Hi guys - I recently heard back from my first two schools and it wasn’t good (rejected at Northwestern and waitlisted at UCLA). Not feeling very confident as Thursday approaches :-S
UC schools have been really weird this year in my opinion. I have a friend accepted to MIT get Waitlisted by UCLA and UCSD. Two other friends got accepted by John Hopkins and rejected by UCLA. And one who got accepted UCLA but rejected UCSD…
Is it possible to gain admissions to Duke without an interview? We do have alumni in the area but was not offered one. Can anyone say if this means more no then yes? Just looking for some opinions here.
@mscl516 It’s definitely possible! We live in a relatively close state, no interview, son received a likely letter.
@mscl516 Definitely! Duke interviews are optional and you have to request one. A lot of applicants either don’t live in an area with alumni volunteers or the alumni in their areas are booked up. My friends and I didn’t have interviews but two of us received likely letters and I know a number of other applicants from previous years who were admitted and did not interview.
@AnastasiaAliyev Thank you.
Who receives likely letters from Duke? Athletes only or are they also sent to very exceptional students?
@AnastasiaAliyev really? I don’t think so because I applied by January 1st and I got an interview without asking for one.
I’m getting Duke and Berkeley on the same day next week rip
@harvard2020babe Hmm maybe I’m confusing Duke with another school. I guess if you’re not contacted, as in my case, they just don’t have any interviewers in your area.
@zeedoq I’m not familiar with all the scenarios in which LLs are given out, but my son received the Black Student Alliance invite.
I think Duke Interviews are offered based on availability not anything else. So there is no need to be worry since it is optional.
@AwesomeSoz I am also central coast California, also requested an interview, and also did not receive one. So I’m sure it is the case that they just don’t seem to have much in the way of alumni in our area. Surprising.
@Lovelearning7 @AwesomeSoz - I had my Duke interview and I really don’t think it counts for much… the guy was really laid back, he told me 3x that “kids like you really go places… I was a frat boy… so you don’t have a need to worry, man, you are soooooo in…!” I don’t think that anyone can put any type of value on someone like this interviewer. Relax, the alumni interview is worth very little if anything at all.
Today, my s received an early notification letter (via postal mail) of acceptance from Duke. As I recall, he applied very close to the RD deadline. He never looked into asking for an interview. So far, he has been waitlisted at UChicago and has been accepted at Northwestern, WUSTL, Williams and Swarthmore. Williams and Swarthmore sent him early notification letters.
@KabirENT Is an early notification letter the same as a likely letter?
@AnastasiaAliyev Not sure if this is considered a likely letter. From what I read, the likely letters are sent to recruited athletes. My s is not an athlete. I saw in another post a term call “early write” letter. I think that basically means that the college tells some students that they are informing them of their acceptance earlier than the rest of their applicants.
Swarthmore stated something to the effect of 'be considerate of others in your school/community that haven’t received this early notification.
Also noteworthy is that two of the three letters (I think Williams and Duke) made specific reference to my son’s extracurricular interest.
@KabirENT If you don’t mind my asking, was your son’s early notification letter the BSAI invitation from Duke? I got it last week and heard it is considered a “likely letter” from Duke. It made mention of extracurricular interests as well as advice similar to that from Swarthmore which you mentioned above. If not, it sounds like it is of equal merit. Good luck to your son!
@AnastasiaAliyev No, not BSAI.
@KabirENT May I ask what your son’s extracurricular interests are?