<p>First, This is not in reference to just a CC member that applies, but in regards to all 19 or 20k that apply. As is clear, almost everyone on CC that post a “chance thread” seems to have a shot at admission. Yes, some have much more of a chance than others, but most posters have a lot of strenghts and will not know for sure they will be rejected until they get official notification. Occasionally, someone posts a chance thread with little real opportunity, but that is a rarity. My question involves the entire applicant pool. </p>
<p>Out of the approximate 20k apply, how many are strong applicants really competing with?. Basically, of the 20k, how many do you think are seen as obvious rejections and have no real purpose to apply? (ex, ridiculously low stats and EC but sees Duke Basketball on tv and decides they will go to school there) </p>
<p>I have just been curious as to how many of the 20k are thrown out soon after beginning to examine applications and how many of the 20k are truly qualified. I am not sure myself, and it may be hard judge since we dont see all the applications, but i was looking for opinion of those that go to schools where many apply to Duke and anyone with any idea. Maybe this thread is pointless because it is irrelevant and no1 would be able to accurately say, but i have always wondered. Thanks</p>
<p>First I’d like so say that yes, this is a pointless thread as no one knows anything that the admissions department doesn’t already freely give out. But what they say and my experience tells me is that most applicants are at least in the ballpark number wise. People tend to self select when applying to anything and while you will still get a few people applying to Duke for whom it is an impossible reach, most people are going to fall in the competitive applicant pool. This is why the qualitative portions of your application are so important.</p>
<p>If you assume that range (NOTE RANGE< NOT RAW SCORE) of applicant that apply are approximately equivalent between schools, then you can reference USC’s published data.
They publish the total 25-75th ACT/SAT for applicants, accepted, and enrolled students. (Search for this)</p>
<p>I’m not sure if this helps answer your question, but this website uses Duke University’s admission process as an example: </p>
<p>[HowStuffWorks</a> “College Admissions”](<a href=“http://people.howstuffworks.com/college-admission4.htm]HowStuffWorks”>How College Admission Works | HowStuffWorks)</p>
<p>"… Each complete application is then evaluated by one of 15 to 20 ‘first readers’…Applications then receive a second full evaluation by the staff member responsible for the region of the country in which the applicant lives. So each application is evaluated at least twice. The strongest 5 percent to 7 percent of the pool (as defined by all parts of the application, not just the academic and quantifiable parts) then comes directly to the director of undergraduate admissions – Guttentag – for review. Most of the time, if both the first and second readers recommend an admit, the student will be admitted. </p>
<p>The weakest quarter to third of the applicant pool (again, as defined by all parts of the application) then go to an associate director for review – but only if both readers recommend a “deny.” The associate director can then “sign off” on a deny. All other applicants are reviewed by a selection committee where at least three staff members and the chairperson – either the director of admissions or the senior associate director – discuss the case." </p>
<p>So basically, 5-7% of the 20,000 applicants are insanely strong, which Duke welcomes in with open arms, and 25-33% of the 20,000 applicants are pretty much rejected from the get-go. That leaves anywhere b/w 60-70% of the entire applicant pool to be thrown “in the middle” for the selection committee.</p>
<p>In short, the vast majority of applicants are well-qualified for Duke.</p>