If you find yourself here, we’re sorry you got deferred from Duke. First things first, that's tough, and we feel for you. Take the time to let those feelings sink in – be it sadness, frustration, or whatever you're experiencing – because it's valid! But once you've had a moment to regroup, we’ve gotta get to work on your regular decision strategy, and that deferral letter too.
Now, let's hash out a solid plan for regular decision. If you've already crafted a well-rounded list of 8-12 schools, feel free to jump ahead to the end of this post. But if you put all your eggs in the Duke basket, well, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you – but it’s doable. Let’s discuss.
COLLEGE LIST
The news you probably didn’t want but knew was coming: you have to apply to more schools. If you don’t have a solid list of 8-12 schools, you need to have that. You also need to make sure you have a healthy mix of safety, target, and reach schools (more on how to categorize them here). If you load up on reaches for RD, you’re not gonna see the success you want to see, and you’ll feel even worse. Balance!
You’re going to start with researching schools. The number one thing to take into consideration? Academics. Obviously. You’re going to school to learn, so you need to make sure that’s the main dealbreaker for getting left off the list. However, once you get that part sorted, you can start looking at the other factors. Look at what drew you to Duke in the first place. Did you love the whole “work hard, play hard” thing they have? A college town? Frats and sporting events? The south? Then find schools that fit into that vibe, too.
ESSAYS
Now you have your list, which means you have your list of ~supplemental essays~ to write. Most schools use some variation of the same two questions, a community essay and a why essay. These are both highly replicable and once you write them once, you’re going to be able to edit and change them for most other schools. Some schools have some one-off, oddball questions, but you’ll handle that.
Some more not-amazing news for you (and you probably knew this one too): you will almost definitely have to rewrite, or at least seriously rework, your Common App essay. Go ahead and boo us, but we know what we’re doing. We see lots of stressed-out students on December 15th who’ve written mega-cliche essays, and those essays just don’t work. Every other kid is writing about their best day, or their worst day, or their grandma, or “how much they’ve grown,” and frankly, it’s boring. We love a good creative essay, and so should you, because they do work.
As you write, the biggest thing to keep in mind is that you have to have words on paper. Sounds simple, but it’s true. If you get stuck on the first sentence, consider just writing the second one. Your first drafts will probably be bad. Scratch that, they’ll definitely be bad, that’s what a rough draft is for, but you’re gonna take lots of time to edit them for clarity, grammar, flow, and proper word count. Make sure to recruit the most stringent grammar advocates in your life, like teachers, friends, parents, etc. to help you edit.
GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW
Time for some clerical stuff. As you get swept up in the work you have these next few weeks (that mostly happens over break), you need to contact your school counselor ASAP to let them know you’re applying to more schools. You should also check in with the teachers who wrote your rec letters to make sure they can upload those in time for your RD round. Also, make sure you get your test scores sent (if applicable) straight from the ACT or College Board, and also gather any extra stuff schools might ask for, like a resume or a writing sample.
DEFERRAL LETTER
Post skippers, this is where you stop! The deferral letter helps you shoot your shot one last time at Duke, and it serves two purposes:
As an update, filling them in on all the great and amazing things you’ve accomplished in the last, uh, 7 weeks or so?
Telling Duke that if you get admitted, you will absolutely, without a doubt, attend (even if this ends up not being true)
Schools, especially Duke, care about having a high yield rate (the % of admitted students who end up attending) because it makes them look more exclusive and desirable. And, because ultimately, colleges are businesses, more enrolled students means more $$$ for them. So we want to play to that a little – you want to convince them you’re going to help their yield rate.
You’re gonna start off the letter strong. Tell Duke you want to be considered for regular decision, and you will absolutely attend if accepted. The tone of your letter needs to be, above all else, confident and polite. No desperation!
Now you’ll do the updates. We’re sure you’ve done a lot since applying, since you did ED to Duke, after all, but you absolutely should not list everything you’ve done since November 1st. Pick 2-3 things of substance that bolster your application. Things to mention could include the conclusion of a big project, getting published, finding a research position, or getting a job or internship. If those things didn’t happen to you, maybe quickly try to make them happen in the next 3-4 days, but also think of the things that make you unique. Maybe you just crushed a kickass solo hike, or raised a lot of money for a local org. The goal is to stand out. Don’t get braggy with it, just be normal, confident, and polite.
After that, you want to talk about all the things at Duke that you just can’t wait to do once you’re there. Talk about specific classes, clubs, and professors – especially ones that tie into your stated academic interest. You want them to leave with the impression that Duke is just theeee perfect place for you to study, basically like you and the entity that is Duke are soulmates.
This should be no longer than 350 words. Don’t sass us, we know some of you want to write 1000-word letters, but that’s a nonstarter. You know when your weird aunt sends you a super long message, and you just leave it unread because you know it’s gonna be a whole thing? Same energy here. Keep it brief, keep it polite, and have teachers, friends, and family look it over for grammar and clarity.
Send it off to the admissions department (or perhaps you’ll upload it into their portal) and make sure to ask if there’s anywhere else to send the letter.
If you’re struggling with the regular decision applications, or need help with your deferral letter, please reach out to us here to get connected with one of our counselors.