Duke is out...anyone?

[Anonymous]

Wow.

I thought that there was a massive shift both in ED applications and to southern colleges.

So what happened? That is a big drop.

[Anonymous]

Duke does not even have the excuse of moving to test required to account for this drop in applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest, and Duke was gaining a lot of popularity in my area at the time, but here on the West Coast, it's not very popular. Any reason why? For example, our high performing public school will have 20 applicants to each of the Ivies, but some years none to Duke. I also don't see a lot of Duke matriculants from the private schools in our area.

Just a guess from CA, but the South is not that popular out here, especially with support for Trump in recent years, and, despite what others might think, people here don’t consider Duke equal to an Ivy.

To give you an idea, someone talked about their daughter going to Tulane for a semester exchange and humorously called it her “study abroad” program.

I’ve lived out here since the early 1970s and most of the people I encounter here with southern roots like me are African Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Three accepted to Duke so far from this Bay Area private school (one not shared here yet)

https://www.instagram.com/menlodecisions26?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Really impressive exmissions but I see a Kinsey, Palmer, Hadley and Marin - sounds like the douchiest school on earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]I know several legacies who are comfortably UMC but not rich but consistently gave a decent amount, attended reunions, interviewed, etc. who were deferred/rejected ED.[/b] It has gotten tougher and tougher.

I think part of the issue is that Duke alums tend to be more passionate and loyal than many other schools. So they get more legacy applicants. I'm not sure if the percentage of legacy applicants accepted is actually that much higher than peer schools.

And again, most (but not all) of the legacies who I've seen admitted were on par with the class - the legacy didn't really give them a boost. There are definitely exceptions and they get tons of attention but even they are likely better qualified than some of the FGLI, minority, etc. kids who get in.

The 2 legacy families I know (kids who got in this week and last year) make high 7 figures a year and donate tens of thousands per year to Duke. Plus the kids were qualified.

Most legacies are well qualified. But a lot of the “experts” here waste a lot of time getting their panties in a bunch over the horror that there are a few who aren’t. As if those few kids are the sole reason their master of “meritocracy” didn’t get in.

Oh the horror. Imagine getting your “panties in a bunch” over one of the key drivers of systemic racism and inequity! How awful!

You are proving my point. Clearly this is keeping you up at night, which is very sad. The vast majority of legacies are highly qualified - either 100% fully qualified or extremely close. And given that by the 90s, when the parents of current applicants were in college, affirmative action was in full effect so top schools had a decent sized cohort of minority students, there are now a lot of minorities able to benefit from legacy status - the so-called "two-fers" as the schools can check the legacy box and the minority box.

On average, legacies are a lot more qualified than FGLIs. And they are financing the scholarships that allow schools to accept FGLIs. So chill the F out.

[Anonymous]

Best school in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-early-decision-admissions-numbers-class-of-2030-20251218

7% decrease in ED applications (I’m surprised) and the admin wouldn’t release any info on acceptance demographics to the student newspaper.

What happened to being the hottest T10 that everyone is dying to attend

Perhaps applicants are doing more research on what makes a top 10 school top ten. A top ten school with very few top ten programs should be a reason for concern. Maybe students are seeing Duke as a bit overrated and deciding to place their ED applications elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest, and Duke was gaining a lot of popularity in my area at the time, but here on the West Coast, it's not very popular. Any reason why? For example, our high performing public school will have 20 applicants to each of the Ivies, but some years none to Duke. I also don't see a lot of Duke matriculants from the private schools in our area.

Just a guess from CA, but the South is not that popular out here, especially with support for Trump in recent years, and, despite what others might think, people here don’t consider Duke equal to an Ivy.

To give you an idea, someone talked about their daughter going to Tulane for a semester exchange and humorously called it her “study abroad” program.

I’ve lived out here since the early 1970s and most of the people I encounter here with southern roots like me are African Americans.

I don't know where you are in California, but at every single college tour I took my daughter on last spring, there were several California families (and we even saw some of the same families at different schools which was nuts). All in the south. In one tour (LSU), out of the 10 families in our group, 5 of them were from California (and one asked if it was always so humid there, I had to laugh). We went to: LSU, Tulane, SC, Auburn, Ole Miss, FSU, FL, Miami. I asked a family that we had seen at three schools why they were looking at southern schools (to make conversation while we waited for the Miami tour to start) and the mother said their kids wanted a similar climate to California weather wise (you can argue that they're not similar, but that's what she said), but wanted to go further away from home. They were from Orange County. We met families from LA, SF and Santa Barbara.

