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Student Rejects Duke University's Rejection Letter & Tells ... - YourTango
It's no surprise that receiving college rejection letters, especially from a top school, can be extremely disheartening.
However, one high school senior chose to actually respond to a letter of rejection she had received from a rather prestigious university and refused to take their denial of her acceptance into their upcoming freshman class.
In March 2015, Siobhan O'Dell, a 17-year-old high school student, received her long-awaited decision from Duke University. Instead of hoping for an acceptance, O'Dell was disappointed to have received a rejection letter and wasn't going to be a part of their fall 2015 freshman class.
Instead of being upset by the rejection, O'Dell decided to do something unique and responded directly to Duke University's admission staff. O'Dell also decided to share the email response on her Tumblr Page, which quickly went viral.
"After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me admission into the Fall 2015 freshman class at Duke," O'Dell's email read. The high school senior joked that she had been "fortunate enough" to receive other rejection letters from the "best and brightest universities in the country."
"Despite Duke's outstanding success in rejecting previous applicants, you simply did not meet my qualifications. Therefore, I will not be attending Duke University's 2015 freshman class," she continued.
While Duke University isn't considered an Ivy League, the institution is still known as one of the top schools in the country, and extremely selective when accepting applicants. According to Prep Scholar, Duke's acceptance rate is 8.9%, and for every 100 applicants, only nine are granted admission.
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While O'Dell didn't think Duke University would reply, she was surprised to see that they had.In an interview with CBS News, O'Dell explained that she had initially sent an email back as a joke to get some of her friends to laugh, and had no idea that the email would go viral, or that it would elicit a response from Duke.
"I wanted to give colleges a taste of their own medicine," O'Dell told the news outlet. "I had no idea the response would be this huge."
Duke University promptly replied to O'Dell's email, and while they didn't change their mind and offered her an acceptance, the institution attempted to clarify why their acceptance pool is as small as it is.
"I understand how disappointed you are that we were unable to offer you a space in our incoming class," Duke's email read, according to CBS News. "Please know that our decision was not a judgment of you as a student or a person, but a reflection of our limited space and talented applicant pool."
While Duke offered O'Dell a chance to repeal her rejection, the 17-year-old decided against it, and instead committed to the University of South Carolina, where she studied Pre-med Biology.
O'Dell even offered advice to high schoolers who are either in the process of sending out college applications or awaiting their decision. "Don't stress too much. It's not worth it."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.
Video Shows High School Senior Opening Duke University Acceptance At ...
When high school senior Skylar Hughes received an email from Duke University, she intentionally waited 16 hours to check it. It was a status update on her application to the school, but Hughes didn't want to open it at home – she wanted to take the email to her mother's gravesite.
Hughes, a senior at Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia, lost her mother unexpectedly in 2016, according to a GoFundMe created for her. She has been dancing at the Northeast Atlanta Ballet Company since she was three years old and has excelled in school, earning a 4.1 GPA.
In addition to teaching ballet, Hughes has dedicated herself to community service. She's volunteered over 200 hours, focusing on mental health and Black Lives Matter initiatives.
She's wanted to attended Duke since she was a child, and while her resume is impressive, Duke has a competitive acceptance rate. Hughes reminded her dad of this when they visited her mother's grave earlier this month, laptop in hand.
Hughes wanted to open the email from the school with her dad at her mother's grave, and she filmed the experience. "I'm at my mommy's grave to open my status update from Duke, because I wanted her to be part of it," Hughes says in the video, which she posted on YouTube. "And I'm freaking out."
Skylar Hughes' Journey to Duke University! By Laniece Blackmon on YouTubeAfter taking a deep breath, Hughes opens the email and bursts into tears. "Daddy, I got in! Oh my God, I got in!" she says. Her dad, who knelt beside her at the gravesite, began crying as well.
"I told you!" he tells his daughter.
In an interview with the Gwinnett Daily Post, Hughes reflected on the moment at her mother's gravesite.
"It was a dream come true," she said. "I knew my mother wasn't going to see me in my wedding dress and she wasn't going to see me at homecoming or when I graduated eighth grade. She couldn't come to my [ballet] performances or anything like that. It was really nice to be able to share a moment with her there."
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Caitlin O'KaneIvy League Acceptance Rates For The Class Of 2018 Are Being Released ...
Today at 5 p.M., top high school students from around the world found out whether they will attend one of the eight prestigious Ivy League universities next year.
This year was extremely competitive for some of the Ivies, with Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University all recording their most selective admissions classes ever.
Princeton admitted 7.28% of applicants, down slightly from 7.29% in 2013, and accepted 1,939 students out of 26,641 applicants
The University of Pennsylvania admitted 9.9% of applicants to the Class of 2018, down from 12.1% last year. The Philadelphia-based university accepted 3,551 of their 35,788 applicants.
Cornell University, which has the highest admissions rate in the Ivy League, dropped over a percentage point this year, with a 14% acceptance rate, taking 6,025 students from 43,041 applications. Cornell accepted 15.2% of applicants last year.
Brown University accepted 2,619 of 30,291 applicants, or an 8.6% acceptance rate. Last year, the university had a 9.2% acceptance rate.
Yale University was the last to release their admissions data, but also posted a lower acceptance rate than last year's 6.72%. Yale admitted 1,935 of 30,932 applicants for a 6.26% acceptance rate.
Other Ivies saw their acceptance rate rise from last year.
Dartmouth College took 11.5% of applicants to the Class of 2018, up from a 10% admissions rate last year. Dartmouth recieved 19,235 applications this year, and accepted 2,220 students.
Harvard University admitted 5.9% of applicants, up slightly from last year's 5.8% admissions rate. Harvard accepted 2,023 of their 34,295 applications.
Columbia University admitted 6.94% of applicants, up from a record low 6.89% acceptance rate for the Class of 2017. Columbia accepted 2,291 of their 32,967 applicants.
Other top colleges have also released their admissions data. MIT took 7.7% of applications, while Duke University accepted 10.7% of student applicants.
Probably the most interesting statistics released are for Dartmouth, which has posted consistently lower application numbers over the past two years. Dartmouth recieved 19,235 applications this year, down 14% from the year before.
Here's how many students applied to and were accepted to the Ivy League this year:
Many of the schools welcomed their new classes on Twitter, and some were a bit cornier than others:
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