15% deferrals (many of them legacies)
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My daughterâs friend was deferred: 1540 SAT, ranked state athlete, legacy. He worked very hard, so itâs sad to hear Duke didnât think he was a âfitâ?
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D24 was denied; also a legacy. She was well qualified, but so are almost all the other applicants. Cest la vie.
She already has a UGA acceptance (also a legacy, though irrelevant for those admissions). She is sad today, but I have confidence in her resilience. And she will be stronger for being willing to risk the denial.
Good luck to those deferred, and congrats to the accepted!
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Rejected! Heartbroken a little bit yes, it was a dream for a while, but not quite surprised or shattered. Finalizing my ED2 contract tonight. My parents ultimately said they would support ED2 to Emory, and my brain says Emory but heart is in love with Hopkins. Congrats to everyone who got in during this tough round! There are many reasons we all fell in love with the blue devil family and you deserve to be a part of it.
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Deferred! Itâs not what I was hoping for, and I realize the odds are stacked against me in the RD pool, but I am still holding onto hope
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My son was deferred last year and accepted RD- Keep the faith!
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May I ask what you submitted as update/additional support materials between defer and admitted?
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My D was deferred ED and then accepted RD. She submitted 2 LOCIs, one short email to her admission officer thanking him for the consideration of her application, letting him know Duke was still her first choice, and talking about a few short simple things she loved about Duke. Second LOCI sent in January to be considered alongside regular decision candidates was longer, updated accomplishments and gpa etc, and included an additional letter of recommendation.
I would just like to give some hope to those deferred. You have a big advantage over regular decision candidates because of yieldâDuke knows that since you applied ED that you will almost certainly come if admitted. Hang in there you may still get in
Duke does a good job of reducing expectations in the deferral letter and thats fair, but donât let it crush you. Do the LOCIs and apply to other ivy level schools because you never know where youâll end upâŠ
My D who was deferred ED Duke was accepted RD to Duke, but was also accepted to Princeton RD where sheâs a senior studying computer science and studio art 
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Thank you so much for such extremely helpful information and your encouragement given the kids who are deferred in sad mode. May I ask where the LOCI letters should be sent to? Is it just a general admission officeâs email address? Or is it the regional officer address? Who should be asked for the second recommendation letter?
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Google for the name of your regional admissions officer, thatâs what my D did and emailed him directly. If you cannot find that info, then use Dear Duke Admissions Team and use the email address of admissions generally. My D wanted Duke to learn something new about her in the LOR, so she got one from her varsity cheer coach and asked her to address her role on the team with one or two specific examples. She sent the LOR as a pdf attachmentđ
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DS was accepted. Shocked as everyone is qualified.
Midwest - 11 APâs, 1530 SAT, 4.7 weighted, but 3.9 unweighted with 2 Bâs junior year in AP Chem and Calc BC. But he is an Eagle Scout, Senior class president, Varsity sports captain, etc, so very well rounded. He thinks it was his essays and letters of rec.
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If anyone would like a laugh, I wrote a poem last night.
Roses are red
My dreams are no longer royal blue
My parentâs bank account will certainly yell yahoo
Mayhaps I should have gotten one more question right on that act
Or worked harder so my gpa didnât start with a three
Perhaps I should have been born in Wyoming
At least I anticipated and deserved it, so Iâm not whining
The album of glowing photos I took in Durham and tobacco districtâs myriad of ice cream shops
The spreadsheet filled with reasons I became enamored with in spite of expenses that would make my heart stop
The tears I left on the floor after my seventeenth draft essay
The car rides and events my parents drove me to all day
Getting rejected from Duke was not a spook
Getting rejected from Duke was not a fluke
Duke took my heart and I hope I can take it back
The Duke community is still a treasure, I hope it will give back
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Awww, this is a wonderful, heartfelt poem, and you seem like a special kid. Itâs easy to get tunnel vision for one school, but as you start receiving acceptances to and exploring other schools, you will realize that you can be happy and successful there too. Any school will be lucky to have you. Wishing you the best!
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Thank you for sharing this encouraging information. Iâve never officially introduced myself here, but by dd was deferred last night.
