Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke needs more middle class kids who have drive instead of these so called elite privates with people gaming the system.

These days, all of the top schools are basically filled with FGLI, ultra-rich/connected prep school kids, and recruited athletes.

There are few spots for the regular-excellent middle class or upper middle class public school kid, unless you are from Idaho or something.

Anonymous wrote:I know of many qualified alumni kids who got rejected bc parents are not big donors. Duke only wants the $$$.

Anonymous wrote:^lol if a kid is deciding between Duke, UGA, and Bill Belichick U. More likely Duke, Dartmouth, and Stanford.

Anonymous wrote:Middle-class kids from public schools get shafted from top private schools like Duke. Wasn’t that way 25 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke needs more middle class kids who have drive instead of these so called elite privates with people gaming the system.

These days, all of the top schools are basically filled with FGLI, ultra-rich/connected prep school kids, and recruited athletes.

There are few spots for the regular-excellent middle class or upper middle class public school kid, unless you are from Idaho or something.

Anonymous wrote:Duke needs more middle class kids who have drive instead of these so called elite privates with people gaming the system.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always been baffled by the fact dcum celebrates Duke while openly criticizing any SEC or southern school as havens for MAGA frat bros. I mean, Duke has always skewed white, privileged, and conservative.

I know it’s a “better” school in terms of stats, but come on, people. The lack of self-awareness coupled with the mental gymnastics needed to distinguish this conservative enclave as something it is not is very odd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a white alum who came from a good UMC suburban HS and was very smart, well-rounded but not super pointy, my type no longer exists at Duke, and it is very unfortunate. Duke has always been known as being more fratty than its peer schools, but at its core were a lot of smart, friendly but not phony, well-rounded kids who liked the occasional party and could hold their own in lots of different situations.

Duke is now three communities:
1. Rich legacies/children of the rich and famous who join frats, go to parties in fields, and use connections to get great jobs.
2. FGLI and other minorities to make Duke feel good about itself, especially after some undeserved bad press a few years ago. There are a lot of kids from the Carolinas in this bucket
3. Nerdy Asian/Indian kids who never set foot in Cameron, Wally Wade, etc.

My kid is very similar to who I was and I am struggling with whether to even have them apply. I am fairly active and give a decent amount but probably not enough to move the needle.

I am also very curious to see the impact of the new admissions director. So far I have been underwhelmed, particularly with the late rush of wait list admits last summer which was a really bad look.

As a white alum from the 90s who knows many varied races of alums from those years, to be blunt on average Duke students were not as smart then as now. The deans have said it and there isSAT percentile data. The top25% then are equivalent to the top 75% now, before TO. Most legacy kids do not get in. The ones that do almost all had parents who were definitely in that top 1/4, went on to top law or top med. The progeny of the average alums almost never get in. They would not succeed there now if they did: it is much more competitive with regard to the talent of the student body

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always been baffled by the fact dcum celebrates Duke while openly criticizing any SEC or southern school as havens for MAGA frat bros. I mean, Duke has always skewed white, privileged, and conservative.

I know it’s a “better” school in terms of stats, but come on, people. The lack of self-awareness coupled with the mental gymnastics needed to distinguish this conservative enclave as something it is not is very odd.