Why Was My Son Deferred from Duke ED?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t understand why a parent would provide so much identifying information about their child on here.

I don't know the kid. And neither do you.

Oh, ok. Well then it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not looking for sympathy but any insight would be appreciated. My son was told he would be a good candidate for Ivy League/Duke by his school counselor and applied ED to Duke with a 36 ACT, near-perfect GPA, all 5s and 4s on AP exams, two sport athlete and captain of one sport, student body president, editor in chief of school newspaper, head student liaison for arts nonprofit, a summer internship with a congressman, leadership volunteering position at library with book preservation and restoration experience, good awards, etc. My son had multiple people look over his essays, including the optional ones (academic experience and agreements/disagreements prompts) and he received good feedback. We figured maybe there was something else wrong with his application (maybe a recommendation letter was unexpectedly weak) or that he should’ve gone for another school he liked that would be a bit easier to be accepted like Cornell or Johns Hopkins, but over the past few days he was accepted to UNC Chapel Hill with a full scholarship, USC with scholarship pending, and UMich all out of state. He’s still disappointed about Duke but the UNC scholarship is very enticing and he’s still in the running for Duke, although we’re not sure about the chances of being accepted after a deferral. Inputs are welcome!

Who knows for sure? But is there anything authentic about him? All of that stuff seems pre-packaged for a college app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not looking for sympathy but any insight would be appreciated. My son was told he would be a good candidate for Ivy League/Duke by his school counselor and applied ED to Duke with a 36 ACT, near-perfect GPA, all 5s and 4s on AP exams, two sport athlete and captain of one sport, student body president, editor in chief of school newspaper, head student liaison for arts nonprofit, a summer internship with a congressman, leadership volunteering position at library with book preservation and restoration experience, good awards, etc. My son had multiple people look over his essays, including the optional ones (academic experience and agreements/disagreements prompts) and he received good feedback. We figured maybe there was something else wrong with his application (maybe a recommendation letter was unexpectedly weak) or that he should’ve gone for another school he liked that would be a bit easier to be accepted like Cornell or Johns Hopkins, but over the past few days he was accepted to UNC Chapel Hill with a full scholarship, USC with scholarship pending, and UMich all out of state. He’s still disappointed about Duke but the UNC scholarship is very enticing and he’s still in the running for Duke, although we’re not sure about the chances of being accepted after a deferral. Inputs are welcome!

Take the UNC scholarship. He will probably enjoy college better there than at Duke, and I don’t think Duke is bad at all.

[Anonymous]

Because Duke filled its quota of students like your son for their ED admits.

[Anonymous]

Action stations, OP. If Duke is one of those unis that accept additional information from students, then your son has to write a LOCI (letter of continued interest) to express his desire to attend Duke over all his other choices, explain what it is about Duke that he prefers over those others, and add new data, such as first semester grades, and whatever other accomplishments he's had recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not looking for sympathy but any insight would be appreciated. My son was told he would be a good candidate for Ivy League/Duke by his school counselor and applied ED to Duke with a 36 ACT, near-perfect GPA, all 5s and 4s on AP exams, two sport athlete and captain of one sport, student body president, editor in chief of school newspaper, head student liaison for arts nonprofit, a summer internship with a congressman, leadership volunteering position at library with book preservation and restoration experience, good awards, etc. My son had multiple people look over his essays, including the optional ones (academic experience and agreements/disagreements prompts) and he received good feedback. We figured maybe there was something else wrong with his application (maybe a recommendation letter was unexpectedly weak) or that he should’ve gone for another school he liked that would be a bit easier to be accepted like Cornell or Johns Hopkins, but over the past few days he was accepted to UNC Chapel Hill with a full scholarship, USC with scholarship pending, and UMich all out of state. He’s still disappointed about Duke but the UNC scholarship is very enticing and he’s still in the running for Duke, although we’re not sure about the chances of being accepted after a deferral. Inputs are welcome!

Congrats on UNC, USC and UMichigan. I don’t know the deferral to admit rate for Duke but I know in the past that they have rejected ED candidates so a deferral isn’t a definite no. Also, not sure if you are in the DC area or posting from elsewhere, but I’ve noticed from many of the schools, not as many kids get into Duke from this area as you might expect.
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/13/here-are-the-colleges-where-bethesda-area-high-school-grads-applied-got-accepted-and-enrolled/. At my kids school (private) it seems like Georgetown or Cornell would be more likely than Duke.

