Why Was My Son Deferred from Duke ED?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

I think you are trolling now. Baby boys weren’t in high supply for adoption during the One Child policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Similar stats kids from our high school who got into top 10 usually have national awards, or published on well known journals, or nominated for presidential scholar, etc. I don’t see this in OP’s post.

Just how many students from this high school had all four qualifications: 36 ACT or 1600 SAT, two varsity sports including captain of one, editor-in-chief of student newspaper, and president of student body ? (I will answer for you = none.) Are you willing to name the high school ?

Most admitted students to top 10 schools do not have national awards, presidential scholar nomination, or published in a well known journal.

I do not discount the possibility that this thread is less than accurate--a troll thread--as OP's son would be easy to identify and no one has posted knowledge of this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

The simple truth is because while his accomplishments are impressive, everyone applying has equally or even more impressive credentials.

This is not true. Very few are student body president, captain of a sport team,editor-in-chief, and a 36 ACT score. President of student body & editor-in-chief are complementary positions that make sense.

OP: The rejection is personal. Not sure why, but I suspect that something in one or more essays negatively affected admissions readers.

There are 10,000+ student body presidents. A lot of them apply to Duke.
There are 100,000+ team captains. A lot of them apply to Duke.
There are 10,000+ editors in chiefs. A lot of them apply to Duke.

There are also an infinite number of superlative EC that your kid didn't do that other kids do. A lot of them apply to Duke.

Seriously, if you don't get it, there are hundreds of thousands of kids who have the scores and EC's to be "qualified" to go to these T20 schools. There are only so many seats. As such, there is going to be some disappointment.

I think that you miss the point. OP's child is not just editor-in-chief, student body president, captain of a sports team, and holding a 36 ACT score, OP's child has all four. This is a very well qualified candidate for admission to any elite college or university in the country that offers his preferred course of study.

No, I didn't miss the point. There are hundreds of thousands of highly quailified and worthy applicants applying to these schools. 50 years ago, there were thousands of said applicants. Because GPA and SAT scores are so watered down, on paper, there are simply more applicants for the colleges to choose from. This has nothing to do with "how special" OP's kid is, because at least from my kid's high school, I could think of at least 10-15 applicants who would have just as worthy a list of ECs and activities, to go with the scores and GPA. Carry that 10-15 across all of the public, private and independent schools across the US and then add in the thousands of foreign applicants. There are only so many seats and the idea that any one applicant is entitled to a seat at any one of these schools is simply silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Similar stats kids from our high school who got into top 10 usually have national awards, or published on well known journals, or nominated for presidential scholar, etc. I don’t see this in OP’s post.

And to be honest, just being a varsity athlete or captain really isn't a big deal. Having district, regionals, or state awards would indicate a higher level of commitment...and still well short of what a recruited athlete might have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Similar stats kids from our high school who got into top 10 usually have national awards, or published on well known journals, or nominated for presidential scholar, etc. I don’t see this in OP’s post.

Just how many students from this high school had all four qualifications: 36 ACT or 1600 SAT, two varsity sports including captain of one, editor-in-chief of student newspaper, and president of student body ? (I will answer for you = none.) Are you willing to name the high school ?

Most admitted students to top 10 schools do not have national awards, presidential scholar nomination, or published in a well known journal.

I do not discount the possibility that this thread is less than accurate--a troll thread--as OP's son would be easy to identify and no one has posted knowledge of this situation.

It doesn't matter. The point is that having the stats and EC's get you a lottery ticket, but that doesn't mean your number will be called. Because there are 100 other applicant with the same lottery ticket and only 1 or 2 will get called. It is just numbers and no reflection of the kid.

[Anonymous]

Most likely, it was because of his parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

The simple truth is because while his accomplishments are impressive, everyone applying has equally or even more impressive credentials.

This is not true. Very few are student body president, captain of a sport team,editor-in-chief, and a 36 ACT score. President

OP: The rejection is personal. Not sure why, but I suspect that something in one or more essays negatively affected admissions readers.

There are 10,000+ student body presidents. A lot of them apply to Duke.
There are 100,000+ team captains. A lot of them apply to Duke.
There are 10,000+ editors in chiefs. A lot of them apply to Duke.

There are also an infinite number of superlative EC that your kid didn't do that other kids do. A lot of them apply to Duke.

Seriously, if you don't get it, there are hundreds of thousands of kids who have the scores and EC's to be "qualified" to go to these T20 schools. There are only so many seats. As such, there is going to be some disappointment.

I think that you miss the point. OP's child is not just editor-in-chief, student body president, captain of a sports team, and holding a 36 ACT score, OP's child has all four. This is a very well qualified candidate for admission to any elite college or university in the country that offers his preferred course of study.