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I am thankful to hear this as well. My son is a legacy and was deferred. I told him he could not have done anything different. Maybe he will see an acceptance in the end, maybe he wonât. My daughter transferred after two years of being in the place she dreamed of. We know they will land in a great place. Itâs getting there that is rough. Iâll keep following here though!
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My son was deferred last year and accepted RD- quite a roller coaster but giving you hope!!
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I posted this in class of 24 also but thought it may help others decide if they want to shoot for Duke ED in the future. I know I read past Duke threads for information so I am reposting here too:
My D24 was accepted ED1 to Duke! 
She withdrew her 3 EA apps and rescinded the offers from the 3 instate safety schools she applied to in August.
She is an above average student who tries very hard to make good grades, to be involved in activities, has leadership positions and has done some typical volunteer work, but nothing crazy that makes her stand out. Some hours at our local nursing home, summer church camps and fish frys during lent for the church. But honestly very minimal because her hours are spent dancing. She dances 4-5 days a week after school and some weekends. Itâs competition dance and she has been on the team for 10 years. She also submitted supplemental art portfolio of 4 dances to showcase artistic abilities which could have helped her stand out. She is good but it is not her major and she is not at the level of a prodigy or anything that would make them want her for dance.
Her essays were stellar. She told her story in such a moving and emotional way every single person who read it cried. They were rooting for her and wanted to see her succeed. I can only imagine the admissions committee felt the same way. She is very loved at her school. By the faculty and the students. She is a rare teenager who enjoys being with people of all ages and walks of life. She truly is a joy. And I do not say that to get compliments or credit. Itâs just who she is. As a mom of 4, I have raised 4 completely different personalities and know that I have very little to do with that. Itâs just something ingrained in them. So I assume her letters of recommendation were stellar as well. The teachers who wrote them did so enthusiastically and when I thanked them they all basically said how wonderful she is and how easy it is to gush on her and write great things. They were happy to do so.
Her stats 3.89 unweighted GPA And 33 ACT super scored leadership positions in 4 clubs. Captain of the school dance team for 2 years. Her school is very small. Her graduating class is 42. They do not rank but she guesses she might be 5th or 6th. But they wonât tell her. They only offer 3 AP classes. She took all 3 but didnât test well and didnât submit her exam scores. She has taken the most rigorous courses offered including the 2 dual credit classes offered at her school. She also took Spanish 3 on her own online for credit because she wanted a 3rd year and wanted to take Marine Biology which conflicted with scheduling so she took it on her own online.
Her hook: first generation and from Mississippi
We cried and celebrated her acceptance. It was not expected because she is your typical normal teenage girl who worked hard and it paid off. So donât give up. Dreams can happen for anyone!!! Oh and they gave her $73,382 per year. We are all in shock and so incredibly grateful for this opportunity for her!! We ran the NPC before applying ED to see if we could afford it based on our income and it came back at $12k per year. So the NPC actually was dead on and they came back saying we will owe $11,800 (after applying work study plus a student loan totaling $7200 per year) which is in our budget. So if you are wondering if it is accurate, it was in our case.
Sorry for the extremely long post. I just wanted to paint a picture of who she is to give hope to others wanting to apply to top 10 schools. You do not have to be perfect or amazing in every single way to get accepted. Chase your dreams!!! You never know what may happen!!
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Mom of a deferred kid here. I think he/we were prepared for a rejection, were realistic about the odds of an acceptance, but were totally caught off guard by the deferral. Duke is still his #1 and heâs already written his LOCI, but is looking ahead to other schools and what the options may end up being.
A big congrats to all of you who got acceptances and a heartfelt âughâ to those of you with rejections, and not quite sure what to say to all who got deferrals. I know how hard all of you high achievers work and have every reason to believe you will end up somewhere amazing. Duke is great, yes, but there are other great places too. I know itâs tough to have a dream school. My kid is feeling it too. : /
This is one of the best posts I have ever seen on this site. Iâm so happy for you and your daughter.
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Thank you!! I hope the school lives up to her expectations and dreams!!
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