Duke experiences large drop in RD applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coming from New York, Duke is still a hot school for top prep school kids, it's just really hard to get in. They'll take big name kids or exceptionally smart kids, with little space in between. It's always worth a shot to apply though, so it's sad to see people giving up hope.

Makes sense, they have their "favorite schools." Although I agree it's always worth a shot if you think the application would be competitive. Who gets in and who doesn't is not always easily predictable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane's RD applications were also down. Maybe it has something to do with the southern school's getting a bit less popular after the covid surge.

Lol, no. Southern schools are red hot right now and more competitive than ever. I think people just have given up on some of these Ivy+ schools RD.

I think that's true. Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Emory all remain very desirable schools. And I don't think Georgia Tech and the SEC schools are lacking in applicants.

For the better schools, applicants shoot their shot in the ED round. And if that doesn't work out, they take a gander at the sub 5 percent admittance rate in Regular Decision, and they think why bother. And they move on to schools where the odds are better.

I don't think it's a Southern thing. Apps to Harvard are way down this year. It's a market reaction to the randomness of things over the past few years. Covid. Test Optional. DEI priorities. A general awareness of the advantages of legacy, recruited athletes, wealth, connections. And as a result, unhooked applicants don't bother lighting $95 on fire anymore in the RD round.

Why Harvard and Duke in particular are experiencing such a drop in applicants is a little mystifying. MIT and Vanderbilt don't seem to be having the same issues. But generally, students and families are being more strategic in both how and where they apply.

Harvard and Duke seem out of reach for randoms from the burbs, no matter their qualifications. Whereas maybe MIT and Vanderbilt still seem accessible for bright kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane's RD applications were also down. Maybe it has something to do with the southern school's getting a bit less popular after the covid surge.

Lol, no. Southern schools are red hot right now and more competitive than ever. I think people just have given up on some of these Ivy+ schools RD.

I think that's true. Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Emory all remain very desirable schools. And I don't think Georgia Tech and the SEC schools are lacking in applicants.

For the better schools, applicants shoot their shot in the ED round. And if that doesn't work out, they take a gander at the sub 5 percent admittance rate in Regular Decision, and they think why bother. And they move on to schools where the odds are better.

I don't think it's a Southern thing. Apps to Harvard are way down this year. It's a market reaction to the randomness of things over the past few years. Covid. Test Optional. DEI priorities. A general awareness of the advantages of legacy, recruited athletes, wealth, connections. And as a result, unhooked applicants don't bother lighting $95 on fire anymore in the RD round.

Why Harvard and Duke in particular are experiencing such a drop in applicants is a little mystifying. MIT and Vanderbilt don't seem to be having the same issues. But generally, students and families are being more strategic in both how and where they apply.

Harvard and Duke seem out of reach for randoms from the burbs, no matter their qualifications. Whereas maybe MIT and Vanderbilt still seem accessible for bright kids.

Harvard will still Harvard for some years. But it is interesting the idea that high level of DEI is starting to reduce Harvard's appeal is starting to crystalize among DC and his peers. MIT, Caltech, Stanford are still considered gods though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Duke is in the south which is MAGA - supremacist country.

Yale is in Connecticut, which is fine.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you can ascribe the big falloff of applications from Duke due to politics. The SJW crowd goes to the test optional, gender study crowd. Duke doesn't really buy into that. Geography? The south is seeing a huge movement of people to more conservative states, so you would think they would get more applications.

A pretty non-political campus like NEU has seen a rise in applications to almost 100,000. Maybe kids are just looking for an urban enviroment after the covid restrictions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Duke is in the south which is MAGA - supremacist country.

Yale is in Connecticut, which is fine.

Duke itself is quite liberal, but I imagine some people are turned off by North Carolina's politics. New Haven is not a fun college town though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Duke is in the south which is MAGA - supremacist country.

Yale is in Connecticut, which is fine.

Duke itself is quite liberal, but I imagine some people are turned off by North Carolina's politics. New Haven is not a fun college town though.

No, New Haven is no one's idea of paradise.

And the research triangle - Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State - is quite liberal.

Not sure why exactly Duke experienced the drop in applications. But don't think it's politics or region. It might very well be that Coach K is no longer there. For real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Duke is in the south which is MAGA - supremacist country.

Yale is in Connecticut, which is fine.

Duke itself is quite liberal, but I imagine some people are turned off by North Carolina's politics. New Haven is not a fun college town though.

No, New Haven is no one's idea of paradise.

And the research triangle - Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State - is quite liberal.

Not sure why exactly Duke experienced the drop in applications. But don't think it's politics or region. It might very well be that Coach K is no longer there. For real.

Duke basketball is still top 10 in the nation, and they have the #1 recruiting class for next year though. But agreed Coach K is a celebrity. Perhaps Duke needs to get a national championship with their new coach to build the notoriety around their program again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For better or worse, Duke no longer has the preppy, country club, lax bro image. Some students now see Duke more like UChicago, WUSTL, Emory, MIT - all great schools, but not fun like other expensive, popular, private schools such as UMiami, Tulane, BC, Wake Forest and Vandy.

Is this you're way of blaming DEI? Early apps to MIT and Emory have increased from last year FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Because apparently cold, slightly depressing New England towns are the new Southern school!

I was thinking the same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tulane's RD applications were also down. Maybe it has something to do with the southern school's getting a bit less popular after the covid surge.

Where did you get this info? This might have to do with the drop in ranking.

[Anonymous]

My first thought was the Dobbs decision and abortion access.

This year many Girls might have though no thanks to going to restrictive North Carolina. Duke is private and demands high stats so the girls who qualify have plenty of other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents I know feel like no one ever gets in w/o being a recruit, so it's not worth the time to do the application.

Yale just announced a record high applicant pool at nearly 50,000 RD apps, and Duke and Yale have about the same acceptance rate. Wonder why Yale wouldn't have experienced a drop in applicants too.

Duke is in the south which is MAGA - supremacist country.

Yale is in Connecticut, which is fine.

Duke itself is quite liberal, but I imagine some people are turned off by North Carolina's politics. New Haven is not a fun college town though.

No, New Haven is no one's idea of paradise.

And the research triangle - Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State - is quite liberal.

Not sure why exactly Duke experienced the drop in applications. But don't think it's politics or region. It might very well be that Coach K is no longer there. For real.

Duke basketball is still top 10 in the nation, and they have the #1 recruiting class for next year though. But agreed Coach K is a celebrity. Perhaps Duke needs to get a national championship with their new coach to build the notoriety around their program again.

With all due respect, most teens today have no idea who Coach K is.

[Anonymous]

I think Duke is less attractive because kids today lost two years of their youth. They now recognize the importance of community and fun. When schools are shown in ways that provide both of those things they climb up on their list. Those that are known for competitiveness and work will fall to the bottom of their wishlist.

[Anonymous]

People are thinking more logically about college costs. For a NC resident, what does Duke get you that UNC Chapel Hill doesn’t? Nothing.