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.

I am also an alum and I mostly agree with you but I take issue with #3 above. Maybe there are some really nerdy types that don't go to the games, but they are of all races. There's nothing about being Asian/Indian that means you're a kid not interested in sports and community. I agree there are a lot of crazy smart STEM kids at Duke, and many of them are Asian/Indian, but they are not chosen for that reason and they are not anymore likely to be disinterested in sports. That's a gross comment.

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.

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.

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.

Serious question. Why do you continue to give your hard earned money to a school like this?

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:I just heard of one from Churchill

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Duke acknowledged the mistake where they sent congratulatory messages to deferred and rejected applicants upon opening notifications? Or are they just pretending that screw up never happened?

PP here. They sent a follow-up email apologizing for the mistake, but otherwise they are pretending it didn't happen. They apparently sent the congratulatory message to everyone - including all deferred and all rejected candidates - so they clearly can't "fix" the mistake by letting the disappointed kids in.

Anonymous wrote:Has Duke acknowledged the mistake where they sent congratulatory messages to deferred and rejected applicants upon opening notifications? Or are they just pretending that screw up never happened?

Anonymous wrote:I don't see wealthy legacies who are reasonably competitive being rejected at Duke.

Duke is all about money. Duke's endowment has grown tremendously - particularly during Nan Keohane's tenure (thank you Duke Basketball). Terry Sanford really kickstarted the focus on fundraising in 1970, and even hired a guy (his son was my classmate) to seek out students who later could contribute $10M or more. Sanford treated students well - immediately removing the cap on Jewish admissions in 1970, and started - with a long way to go - welcoming African American students.

The common refrain is that all these top schools are about money - true. But with Duke it is an added factor and very obvious to those who attend. Anyone who matriculates should do a quick read of Robert Durden's the Dukes of Durham. That DNA is still there.