Duke Student Supplement 2013

mecsquared
Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:46:44 +0000

I also did not write the “why duke” essay and was admitted. To this day, I still do not know how I got in because as far as I’m concerned, I’m as boring and cookie-cutter as college applicants get.

My reasoning towards the “why duke” essay was very different, for lack of a better word. I knew I wanted to go to college, but it was really hard to find a good fit. I always kept in mind that things aren’t always what they appeared to be… so sometimes what appears to be a perfect fit might turn out to be the complete opposite. All in all, heading into the ENTIRE process of applying to different colleges, I regret to say that I didn’t really feel “strongly/passionately” about one over any others. Having made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t lie in any of my college essays, I really didn’t have a choice but to opt out of the “why duke” one. I could have written something and fluffed it up, sure, but why did I have to make up feelings that I clearly didn’t have? Honest writing is very apparent, and likewise, dishonest writing is apparent as well.

Though the feeling towards duke was actually very positive, it just wasn’t enough to push me to write about it. And in hindsight, I think it might actually hurt to write a poorly-written essay about why you are interested in a school. One can only get so much from reading webpages after webpages. And having finally visited duke really confirmed my thoughts that you can’t really know the college until having been there.

however, without the optional essays done, i would think admissions would give more weight to the commonapp essays. The numbers will always be numbers, and duke (or any other college for that matter) likes interesting people. If you think you can write an exceptional “why duke” essay, I say go for it. For some, it has been a dream since they were in middle school to attend duke. If you have to sit there with 30 rough drafts with 12 about duke tabs open, that’s when the essay becomes optional.