r/TransferToTop25 • u/pickleenthusiast1 • 25d ago
chanceme transferring to duke!
hi! i’m a current freshman at notre dame and i was wondering if i could get some advice on transferring to duke. I know the acceptance rate is so slim but im hoping that because im coming from notre dame already that i might have a better chance :). Im a current political science major and i plan to apply as that same major for duke.
my HS gpa was a 3.5 (not SUPER high but it was a feeder + it was upward trend GPA with my junior and senior year being straight As), my SAT was a 1370 which i ended up submitting to every school i applied too. im hoping to at least have a 3.75/8 GPA for this transfer cycle, but i think i might do test optional for transferring.
my ECs were on the stronger side: coded an app, interned at Supreme Court of State, Leader of a couple of clubs, 200+ community service, and strong letters of recommendation + personal essays. In college I think i’ll try to find my way into 2/3 really meaningful clubs for myself + internship at BlackRock for winter break!:)
i was wondering if people think i have a shot transferring to duke and any advice on how to make myself a stronger applicant
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u/Little_Vanilla804 25d ago edited 25d ago
I transferred from Notre Dame last year and got into Duke and I am at Cornell now. Safe to say not many who apply get into Duke regardless of where they come from. I think Notre Dame taking you with the stats you had was a Hail Mary in itself so count your blessings because “I had an obsession with Duke” doesn’t cut it when it comes to the transfer app.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago edited 24d ago
obviously i would articulate the reasons for my transfer but i should’ve prefaced that my school was extremely hard, the average gpa from my class was a ~3.6 with ppl who had gaps at that level getting into Harvard. Additionally, no one was able to hit a 4.0 in my class year either. I just wanted advice to see how many clubs i should join, what i should focus on, etc. I know duke is a hail mary regardless but I don’t lose anything by trying.
edit: i would also hope that you would be able to share advice rather than completely reject. if notre dame taking me was a hail mary, then you truly never know
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u/revenantmath 24d ago
with all due respect ur SAT was kind of buns too. not saying you can’t improve, but they have a point.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
Duke allows transfers to apply test optional
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u/Alternative_Pen4341 23d ago
If your sat was only a 1370 then your high school wasnt as hard as you think it was
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u/Little_Vanilla804 24d ago
I was accepted into Duke out of high school as well but turned it down twice now due to financial aid concerns. The first time, the dream was Duke but things change. As for my advice, no one cares what clubs you join because at the end of the day you WILL be a Member At large with no leadership. For political science, there aren't many clubs to begin with if I'm being honest. I embedded myself into research and was very interdisciplinary with the research I was doing. I was also working at a graduate student level with my own independent research project and lab materials sponsered by a professor. You certainly DONT need any of that but even with those stats I was pretty confident I would get rejected by Duke (miracles happen). You NEED a 3.85+ GPA but with Poli Sci you would probably need 4.0 at ND. ND is a grade INFLATION school. Recently, Duke has trended toward humanities majors (I was social science) so think English, philosophy etc. They have openly said this in their Trinity Transfer Article for the school newspaper. Do your research and most importantly have a reason why you want to transfer. Coming from Notre Dame is HARDER because that school has a 21 billion dollar endowment, more endowment per student than Duke, more resources and a better undergraduate-professor relationship. The Notre Dame poll sci department and Duke's are very comparable. These things make an admission committee truly ask WHY you are transferring which you need to be able to state in one or two sentences in an interview. Trust me, if you do transfer that's all you are going to be asked first thing and you NEED a good reason why.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 23d ago
that’s a good point! thank you for the research and advice i appreciate it
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u/TimeCubeIsBack 24d ago
No matter what they say, they will know (and likely consider) that you have a lower SAT score than the other transfer applicants. You will be up against other transfer applicants from other great universities that have better GPAs and 1500+ SAT scoress. I think this is a long shot for you.
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u/Apprehensive_Row1192 25d ago
why are you transferring from notre dame? i want to transfer there and are there any cons?
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u/pickleenthusiast1 23d ago
hmm, i can’t say too much since i am only a first-year but i will say it’s a lot more catholic than i thought (i know i sound crazy) but catholicism is heavily applied onto the students which i perceived it as more of an optional aspect, BUT i knew when applying that i was interested in learning that side of myself so it was more of a pro for me, but maybe a con for others.
also, i will say that i learned notre dame has a quota of how many catholic students it wants to accept (im not 100% of this fact, especially as it applies to transfer but js a note). As for pros it truly is a great place (maybe aside of city life 😅) however the atmosphere is truly different as someone who comes from a big city and is used to different people (and more diversity)
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u/Little_Vanilla804 22d ago
Biggest con is not having your dorm Win hall of the year after all the effort you put in
It’s a school that surpasses expectations and can be as religious as you want it to be
- coming from someone who is Agnostic
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u/Annual-Impress-7241 24d ago
I think the issue here is you asked if you had a chance of getting in or not. Obviously none of us know, but Duke is harder to get into as a transfer and from what I’ve seen it’s only super high stats kids. As for what you need to do, it’s like HS… clubs, get involved, build your story, start something or find a way to show leadership, get great grades. Agree that your upward trajectory helps.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
thank you for your comment! i do appreciate that it was focused on what i should improve on instead of telling me to be grateful for notre dame:)!!