So I'm not so sure about your theory, but I don't live in California, I am in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three accepted to Duke so far from this Bay Area private school (one not shared here yet)

https://www.instagram.com/menlodecisions26?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Really impressive exmissions but I see a Kinsey, Palmer, Hadley and Marin - sounds like the douchiest school on earth.

We have Kinsey, Hadley and Marin at the exurban public elementary where I work. That’s just how kids are named these days. Add in some Avery, Reese, and Ainsley.

[Anonymous]

Phenomenal university congrats to those admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest, and Duke was gaining a lot of popularity in my area at the time, but here on the West Coast, it's not very popular. Any reason why? For example, our high performing public school will have 20 applicants to each of the Ivies, but some years none to Duke. I also don't see a lot of Duke matriculants from the private schools in our area.

Just a guess from CA, but the South is not that popular out here, especially with support for Trump in recent years, and, despite what others might think, people here don’t consider Duke equal to an Ivy.

To give you an idea, someone talked about their daughter going to Tulane for a semester exchange and humorously called it her “study abroad” program.

I’ve lived out here since the early 1970s and most of the people I encounter here with southern roots like me are African Americans.

I don't know where you are in California, but at every single college tour I took my daughter on last spring, there were several California families (and we even saw some of the same families at different schools which was nuts). All in the south. In one tour (LSU), out of the 10 families in our group, 5 of them were from California (and one asked if it was always so humid there, I had to laugh). We went to: LSU, Tulane, SC, Auburn, Ole Miss, FSU, FL, Miami. I asked a family that we had seen at three schools why they were looking at southern schools (to make conversation while we waited for the Miami tour to start) and the mother said their kids wanted a similar climate to California weather wise (you can argue that they're not similar, but that's what she said), but wanted to go further away from home. They were from Orange County. We met families from LA, SF and Santa Barbara.

So I'm not so sure about your theory, but I don't live in California, I am in the DMV.

New poster, but basically those kids you saw are a minority of California high schoolers, even amongst UMC ones. For most, it’s UC’s or bust. Just like in Virginia. People are budget conscious and have good in-state options. California obviously has a lot of wealth and we have a lot of teenagers so you will see them everywhere, even if they are the minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest, and Duke was gaining a lot of popularity in my area at the time, but here on the West Coast, it's not very popular. Any reason why? For example, our high performing public school will have 20 applicants to each of the Ivies, but some years none to Duke. I also don't see a lot of Duke matriculants from the private schools in our area.

Just a guess from CA, but the South is not that popular out here, especially with support for Trump in recent years, and, despite what others might think, people here don’t consider Duke equal to an Ivy.

To give you an idea, someone talked about their daughter going to Tulane for a semester exchange and humorously called it her “study abroad” program.

I’ve lived out here since the early 1970s and most of the people I encounter here with southern roots like me are African Americans.

I don't know where you are in California, but at every single college tour I took my daughter on last spring, there were several California families (and we even saw some of the same families at different schools which was nuts). All in the south. In one tour (LSU), out of the 10 families in our group, 5 of them were from California (and one asked if it was always so humid there, I had to laugh). We went to: LSU, Tulane, SC, Auburn, Ole Miss, FSU, FL, Miami. I asked a family that we had seen at three schools why they were looking at southern schools (to make conversation while we waited for the Miami tour to start) and the mother said their kids wanted a similar climate to California weather wise (you can argue that they're not similar, but that's what she said), but wanted to go further away from home. They were from Orange County. We met families from LA, SF and Santa Barbara.

So I'm not so sure about your theory, but I don't live in California, I am in the DMV.

New poster, but basically those kids you saw are a minority of California high schoolers, even amongst UMC ones. For most, it’s UC’s or bust. Just like in Virginia. People are budget conscious and have good in-state options. California obviously has a lot of wealth and we have a lot of teenagers so you will see them everywhere, even if they are the minority.

There are also a lot of multigenerational UC families. People underestimate that, it is almost like a right of passage.

If kids are not going UC, Stanford or Ivy, USC, BU and NYU are popular (not a surprise).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-early-decision-admissions-numbers-class-of-2030-20251218

7% decrease in ED applications (I’m surprised) and the admin wouldn’t release any info on acceptance demographics to the student newspaper.

What happened to being the hottest T10 that everyone is dying to attend

Was never the hottest top 10 with its yield. Weak in comparison to ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke is a one of a kind school with no peer. Ivies don’t have the location, weather, beautiful campus, and certainly not athletics. Duke has had a remarkable trajectory upward in last 50 years.

A pinch of humility would be a nice addition.

[Anonymous]

Someone on Reddit said the decline was the white lotus effect haha.