlete, legacy, etc.) Because of the Duke scholarship, she would have rejected the Ivies anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

Completely agree. I don't think a kid's resume can get more impressive than this girl's. I think we can all agree that she's an outlier.

However, I know quite a few kids who were admitted to an Ivy (last year and this) who had 25% (if that!) of her resume BUT they were legacy or URM. The legacies being almost uniformly wealthy and privileged and really the same with the URM: these were not kids who pulled themselves up out of poverty but the kids of dual law partners and similar who had more advantages than 99% of Americans, despite being a URM. It's just a wacky, wacky system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was someone here whose child got the AB Duke scholarship. Maybe they still roam the forum, would be curious to here what their child did to get it as well, and also where else they got in (I’m assuming they accepted the scholarship)

I'm here. We didn't know anything about Duke's scholarships until they contacted DD and informed her that she is a finalist for one. DD was also accepted by GA Tech, UVA, VA Tech, etc. and waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU. She is exceptionally self-motivated and driven: participated in numerous competitions, won some, volunteered a lot, had a part-time job since the age of 14 teaching math and reading. Co-authored a CS textbook, is fluent in our native language, was a co-captain of the two school clubs, NM Scholar, high SAT and GPA (4.65 at TJ), a dozen AP exams all 5s, took the most challenging classes (e.g., Multivariable Calc and AP Physics C in 10th grade, the most challenging 4xx undergraduate math class at Duke during her 1st semester). She just started her 2nd semester at Duke and feels that 5 classes and several clubs aren't enough, so she applied for various part-time jobs and is about to start working as a software engineer 15 hours a week. She somehow still has plenty of time to socialize with her awesome friends, exercise, read books, watch movies, YouTube, and TikTok.

"Waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU." Doesn't seem right. Have you shared which two Ivies waitlisted your daughter ? (My guess is Princeton and Harvard.)

What were the admissions folks at CMU thinking when they waitlisted such a well qualified applicant ?

Regardless, Duke won.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

+1 as a Harvard alumni interviewer it’s always disheartening to see the wonderful kids I get to interview who get turned down each year. But it’s important to remember there just aren’t enough slots anymore, so a class of kids we reject would be just as strong as the class we accepted. Also, it’s not an ivy/non-ivy thing - each ivy has their own deliberations, and it’s just coincidence that PP’s daughter got into Duke and not any ivies. Duke is so good that every year we see many kids get into multiple ivies but choose Duke, many kids who get into multiple ivies and get rejected from Duke, and vice versa. So PP’s daughter not getting into an ivy is really just coincidence, as Duke is even more selective than many ivies. I’ll just say this: I’ve had kids I interview turn down Harvard for Duke on more than one occasion. To the PP, congrats to your daughter, she would have been a great addition to Harvard or any top school, Duke got a great one!

Easy to understand as a full ride (tuition, fees, room & board to Duke for 8 semesters plus research stipend) beats out any Ivy offer if the applicant does not qualify for need-based financial aid from an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

+1 as a Harvard alumni interviewer it’s always disheartening to see the wonderful kids I get to interview who get turned down each year. But it’s important to remember there just aren’t enough slots anymore, so a class of kids we reject would be just as strong as the class we accepted. Also, it’s not an ivy/non-ivy thing - each ivy has their own deliberations, and it’s just coincidence that PP’s daughter got into Duke and not any ivies. Duke is so good that every year we see many kids get into multiple ivies but choose Duke, many kids who get into multiple ivies and get rejected from Duke, and vice versa. So PP’s daughter not getting into an ivy is really just coincidence, as Duke is even more selective than many ivies. I’ll just say this: I’ve had kids I interview turn down Harvard for Duke on more than one occasion. To the PP, congrats to your daughter, she would have been a great addition to Harvard or any top school, Duke got a great one!

Easy to understand as a full ride (tuition, fees, room & board to Duke for 8 semesters plus research stipend) beats out any Ivy offer if the applicant does not qualify for need-based financial aid from an Ivy.

PP here. I’m referring to kids not on scholarships at any schools - I still see many kids turn down ivies for Duke. It’s a highly desirable school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was someone here whose child got the AB Duke scholarship. Maybe they still roam the forum, would be curious to here what their child did to get it as well, and also where else they got in (I’m assuming they accepted the scholarship)

I'm here. We didn't know anything about Duke's scholarships until they contacted DD and informed her that she is a finalist for one. DD was also accepted by GA Tech, UVA, VA Tech, etc. and waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU. She is exceptionally self-motivated and driven: participated in numerous competitions, won some, volunteered a lot, had a part-time job since the age of 14 teaching math and reading. Co-authored a CS textbook, is fluent in our native language, was a co-captain of the two school clubs, NM Scholar, high SAT and GPA (4.65 at TJ), a dozen AP exams all 5s, took the most challenging classes (e.g., Multivariable Calc and AP Physics C in 10th grade, the most challenging 4xx undergraduate math class at Duke during her 1st semester). She just started her 2nd semester at Duke and feels that 5 classes and several clubs aren't enough, so she applied for various part-time jobs and is about to start working as a software engineer 15 hours a week. She somehow still has plenty of time to socialize with her awesome friends, exercise, read books, watch movies, YouTube, and TikTok.

"Waitlisted by the two Ivies and CMU." Doesn't seem right. Have you shared which two Ivies waitlisted your daughter ? (My guess is Princeton and Harvard.)

What were the admissions folks at CMU thinking when they waitlisted such a well qualified applicant ?

Regardless, Duke won.

Princeton was the correct guess. She didn’t contact them and hasn’t submitted any updates/LOCI because of Duke so who knows if she could have been accepted if she did. The 2nd one was Cornell which she rejected right away. She was very excited about her GA Tech acceptance and wanted to go there over CMU and Cornell because it’s also great for CS but so much cheaper. If Duke didn’t offer her a scholarship, she probably would have chosen GA Tech. We visited it and liked it a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

+1 as a Harvard alumni interviewer it’s always disheartening to see the wonderful kids I get to interview who get turned down each year. But it’s important to remember there just aren’t enough slots anymore, so a class of kids we reject would be just as strong as the class we accepted. Also, it’s not an ivy/non-ivy thing - each ivy has their own deliberations, and it’s just coincidence that PP’s daughter got into Duke and not any ivies. Duke is so good that every year we see many kids get into multiple ivies but choose Duke, many kids who get into multiple ivies and get rejected from Duke, and vice versa. So PP’s daughter not getting into an ivy is really just coincidence, as Duke is even more selective than many ivies. I’ll just say this: I’ve had kids I interview turn down Harvard for Duke on more than one occasion. To the PP, congrats to your daughter, she would have been a great addition to Harvard or any top school, Duke got a great one!

Easy to understand as a full ride (tuition, fees, room & board to Duke for 8 semesters plus research stipend) beats out any Ivy offer if the applicant does not qualify for need-based financial aid from an Ivy.

PP here. I’m referring to kids not on scholarships at any schools - I still see many kids turn down ivies for Duke. It’s a highly desirable school.

Of course, it’s Duke. Our neighbor turned down UPenn and Dartmouth to go to Duke. No scholarships

[Anonymous]

Back to op’s question, yes, there are T25 schools that give merit scholarships but the number of scholarships is very small. Generally, a student has to be in the top percent or two of all applicants to that school to even be considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

Interesting. What is missing from her resume in your opinion? I am asking the question sincerely. I think this kid is amazing in every way.