Warning long post ahead!
Hello everyone, been debating writing this post but having just talked with a family friend who is in the same situation as most of you i was asked to share it.
A few disclaimers I’d like to get out of the way 1) if you’ve been exploring SDN one of the true wisdoms of this site is continue to better your application until you have that acceptance in hand 2) my information about the process is from last year with some being learned as a current student , so administration could be doing things different especially in respect to not getting the multiple acceptance report this year.
So to begin I think it helps to know how the acceptance process work at Duluth. Applications are given a numerical value, numbers above a certain threshold are automatic acceptances, if your number is on the boarder your interviewer is called and asked to advocate for you, helping swing you one way or the other. If your number is below the threshold but above the rejection number you are placed on the alternative list (what Duluth calls their waitlist, why they have to confuse us I don’t know)
What is a kind of unique process at Duluth though is the acceptance freeze, this happens when 40 students have been accepted, as to not have individuals interviewing for only the waitlist. This happened in Late October/early November this year and sometime late November last year. This is where it gets personal for me as I interviewed at Duluth early December last year so hold was in full effect. Thankfully though one of my interviewers explained the following to me. So when the freeze is in place your best case senerio is to be placed on the Highest priority pool, this pool differs from the alternative list in two big ways.
1) to be in the highest priority pool means your application score was in the automatic acceptance range
2) you can be given an acceptance at anytime once being placed on the pool, unlike the alternative list where you have to wait till may to receive your waitlist number.
(This happens as anytime the acceptances dip below 40, they will release an acceptance from the highest priority pool)
General knowledge about the freeze is it remains in place until interviews wrap up around mid/late February. From there all spots are filled from the highest priority pool. Last year the highest priority pools numbers where higher then spots so a group of 10/15 people filled the first tier of the ranked waitlist (alternative pool). Having spoken with classmates everyone who was originally in the highest priority pool did eventually get an acceptance as I know of 2 classmates who came from the alternative pool.
So in summary all hope is not gone by keep working towards getting that acceptance! Have to say I am so happy with my choice at Duluth