I applied to Duke as a first year this year and was wait listed, ultimately not being offered admission. I was wondering, if I apply to transfer there after a year, will the fact that I was on the waiting list this year give me an edge, or is that irrelevant?
As far as I know, freshman admission is completely separate from transfer admission. In fact, I think the offices are organized differently. Thus, I would say that freshman admission waitlist has no bearing on your chances for transfer admission. Transfer admissions also tend to be harder than freshman admissions, so don’t bank on that happening. What school will you be attending in the fall?
I’ll be attending UGA.
@BerroTerro I would say if your heart is really set on Duke, you should be able to get into UGA again next year. Be wary, the following is risky advice. Don’t go to college this year, and reapply for freshman admission as an ED. Either way, you should get into UGA anyways (and did you consider Georgia Tech, by the way) next year, so things won’t be too different. It’s not like you are going to a highly selective college (<20% acceptance rate), that you may have to give up. If you really want to go to Duke, I would suggest apply as an ED for freshman admission, and use the time from now to the ED apply date to do something extraordinary.
If you are rejected again, go to UGA, and then try as a transfer, I guess. But I would strongly consider freshman admission again, IF and ONLY IF, Duke is your dream, your heart, your soul. And if you’d be willing to be full tuition for it, if your family income is above 150000. Definitely make sure you do the financial aid calculator for Duke to see if it is affordable for you and your family before deciding not to attend UGA this year!
Oh just as a heads up, this advice may involve “wasting” a year of your life if you get rejected from Duke, but I really hope you get in if you happen to take that path. Your ED chances seem good to me, if you were waitlisted during RD, and especially if you do something awesome in the next five months.
Taking a year off wouldn’t be viewed unfavorably by the admissions office? My heart is most definitely set on Duke, but I feel that I have a much better chance of building up my resume if I go ahead and attend UGA for a year. I really can’t think of an awesome thing I can do without being at a place where I have connections. I do appreciate the advice, but like you said, it’s kind of a risky path to take.
As for Tech, I did consider applying there, but it just didn’t feel like a good fit for me.
Go to UGA, get a 4.0 your first year and have some nice accomplishments and apply as a transfer
Look, I know it is risky, but it just gives you a better chance. Like I said, you HAVE to do ED. The ED acceptance rate is about 25%. The transfer acceptance rate this year was 3-5%, most of who have quite good GPAs at undergraduate institutions. Just do ED next year.
And then again, even if doesn’t work out, just apply to UGA or some of Duke’s peer schools on RD round.