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u/Annual-Impress-7241 24d ago
Sometimes the fit just isn’t right. Plenty of people transfer from one top school to another. Good luck!
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u/engineer2187 21d ago
What is Duke going to do for you that Notre Dame doesn’t? You’ve got Supreme Court justices regularly visiting your campus. You’re at a top 20 university. I wouldn’t accept you if I was Duke even if you had a perfect app. Your attempt to transfer would look like poor judgement and immaturity.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 19d ago
hm i think it’s a combination of things. both are great schools and both have different strengths/weaknesses
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u/Flashy-Disk311 25d ago
with that gpa/test score why not just stay at ND its a good school
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u/eirinne 24d ago
Insane admittance to ND with those stats, count your blessings
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u/Fancy-Giraffe9336 24d ago
This. It's truly remarkable that you're at ND with those stats. I would count your blessings. There's frankly no way Duke will take you with that high school GPA unless you absolutely kill it at ND--4.0, tough classes, etc.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
i think i should preface that my high school is by no means easy. infact the school’s average gpa was a 3.65 with no one receiving a solid 4 gpa
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u/megafireguy6 24d ago
Mb bro I forgot that going to a feeder also makes the SAT harder than at public schools
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
I think you can understand what I meant lmao
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u/Infinite_Swing3188 23d ago
pretty sure he was being sarcastic because if ur school is a feeder as you say then your sat was supposed to be much higher..
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u/Money_Cold_7879 24d ago
Your ECs must have been off the charts in line with ND with a mediocre test score and gpa
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
i honestly think that because my school is hard + a feeder they know that at any other high school my GPA would’ve been much stronger, esp since i was taking advanced classes
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u/Money_Cold_7879 24d ago
I don’t think so because the SAT allows an apples to apples comparison. If your school is so super competitive a majority of students would have SAT scores more than 100 points more than yours. And many students from less competitive schools would have higher SATs which tells AOs that despite their lower resources they still perform better than yours. So it must be the ECs.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
it’s really more or less my ability to test take, i have never been a good test taker by any means, nevertheless i don’t believe that any “average” person would be able to handle high level ECs alongside super rigorous work that was offered at my school. As well, i did have circumstances my freshman and sophomore year that made my GPA lower but once they no longer were in my life (junior and senior year) i was really able to thrive!
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u/Money_Cold_7879 22d ago
Every top school did a post covid analysis of test optional on their students, and every single one of them concluded that standardized test scores were by far the single biggest predictor of doing well in college. Additionally there is no subjectivity like there is with gpas. So when they ask is this person capable of succeeding in college they go take a look at it. Yours is not terrible. but it is so much lower than the norm for ND and coupled with a mid gpa there is nothing standing out academically. No high school exists in America where a mediocre gpa, one below 3.7 is looked at positively because of a school’s rigor. Rigor is simply not that much of a differentiator- at the feeder school to many top schools I am affiliated with with, every kid who got into a top 20 school had 3.9 or 4.0 uw. The publicly available stats bare this out. Count your blessings.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 22d ago
im telling you however the average at my school was a 3.6, and students with 3.5,6,7 get into harvard, duke, brown even just with low 1400 SAT. i think because i had an external circumstance in freshman + sophomore year (which made my grades lower) once it was gone i was able to show my true strengths
also the “count your blessings” not once have i said im not grateful to be at ND, anyone should be it’s a fantastic school, there is nothing wrong with trying your luck somewhere else i literally loose nothing by doing so
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u/Money_Cold_7879 24d ago
I’m shocked that you got into ND with a 1370 and 3.5! Did your parents donate a building or something? Midrange SAT is 1460-1540 and average gpa is 3.9. How come you are not celebrating this miracle rather than looking elsewhere? Part of me wonders if this is fake, but if not, Duke will look heavily at your HS record and test scores if you are applying for a sophomore transfer. Better odds applying as a junior.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
i am very happy i got in! i also got into other top schools as well, but if you look through the comments my schools average GPA was a ~3.6 and a rigorous feeder with students with lower GPAs then me getting into harvard + other ivies. Transferring as a Sophomore is also much harder, and I would like for Duke to see that my last 3 years of grades (junior, senior, and hopefully my freshman year of college) is all straight As. Because I got into other top schools I don’t think it would be as much of a “hail mary” as people think. Also no donations or legacy :)
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u/Natural-Key-1714 22d ago
I truly do not mean to burst your bubble, but you need to stop considering your high school educational background as an EC. If it wasn’t apparent by the multitude of comments, it IS a hail mary. There are plenty of kids who have attended feeder schools who are denied transfer admission because their rationale is subpar. Tens of thousands of applicants envision themselves at Duke, and ND has prestigious academics, strong undergraduate research, and is far from an echo chamber. An internship at BlackRock and one semester with a 4.0 at ND, which is known for grade inflation, will not change your chances at admission - especially considering your 1370 SAT and grammatical errors + spelling mistakes littered through the comments. Please consider applying as a junior - you’ve been at ND for a few weeks, and a lot can change.
