Crazie early birds

Duke was ranked 19th out of 20 top colleges that most favor early decision applicants by the Daily Beast.

Dickinson College comes in at first place, with a near 75 percent acceptance rate for ED applicants, and Dartmouth College finishes off the list with an early acceptance rate of 29 percent.

Other peer universities on the list include Johns Hopkins University (9), Williams College (12), Northwestern University (13), University of Pennsylvania (15), Amherst College (16), Cornell University (17) and Vanderbilt University (18).

Duke and Penn were the only universities on the list that are listed as top 10 universities in U.S. News and World Report's most recent rankings.

This news for Duke does not come as a surprise for roughly a third of Duke’s Class of 2015. Last fall, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions accepted a record number of 645 students—29 percent of the 2287 applicants—in the early decision pool.

This early admission rate sharply contrasts that of the regular admission pool, which was at a record low of 10.8 percent. Together, these two admission windows brought together a freshmen class of roughly 1700 students hailing from 46 states and 55 countries.

With applicant pools growing and admission rates steadily falling each year, many students breathe a sigh of relief in their early acceptance to Duke.

“I feel that applying early was a great decision,” said freshman Aleisha Khan. “I was thrilled to be accepted and relieved that I didn’t have to stress over any more college applications.”