Admission Stats 2010--Read 'Em But Don't Weep

jfl2010
Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:38:21 +0000

Here is what a lot of people don’t realize.
Lets take Duke. The SAT range of admitted students is 1340 to 1530. (M+R) Thus if you have lets say a score of 1440 you believe that you should have an “average” chance of acceptance. (So if Duke admits 20% of all applicants then you have a 20% chance of admission) Thats why a lot of people apply. But according to the Director of Admissions of Duke here are the other factors that weigh heavily upon a decision:

Race
Legacy
Residency
Significant Financial support
Performing Arts
Athlete
First Gen College
ED

So in reality, if you do not possess any of these attributes you would need to be north of the 75th percentile (1530) to have any reasonable shot of admittance based on your academic credentials.

All of the applicants have great essays, interesting extras, Great GPA and Great SAT.
But quite honestly, thats not what Duke is looking for.
So if you have a 1440 SAT (or 2160 M+R+W) and have great essays, EC’s 3.8 GPA (UW)
but lack any of the aforementioned “qualities” your real odds are about 3% to 4%. If enough people understood this I wonder how many applications these “elite” schools would receive.