Duke is a very popular school, generally counted among the Ivy+ schools; those universities which are not actually in the Ivy League, but which have a similar level of acclaim and status. This is reflected in its acceptance rate; just 4.8% overall, and even lower for students who apply regular decision. For every hundred students who apply to Duke, fewer than five end up getting admitted. Of course, some students aren’t rejected outright, but instead end up on the school’s waitlist. Duke, like many other top universities, uses a waitlist to help balance its admissions. In this article, we’re going to explore how exactly that waitlist works, and what you should do if you happen to find yourself on it. Let’s jump right in!
How Duke’s Waitlist Works
Duke, unfortunately, has a dearth of information on their website about how their waitlist actually works. We know they have one, but they are reticent to explain how exactly it functions. Their Common Data Set is equally opaque, listing how many students are placed on the waitlist, but nothing about the acceptance rate off of it, or even if the list is ranked or not.
This leads us to doing some guess work, but there are some things we can deduce based on how Duke’s peers operate. The first thing we are fairly certain of is that Duke has two separate waitlists, not just one. Duke has two subsidiary colleges, liberal arts and engineering. Each has their own admissions officers, each has their own standards for admissions, each has their own essays students need write; it makes sense that they would have two separate waitlists as well.
We are entirely uncertain if Duke ranks their waitlist. That said, most top colleges do not, and we think that Duke follows this trend as well. The purpose of the waitlist is to fill holes left in an incoming class, and for schools that admit students holistically in the first place, ranking a waitlist doesn’t really make sense to do that.
Duke seems to begin admitting students off of their waitlist after May 1. This usually finishes in early summer, though we do have a recent example of the waitlist reopening in August, just weeks before the semester started. This is unusual, and notable. This doesn’t seem to be common practice for Duke, and should not be counted on. In this instance, it seems to have happened due to shifting administrative priorities, and a number of admitted students opting to take a gap year.
Finally, we don’t have any reports from inside Duke’s admissions office on what goes on when they review students for waitlist admissions. Our best guess is that they use the same holistic review as during their other admissions rounds; it doesn’t make much sense that they’d change things up. Reviews are probably quicker however, as anyone on the waitlist will have had their application read several times over already.
Your Chances of Waitlist Acceptance at Duke
Students are always keen to know a college’s acceptance rates. This makes a lot of sense, as it gives them a sense of risk, and a feeling of control. The odds may be long at many of these schools, but just knowing what those odds are makes the whole thing seem more possible. This holds true for waitlist admissions as well, and many students are curious about what Duke’s waitlist acceptance rate is.
Unfortunately, Duke releases almost no information about this, and certainly not enough to determine a waitlist acceptance rate with any accuracy. Once or twice they have released the number of students waitlisted; it’s around 2,000 for the data points we have. The number of students accepted off it we have more scattered data for, but it seems to range from less than a hundred to a few hundred.
One thing we are certain of is that waitlist acceptance rates at Duke are highly variable from year to year. Duke admits students off the waitlist when they have holes to fill in their incoming class, and those holes occur when admitted students choose to attend other schools. There is no reliable way to predict whether or not an admitted student will attend, and thus there is no reliable way to predict the number of seats which will need to be filled off of the waitlist.
We are fairly certain Duke has a higher waitlist acceptance rate than schools like Harvard or UChicago, because their yield rate is lower. Yield is the term used for the percentage of admitted students who choose to attend a school. Last year, Duke’s yield rate was 61%; this is quite good, but far below the rates of Yale or MIT. Thus, Duke is more likely than these schools to turn to the waitlist to make up holes in their incoming class.
How to Improve Your Chances of Waitlist Acceptance at Duke
While the actual acceptance rate off of Duke’s waitlist is unfortunately unclear, they do seem to admit students off of it each year. This is in part based on luck, and whether or not your application matches what they’re looking for to fill a hole that’s opened in their class. That said, there are some actionable steps you can take to improve your chances of getting off of Duke’s waitlist.
The first thing to do is officially accept your spot on Duke’s waitlist. It’s uncertain what percent of students do this, but based on their peers, it’s around 75% of waitlisted students. Only students who confirm their place on the list will be considered. This isn’t difficult to do, and may be done simply by clicking on the option in your student portal. This needs to be done by May 1 at the latest, but we recommend doing it earlier, just to be sure it doesn’t slip your mind.
With this done, the best thing you can do to increase your chances of acceptance off the waitlist is submit a letter of continued interest. These are letters you write to a school which has waitlisted you to update them on everything you’ve been up to since you originally applied, and to state your continued interest in attending their school.
The point of these letters is twofold. First, you want to express that Duke is your top choice still, and that you will attend if you are admitted. You may hold some negative feelings about not getting in initially, but these letters are not the place to discuss this. Instead, you want to focus on the positives; how great the school is for you, and how you are still eager to attend.
The other thing you should do in these letters is brag about the amazing accomplishments you’ve had since you first submitted your application. This isn’t a place to highlight every high test score, but instead talk about meaningful things you’ve done, the sorts of things which will contribute to your candidacy and set you apart from other students who are on the waitlist with you.
What you brag about will depend on what you’ve done, but these should be substantial achievements if possible. New roles or responsibilities at jobs or internships, victories in competitions (academic or otherwise), doing meaningful research or reaching the next level with an organization you started. There is no single right activity that will make admissions officers automatically admit you, but many different ways you can show off your passion and skill.
Finally, you should try and tie all of your accomplishments to the opportunities which are available at Duke. The point of this is to demonstrate to admissions officers exactly how you will contribute to the atmosphere on campus. Admissions officers don’t just want to admit students with the best stats, instead they are trying to build a collection of individuals who form a greater whole. Showcase exactly how you will be able to contribute to that goal in your letter of continued interest.
Final Thoughts
Getting waitlisted by a school can feel like a crushing loss, especially after all the work you put into the application. While there is no guarantee of getting in, we hope that this article has shown that getting waitlisted doesn’t have to be the end of the line for your college dreams at Duke, and that there are ways you can meaningfully increase your chances of getting in off of the waitlist.
If you are looking for advice on your own situation on the waitlist, or want guidance on any other aspect of the college application process, then Ivy Scholars can help. College admissions is often opaque, confusing, and intentionally difficult for students; our mentors specialize in making your life easier, and helping you show colleges the best aspects of who you are. Don’t wait, schedule a free consultation with us today to learn more. We’re always happy to hear from you.