No, I didn't miss the point. There are hundreds of thousands of highly quailified and worthy applicants applying to these schools. 50 years ago, there were thousands of said applicants. Because GPA and SAT scores are so watered down, on paper, there are simply more applicants for the colleges to choose from. This has nothing to do with "how special" OP's kid is, because at least from my kid's high school, I could think of at least 10-15 applicants who would have just as worthy a list of ECs and activities, to go with the scores and GPA. Carry that 10-15 across all of the public, private and independent schools across the US and then add in the thousands of foreign applicants. There are only so many seats and the idea that any one applicant is entitled to a seat at any one of these schools is simply silly.

Yes, you did miss the point. OP's son has all four qualifications.

No need to argue as we disagree. Until you share a detailed list of equally qualified applicants, I know better and I just do not believe your assertion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Similar stats kids from our high school who got into top 10 usually have national awards, or published on well known journals, or nominated for presidential scholar, etc. I don’t see this in OP’s post.

Just how many students from this high school had all four qualifications: 36 ACT or 1600 SAT, two varsity sports including captain of one, editor-in-chief of student newspaper, and president of student body ? (I will answer for you = none.) Are you willing to name the high school ?

Most admitted students to top 10 schools do not have national awards, presidential scholar nomination, or published in a well known journal.

I do not discount the possibility that this thread is less than accurate--a troll thread--as OP's son would be easy to identify and no one has posted knowledge of this situation.

It doesn't matter. The point is that having the stats and EC's get you a lottery ticket, but that doesn't mean your number will be called. Because there are 100 other applicant with the same lottery ticket and only 1 or 2 will get called. It is just numbers and no reflection of the kid.

College admissions is not a lottery. Referring to it as such is just an excuse for lack of knowledge.

[Anonymous]

There is a similar stat kid (and generally great guy) who was president of Landon student body last year and got into Harvard, so understand your disappointment at getting deferred and most likely rejected from Duke. But in the game of life, you did win the kid lottery already. My kid was all region 4 year athlete with 1500 and almost all A’s with 9 AP’s and was rejected at UNC let alone scholarship. And it was top choice. I mean it’s fair, your kid is more impressive. My point is just frame the college admission as a success with the results you have. I still consider myself so lucky to have a child that has done well and it is all relative. This will all work out for your son and he seems destined to do great things. Don’t focus on the downside, focus on the upside.

[Anonymous]

Duke sucks. Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Duke does not have space to admit the top student from every high school, even if the student has the credentials mentioned here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Similar stats kids from our high school who got into top 10 usually have national awards, or published on well known journals, or nominated for presidential scholar, etc. I don’t see this in OP’s post.

And to be honest, just being a varsity athlete or captain really isn't a big deal. Having district, regionals, or state awards would indicate a higher level of commitment...and still well short of what a recruited athlete might have.

In DS sport, all seniors are "captain". A lot of schools have watered down what it used to mean to be a captain of a team

[Anonymous]

It is more difficult to get into UNC oos than Duke so yes, there is a degree of arbitrariness to the decision making. My daughter’s small private sent 12 girls to the Ivies/Stanford last year and of that group, only one girl was admitted to more than one Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a similar stat kid (and generally great guy) who was president of Landon student body last year and got into Harvard, so understand your disappointment at getting deferred and most likely rejected from Duke. But in the game of life, you did win the kid lottery already. My kid was all region 4 year athlete with 1500 and almost all A’s with 9 AP’s and was rejected at UNC let alone scholarship. And it was top choice. I mean it’s fair, your kid is more impressive. My point is just frame the college admission as a success with the results you have. I still consider myself so lucky to have a child that has done well and it is all relative. This will all work out for your son and he seems destined to do great things. Don’t focus on the downside, focus on the upside.

Strikingly similar kid from STA also admitted last year to Harvard. I think it helps to be at a top private school if you have this level of credentials as year-after-year this type gets in anywhere. Although, Catch 22-- at a private school (the Big3) it is almost impossible to have them since 90% of the class are high achievers and battling it out for very few leadership spots.

OP, congrats to your son! UNC is amazing. I would take it any day over Duke.

[Anonymous]

OP, sorry about Duke, your son sounds incredibly capable and hopefully he can get accepted later. But getting a full scholarship at a school like UNC is no small feat. I know a young man who got into Duke, Yale, and Wharton last year but turned all of them down for the Morehead Cain scholarship at UNC (full ride). On the other hand I also know of a fine young woman who got into Princeton, Columbia, and got the Morehead Cain last year too, but turned all of those down to be a full-pay student at Duke. So, preference matters too if you have the ability to pay, but know that a full scholarship to UNC is a very good deal