More than just great athletics and beautiful weather set the University apart from its competitors in the undergraduate admissions race-merit scholarships play a key role as well.
With many applicants receiving simultaneous admittance to several top schools, merit scholarships can often tip the balance in Duke's favor.
"I absolutely would have gone to Stanford or Yale without the scholarship," said Matthew Kim, a Trinity freshman and a member of the first class of University Scholars. "I felt that as a member of the scholarship program there would be more research opportunities, and it would be better for my undergraduate experience." As a University Scholar, Kim receives full tuition, and the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary studies.
"We know that from talking to students, [merit scholarships] are very helpful in actually matriculating students," said Christoph Guttentag, director of undergraduate admissions.
Students like Richard Berg, winner of a President's Research Fellowship-which provides $10,000 in research grants-agreed. "Being a wishful thinker, [the presence of merit scholarships] kept me a little more motivated to apply to Duke than perhaps otherwise...," said the Trinity freshman.
The existence of merit scholarships at the University does even more than just convince students to apply, however. More and more, such scholarships are helping to lure outstanding students away from other universities.
The Ivy League schools, which do not offer merit-based scholarships, often lose out to the University's programs, Guttentag said. "When we see the other schools that our merit scholars are turning down, it's very clear," he said.
Cynthia Hartley, director of student awards at Stanford University, also acknowledged that merit scholarships attract top students to different schools. "We invariably lose some students to other schools that offer merit scholarships," she said. "In those cases we must compete on [the merits of] our programs and the advantages of a Stanford education."
But the competition for high-caliber students does not end there.
"Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Williams don't give merit-based awards.... Well, at least I wasn't one of the few under-the-table recipients," said a Trinity junior and scholarship winner who did not wish to be identified.
These "under-the-table" awards often come through increased research opportunities or "the tweaking of financial aid packages," said Guttentag. He added that Harvard has such a program, which gives students "less loan, and more grant," in their financial aid offers.
"They don't call it merit scholarships, but in a sense it is the same thing," said Melissa Malouf, director of Duke's Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows. "They are going after the same students that we are."
The Harvard University financial aid web site states that the school does not adjust awards solely to compete with other universities.
"But, of course," the site reads, "we would be happy to review your award and perhaps make an adjustment if your financial situation or new information warrants it. We hope you will call to give us an opportunity to review your situation."
Stanford admitted that under such circumstances, financial aid awards can be reviewed to compete for students. "We will always be willing to review an application.... If there are no changes in the needs analysis, we don't change a package unless it is to add additional loan," said Hartley.
Berg, the President's Research Fellowship winner, went so far as to refer to Harvard's financial aid as a merit scholarship itself. "The schools that also attract the most truly outstanding students are not Stanford, Cornell, etc... but the ones that offer similar scholarships like Harvard's need-based aid. It's well known that they give much higher amounts to super-high achievers...." he wrote in an e-mail.
The next step in the race for outstanding students may require additions to Duke's merit programs. Several scholarship winners said that other schools offer room and board along with full tuition, sometimes pulling them away from Duke.
"I've heard that the University of Virginia puts its scholars on a pedestal-they get a lot of perks...," Margaret Harris, a Trinity freshman and PRF winner, wrote in an e-mail. The Jefferson Scholarship at UVa provides fees for room and board, books, fees and miscellaneous expenses, in addition to full tuition.
Still, many students remain happy with Duke's merit scholarship program, citing the strong relationships built between all of the different scholarship students through the scholars office as an example. "I was impressed by the quality of the program for the merit scholarships. Aside from the money, Duke manages to aid students in their need to succeed in college," Kim said. "Participation in different activities provides the scholarship recipient with the opportunity to gain contacts in different areas."
Malouf, also an associate professor of the practice of English, agreed.
"My sense is that the track at Duke has always been to make the merit scholarships not simply about money.... On the human level I think we do really well...," she said. "There is a sense that the University gives a darn about the undergraduate."
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