#mumbrielle

Happy Holidays everybody!!

This was gifted to me by the beautiful @mumbrielle for the gift exchange last year and I still adore it to pieces. It’s perfect and much too cute to not share. Thank you, once more, dear!

I’m not explicitly tagging because (as everybody who ever met me in person knows, unfortunately) I’m absolutely terrible with names and @s.

First off, CONGRATS! You are now a Blue Devil, should you choose us (which you should).

Now, as for your question. To start off, I first heard about Duke at the end of my junior year. I loved the image of the campuses and the appeal of the academic programs available, especially the study abroad programs.

I decided to keep researching about Duke and the more I found out about Duke, the more I loved it. If I couldn’t get in to my top choice, I would have to say, at the time, Duke would be right behind that choice. As fate would have it I got rejected from my top school and Duke said yes along with JHU so for me, the choice was obvious.

Now, why Duke? As I mentioned JHU also said yes, in fact a day before Duke said yes. For me that was amazing because I got in to the Whiting School of Engineering, and I had been a part of the Center for Talented since I was in 7th grade. It would be like continuing the legacy of Johns Hopkins CTY by going to JHU.

Now Duke, I had originally applied to the Pratt School of Engineering, and then, just a month before decisions came out, I get this email:

I am writing to see if you are interested in switching your application from the Pratt School of Engineering into our Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.  After reviewing your application, the admissions committee feels that your application would be more competitive for admission to our Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

If my regional admissions officer was recommending this, I thought I should. I realized it was a good move because I ended up getting in. Now, I did try doing the transfer to Pratt but I realized it wasn’t the right path for me anymore.

Once I got in, I had to visit the school. I just realized I was invited to go to LSRW (Latino Student Recruitment Weekend), and I couldn’t go because it overlapped with Johns Hopkins minority recruitment program. However, I did go to Blue Devil Days and here is the point.

The key to deciding which school to go to lies in how you feel about the school. All I knew about Duke came from online sources or pamphlets or whatever. For me, the selling point came when I visited. As soon as I walked on campus, I knew this was where I wanted to be. I felt at home. I could see myself walking through the halls of the building, on the buses between East, Central, and West Campus. I could see myself graduating from Duke in 2015.

There will be that one moment when you visit when you realize this is where you want to be, this is a place you can see yourself going to, or this is not the place where you want to graduate. With Johns Hopkins, it was a mix of the last two. I could see myself there, but I wouldn’t be happy there.

Overall, everything about Duke made me love it all the more. Actually visiting Duke convinced me to come. I am so happy I chose Duke.

I hope this was helpful. If you want info on my own stats or anything related, go through the Personal Profile tab on top of the blog. Or go through my archive or any of the college-related tabs.

Again, congrats fellow Blue Devil!

Awwwww. Emma, you were so adorable in middle school! I dont know what youre talking about <3

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there's a couple bookstores. the b&n on ellis and the seminary co-op on university (the co-op moves to a new location on woodlawn in october). these 2 are most easily accessible from campus.