Anonymous wrote:Please UVA is not in the same zip code of Duke. Outside of metro DC, people view UVA as a safety.

Not for most families. Duke is now $99,344 a year. https://financialaid.duke.edu/how-aid-calculated/cost-attendance/


My kid went instate UVA at $34k. Even OSS, UVA is still $20k less a year.

Anonymous wrote:Yep, crap shoot. My kid has a friend there, and he is your typical very smart private school kid. NOT top of the class, NOT a varsity athlete. Average well-rounded. It does happen.

This doesn't really happen in DC. I've had 3 seniors at 2 different DC privates between them and the only Duke admits over the past 5 years were kids in the top 5 kids in the class and 90% of the time were also legacies. There has literally been no one admitted who don't fit this profile. It's such an impossible admission. 95% of the time Duke declines the kids who are just top 5 in the class. You need to be legacy too. You can get into Harvard, Princeton and Yale on grades/class ranking alone but not Duke.

Duke very much has “preferred” high schools. If your high school isn’t sending at least one unhooked kid year after year, it isn’t worth wasting an ED in Duke. At our high school, the only kids taken ED are athletic recruits or URM. Has been that way for a decade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don’t think test scores matter very much once 1520 or so is reached.

You would be wrong.

There is a positive correlation between test scores and admission to top schools all the way up to 1600. It's not the only thing that matters but a 1580 makes for a more attractive candidate than a 1520 applicant.

They'll take a niche (non-STEM) national award winner, 1520 women's studies major over a 1580 CS major every day.

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don’t think test scores matter very much once 1520 or so is reached.

You would be wrong.

There is a positive correlation between test scores and admission to top schools all the way up to 1600. It's not the only thing that matters but a 1580 makes for a more attractive candidate than a 1520 applicant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

That's just an impressive applicant

Agree.

Yep, crap shoot. My kid has a friend there, and he is your typical very smart private school kid. NOT top of the class, NOT a varsity athlete. Average well-rounded. It does happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

That's just an impressive applicant

Yes, Ivy level. Which is what it takes to get into Duke these days if you're not hooked. Things have changed in the past few years. It's just so hot right now and the competition is fierce.

I mean yes, Duke is harder to get into than most of the ivies now. So still doesn't explain how they're making decision on who gets in and who doesn't. But maybe that's the point, it's just so selective that there's no discernible pattern.

+1 anyone trying to make sense of what it takes to get into Duke is playing a fool's game

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

That's just an impressive applicant

Yes, Ivy level. Which is what it takes to get into Duke these days if you're not hooked. Things have changed in the past few years. It's just so hot right now and the competition is fierce.

I mean yes, Duke is harder to get into than most of the ivies now. So still doesn't explain how they're making decision on who gets in and who doesn't. But maybe that's the point, it's just so selective that there's no discernible pattern.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

You say "unhooked" but aren't all those math awards basically hooks?

Maybe? Idk those stats look like the average TJ admit to Duke, I wouldn't consider AIME a hook

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

That's just an impressive applicant

Yes, Ivy level. Which is what it takes to get into Duke these days if you're not hooked. Things have changed in the past few years. It's just so hot right now and the competition is fierce.

Anonymous wrote:The stats get you a lotto ticket. Then it just turns to luck.

OP- this is the correct answer. Stats get you a serious look, but there needs to be a wow factor in the application to get admitted. Everyone will have good essays and lots of activities. A wow factor is different.

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

You say "unhooked" but aren't all those math awards basically hooks?

Anonymous wrote:It's funny seeing people on here say Duke just wants legacies or TO athletes during ED, when the top post on Reddit right now is literally an unhooked middle class kid with a 1590 getting into Duke: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1pntpkj/finally_made_my_asian_parents_proud_3/

That's just an impressive applicant

What made Duke special was they always got well rounded smart attractive kids.