[Anonymous]

Highly unlikely there is anything wrong with his application. But institutions have priorities we don’t see. Also, you have to consider the applicant pool from his school. Did anyone else at the school get in ED? What did he list as a potential major? Does it align with APs, electives and ECs? Based on what you listed seems like a political science or humanities major?

[Anonymous]

If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with.

[Anonymous]

The profile looks like your son was honestly spread a little thin and shows a fair amount of privilege (see interning for a Member of Congress). Maybe there wasn't enough demonstrated passion or genuine interest displayed in the application since it looks like the joining and leading are all over the place focus wise. Was he good at bringing things together and discussing impact (on him and the work/group)? If not, it could have come across as trying a little too hard to specifically build an application profile (which hopefully wasn't the case in reality for your son).

I'm sure he'll find a great place though! Schools that are especially eager for high numbers (like USC) will continue to throw $$ your way and I'd be surprised if he didn't get into somewhere like Duke or another top 15 school too (Chicago is one I think might like his profile from this area). It will work out, you'll just have to wait a little longer!

[Anonymous]

So I am confused… if he was deferred ED he might still get in on regular admission is that right??
Or is it now unlikely?
Or was he admitted by other schools ED and has to tell them yes or no before the Duke regular decision will go out?

[Anonymous]

Your son sounds amazing so congrats on the great options so far! But you have to remember Duke has like a 4% acceptance rate and that includes the hundreds of athletes, legacies, and big donors who have a backdoor into Duke each year. People like Jamie Dimon, Jerry Seinfeld, etc. are notorious for having paid large sums in the past to get their kids into Duke, so you can expect similar situations happened this year too. Also Duke is known to take deferrals seriously unlike some other schools so your son still has a decent chance!

[Anonymous]

Your son is incredibly accomplished and you deserve to be proud of him. It's hard to make sense of these decisions beyond the fact that they have far more qualified candidates than spots and when building a class, there's a heap of good luck in being chosen among the qualified candidates.

Congrats on the UNC scholarship and the likely one coming from USC. He may still see good news from Duke in March.

[Anonymous]

Your son was (and still is) a good candidate for an Ivy/Duke but they are lottery schools and he just didn't win the lottery (yet). As to what another poster said, while he sounds like an exceptional student, he is like a lot of other students, especially in the Duke application pool. Frankly, you could have been describing my son (same stats, plus and minus a few activities and awards). My son is a smart, hardworking, UMC white kid with lots of opportunities - in other words, like a lot of other kids in his environment. You'll never know why your son didn't get in during the ED round and questioning it, asking for input, etc. won't make the disappointment any easier. He has good options and in the end Duke may still be an option, too. I suspect he'll do very well wherever he goes. Good luck to your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not looking for sympathy but any insight would be appreciated. My son was told he would be a good candidate for Ivy League/Duke by his school counselor and applied ED to Duke with a 36 ACT, near-perfect GPA, all 5s and 4s on AP exams, two sport athlete and captain of one sport, student body president, editor in chief of school newspaper, head student liaison for arts nonprofit, a summer internship with a congressman, leadership volunteering position at library with book preservation and restoration experience, good awards, etc. My son had multiple people look over his essays, including the optional ones (academic experience and agreements/disagreements prompts) and he received good feedback. We figured maybe there was something else wrong with his application (maybe a recommendation letter was unexpectedly weak) or that he should’ve gone for another school he liked that would be a bit easier to be accepted like Cornell or Johns Hopkins, but over the past few days he was accepted to UNC Chapel Hill with a full scholarship, USC with scholarship pending, and UMich all out of state. He’s still disappointed about Duke but the UNC scholarship is very enticing and he’s still in the running for Duke, although we’re not sure about the chances of being accepted after a deferral. Inputs are welcome!

Who knows for sure? But is there anything authentic about him? All of that stuff seems pre-packaged for a college app.

That was my thought. And, how much work did he actually do as time-wise it would be impossible to have all those A's, three sports, volunteer at least weekly for the non-profit and library, etc. I wonder if some of that looks fake at some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he a white male from this area? If so, he's a dime a dozen. It's a bummer but it sounds like he has a lot of good choices.

Yes we are white but our son is adopted and is ethnically Chinese