One of the images offered up to admitted students as part of their digital swag Wednesday night.
When 2,313 high school seniors learned they were admitted members of the Duke Class of 2021 Wednesday night, they were in a mood to celebrate. A team of Duke students and social media communicators were ready to help them rock out.
The team offered up a collection of Duke digital swag for the admitted students to download and a Spotify playlist of tunes. None of the students were alive when Orleans hit the top of the 1976 charts with “Still The One,” but Wednesday night students did their happy dance to that song along with more contemporary tunes carrying the theme of “You’re the One.”
The admitted students themselves jumped in on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and posted a variety of responses from photos with their dog to reaction shots with printed copies of the acceptance letter.
“Tears are shedding!” wrote Hannah Folks after she had been admitted.
Other students celebrated with some of their friends.
Students also learned about merit scholarship awards, including the second class of Washington Duke Scholars, the university’s newest merit scholarship for exceptional, first-generation, low-income students.
Many of the admitted students now have big decisions to make, and a team of current Duke students were on hand Wednesday night to talk to them through social media about life at Duke and answer any questions. "I enjoy engaging with the admitted students so much because it brings me back to when I was a starry-eyed high school senior," said sophomore Jason Brovich, who was part of the Duke student social media team."I think it's really important to have their first interactions with Duke be positive, and something as simple as a congratulatory Tweet can actually be really exciting after they've just received such amazing news."
It’s just the beginning of a month-long dialogue between Duke students and admitted students, leading up to the May 1 decision day on enrollment.
In the coming weeks, Duke Admissions will hold a series of live online video chats with current Duke students. Blue Devils Days, for visiting admitted students, will be held April 13-14, 17-18 and 23-24.
A Storify page containing additional responses from admitted students can be found here.
