I actually visited Duke today and spoke to an admissions officer. Apparently, people in previous years were declining the merit scholarships b/c these were the same ppl who were getting into Harvard, Princeton, etc. Duke as well as other universities have a set amount of money to spend and mentorships ready to offer these students. However, these mentorships were going un-used. Hence why they changed their merit scholarship policy. I personally don’t agree with it, but oh well 
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It is a very small percent that actually receives merit at Duke and most have very specific parameters including geography for some. With Duke and their peers meeting full demonstrated need (their own formulas) I believe many of those named merit scholarships were not helpful in recruitment. It is a process to offer these opportunities when the money is no longer the factor, but the mentorships or special programs require coordination. Then they have to reoffer them to other candidates if that is a requirement from the donor.
This year, they could also be looking at their yield and waitlist options. They definitely seemed to waitlist some top candidates and wanted to know more about their status in the past.
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Unsure if this is the right place to ask this, but for other people on the waitlist are you putting the LOCI only on the portal or emailing it as well? Thanks
Admitted after ED deferral. We decided to upload in the portal and email the regional AO with a couple of questions and attached the LOCI to that email. They don’t seem to want updates/letters sent to AOs as a general rule from what we found on their website, but it’s fine to ask questions. We combine the two and it didn’t hurt.
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How did you find your region’s AO? On the website all the emails listed are for the general admission office.
That’s Cornell’s admissions link. Are you looking for Duke?
Here’s the link to Duke’s Regional AOs:
Contact Us - Duke Undergraduate Admissions
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Thanks! I copied the wrong link.
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this is really unfortunate. could have seriously considered Duke if there were scholarships.
It really comes down to fit, rather than really recruiting at this level…
Thanks, unfortunately looks like for international students they don’t have a named person, just the basic admissions email address. Thanks though 
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Hi, I was wondering whether anyone knew if sending an additional LOR that wasn’t in the original application as well as the LOCI is positive/negative to help try and get off the waitlist. Thank you.
Anyone else just get a “please confirm your continued interest” form?
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Yeah, I saw two people on reddit get them. Have you too? If so, was it for Pratt or Trinity? Also congrats! That for sure means you were admitted off the waitlist.
Haha yeah one of them was me, for trinity. Thank you never know though they might have changed it this year and sent it to more people than they’ll let in. We can hope though!
Does anyone know if Duke has released their AB Duke Scholarship yet or when its supposed to come out?
I received my BN Scholar Finalist notification at 7 PM ET if that helps!
Just got the confirm waitlist interest email. Does this mean I’m in? International applied to Pratt.
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I just got my confirm waitlist interest email. Did you guys get in?
I’m hoping its a sign.