Duke University
Source: duke.md
Duke University
Admissions (Class of 2029 / Fall 2025)
- Total applicants: 54,191
- Overall acceptance rate: 5.0%
- Early round: Early Decision — 21.1% vs 3.5% RD
- Class size: 1,750
- Yield: 53%
Academics
- SAT middle 50%: 1500–1570
- ACT middle 50%: 34–35
- Avg unweighted GPA: 3.94
- Top 10% of HS class: 95%
- Testing policy: Test-optional
Demographics
- Women: 49.8%, Asian: 14.3%, Black: 7.3%, Hispanic: 5.0%, White: 49.1%, International: 18.3%
Financial Aid / Net Cost
| Income Bracket |
Net Price |
| $0–$30,000 |
$7,219 |
| $30,001–$48,000 |
$3,612 |
| $48,001–$75,000 |
$9,787 |
| $75,001–$110,000 |
$23,247 |
| Over $110,000 |
$48,883 |
Athletics
352 varsity athletes (~5.7% of undergrads). NCAA Division I, ACC Conference.
Notable
ED fills ~50% of class — one of the most ED-dependent elite universities. Basketball program (Cameron Indoor) is legendary. Yield 53% — many admits use Duke as backup for HYPSM.
Admissions Strategy
- ED acceptance rate ~21.1% vs ~3.5% RD — ED multiplier ~6x, one of the highest among elite schools
- ED fills ~50% of the class — Duke is one of the most ED-dependent elite universities in the country
- Forum consensus: applying RD to Duke is "extremely difficult" without hooks; the 3.5% RD rate is brutally low
- Recruited athletes are heavily represented in ED — Cameron Indoor basketball culture is a recruitment tool
- Duke is test-optional, which forums suggest inflates application volume without raising the quality floor
Campus Culture & Fit
- Strong school spirit centered on basketball — "Cameron Crazies" tenting tradition (K-Ville) is iconic
- Durham, NC location offers mild climate and growing city — praised as more livable than Ithaca or Hanover
- Described on forums as a "work hard, play hard" school with active Greek life
- Strong pre-professional culture, especially for finance, consulting, and pre-med
- LDOC (Last Day of Classes) is a beloved tradition — major music acts perform on campus
Financial Aid Reputation
- Need-blind for domestic applicants; need-aware for international
- Net costs are moderate — $7.2K for families under $30K, but $48.9K for families over $110K (among the highest)
- Forum consensus: Duke's aid is good but not in the HYPSM tier — upper-middle-class families feel the squeeze
- Robertson Scholars Program (joint with UNC) offers full ride + enrichment — competitive but prestigious
Simulation-Relevant Takeaways
- ED multiplier of ~6x is enormous — model should very strongly reward ED applicants at Duke
- 53% yield is relatively low — many Duke admits use it as backup for HYPSM, which is why Duke relies so heavily on ED
- Yield protection is plausible: Duke's low yield incentivizes favoring demonstrated-interest applicants in RD
- ED-dependence means the RD class is small and highly selective — model should reflect the "two different schools" dynamic
Sources
- Duke University Common Data Set 2024–2025
- research_colleges.json simulation data
- College Confidential: Duke ED Fall 2025 thread
- TKG: "Early Decision Strategy for Duke 2025-2026"
- Top Tier Admissions: Duke acceptance rate analysis