@brantly special circumstances considerations can take a lot longer than your experiences. Some of this depends on what documentation the schools request.
Some schools don’t do these things at all until after acceptance, actually that is always the case now that I think if it. You are asking for consideration because your financial aid package isn’t enough.
In ED cases, you might also need to request an extension on committing to the offer of acceptance. This would push that date out too.
Honestly, this student needs to really think about how he plans to apply. He needs to check to be sure that he can submit other applications along with an ED to Duke. Regular ED schools will allow applications to your instate public universities. Check and see what Duke allows.
This student doesn’t want to miss deadlines (which are early) for merit aid elsewhere because he put all his eggs in the Duke ED basket.