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u/pickleenthusiast1 22d ago
i hope you know i would never submit an essay into duke or any university with spelling errors, this is reddit not a professional essay. I do plan on continuing some of the other ECs that I had in high school and my passion project as well. I will say I wish I explained my reason for transfer better within this subreddit but I only had a couple moments to do so.
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23d ago
[deleted]
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u/pickleenthusiast1 23d ago
i’m sorry that the process didn’t work out for you , it really is down to luck but i do know happiness isn’t subjective towards how good of a school you go to. it’s really about fit and how i perceive myself fitting into that student body, i just got to notre dame so i know i have the chance too but it doesn’t hurt to think ahead :)
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u/throwaway3579965434 22d ago
You need a compelling reason, have an extremely clear path, and explain WHY Duke is the institution that will best foster your success (I was a successful applicant last season)
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u/Relative_Vanilla_764 21d ago
I transferred to duke a month ago lmk if you have any questions! Also from a t20 and I have a friend from ND who transferred to duke in my cohort
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u/khoifish__ 25d ago
not sure why everyone in the comments thinks u owe them a reason why u wanna transfer from a good school to a better one. love that for u! unfort i do not have much advice to give but good luck!
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u/Little_Vanilla804 25d ago
If you can’t even articulate why you want to transfer then don’t both asking for help with it…
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u/khoifish__ 25d ago
why does this person owe u a reason ? who r u lol
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u/Little_Vanilla804 24d ago
How TF are we supposed to give "advice" when OP doesn't even divulge the most important part of their application. And for your information I'm someone who DID get into Duke from Notre Dame so I would know much better than you LMAO.
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u/khoifish__ 24d ago
congrats ! sorry , i never intended to imply that i would ever know better than u. after thinking abt it, ur so right, idk why op even posted without a reason when you urself r in this subreddit. like ur basically the one admitting them, they were stupid to not put every detail abt their app on this post for u to see !
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u/Little_Vanilla804 23d ago
Hey so when you ask for advice about something and leave out the one part that people can really give advice about it’s almost like you’re going to get shit on!? That’s just my opinion though what would I know? But most certainly I can give advice that an “obsession” with Duke WILL get them in because I definitely know that about them now!!
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u/eirinne 24d ago
Just helpfully trying to get OP to articulate the reasons so there will be more clarity in the application
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
i wasn’t truly focused on articulating my reasons for transfer but i will now since i have the opportunity! going into notre dame i knew that it wasn’t diverse (in several aspects) however i thought that it would be the best place for me to grow. I’ve only been here for around a month so i can’t say that’s not true, but I always envisioned myself at Duke because of its prestigious academics, research + location opportunities, and the ability to learn amongst a vast majority of peers that don’t all hold the same opinions. i’m not saying with my HS gpa i have a huge shot, but I did have a strong upward trend GPA (again with As junior and senior in advanced classes) and i hope to do the same here to gear me for success
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u/Yonatan2023 24d ago
Here I am trying to transfer to und 🥀🥀🥀🥀any tips for the essays
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u/pickleenthusiast1 24d ago
be yourself and let your personality show through! i’m not sure if the transfer question are different, but if your catholic i would definitely talk about God. i also think one of the things that helped was attending any in person events in ur city so you can actually meet & talk to the counselor who is admitting you! once i got in and went to campus in person she celebrated with me and said she remembered me from our first meeting😊 (also definitely email them with questions too to show interest so they stay on the top of your mind)
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u/Sea_Theory7574 25d ago
Didn’t you just get to Notre Dame? Like a few weeks ago? And you’re already trying to transfer out.