<p>As an in-state student, is there any possibility at all that I would be rejected at UNC but accepted at Duke? My SAT’s are in range for both, and I do very well in school but have had electives and some extra-curriculars eliminated due to a severe medical problem. I would prefer to attend UNC for financial reasons-- if I was accepted at both I would go to UNC. Is there any benefit to me studying for/taking the SAT II’s to apply to Duke, or should I be assuming that if I get rejected from UNC, I would also be rejected from Duke?</p>
<p>there is no way to assume that being rejected by one automatically excludes you from acceptance at the other. Personally, I have been rejected by grad schools where I thought for sure I’d get in, and accepted by grad schools that I had only small expectations of getting into. It all depends on your fit at that particular school, in my experience.</p>
<p>In state, it would be HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be accepted at Duke and rejected at UNC. Carolina is an amazing option so don’t flame me when I tell you that at our large urban in-state high school Carolina is a backup for those applying to Duke. I’m speaking purely from an admissions point of view.</p>
<p>I would recommend not taking subject exams. Just apply to UNC and save the money.</p>
<p>I disagree – If you don’t do well on the subject tests, don’t submit them to UNC. Otherwise, they can only help. Someone with a 700+ in one or more subject tests will ALWAYS look better than someone who didn’t take the tests.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honesty, guys. I like Duke (except the basketball team), but it probably isn’t worth applying. My SAT is 2340, so UNC already knows I’m good at standardized tests… it doesn’t seem like it would add much to my application to do all that studying for the SATII’s.</p>
<p>The odds that you would get accepted at Duke but rejected by UNC, as an in-state student with that SAT score, are very low (heck, the odds that you get rejected by UNC at all are quite low, and you’ll have a good shot at Duke too).</p>
<p>Do you like UNC more than Duke in general, or are you basing your current opinion on financial reasons alone? If you know that you would rather go to UNC in any circumstance, then it’s probably pointless to apply to Duke, but if a good financial aid package could change your mind about Duke, then you might want to apply and see what happens.</p>