<p>im confused cuz my cousin got into Duke with a 3.7 (UW) 2200 SAT. He did a few clubs, AP classes, not any big awards, and did track and football for all grades. My brother though did not get into Duke but went to Notre Dame with much higher SAT scores ECs, community service hrs, and awards. Is it the essays that made such a huge impact? He had i think 4 gpa and got 5s and 4s on most of his AP tests. Can someone tell me what the deal is?</p>
<p>Admissions can be random at times … Duke really liked your cousin for whatever reason (maybe his essays), and they just didn’t think your brother was a good match.</p>
<p>yea, especially at top schools, very random…</p>
<p>My friend’s brother got into Duke with a 4.0, mediocre SAT scores, and virtually no ECs. I guess they can be sort of erratic.</p>
<p>colleges want an all around kid, with a focus.</p>
<p>And the reason he didnt get in is probably because there were 1,000 students better than him</p>
<p>Also what a lot of colleges do, is they talk to other colleges on your list, and they decide together who they will and wont take, kind of like a draft, although they deny this. this is so they can get their “yield rating” up, or their accepted and matriculation / accepted student rating up. The ivies do this ALL the time if you look at the patterns. this is why the college process is erratic.</p>
<p>and of course there are exceptions.</p>
<p>mustve been the essays or teacher recs - non quantitative stuff</p>