At this point in the year, college applications are a common sight for high school seniors, and Sydney Prendergast is no exception. But before she even began the process of applying to her dream school, Duke University, Prendergast filled out another application and was accepted into Duke’s Fly-in program, a program that reaches out to Native American seniors, which took place from October 18-20.
“Duke contacted the Choctaw Nation and kids from all over the country applied for the program, basically like a college application,” Prendergast said. “There were four of us chosen from around the country by the Dean of Admissions and so Duke paid for us to fly there, we were hosted by freshmen at the school and stayed in the dorms, we had food paid for, we got tickets to Duke’s opening basketball game of the season at Cameron Stadium, and we sat in on classes. While I was there I also had meetings with the Dean of Admissions and the head of the Chemistry Department.”
The application process took more than a month and was highly selective.
“I had to do the application at the end of September, and I had to include a full resume of everything I was involved in throughout high school, my transcript, test scores, and an essay about why I want to attend Duke University,” Prendergast said.
She was not alone in her application to the prestigious program.
“Duke went through over 50 applications from people that were asked to apply, then narrowed it down to 30 for the dean to choose from, before he reached the final four who were actually accepted,” Prendergast said.
Prendergast is one-sixteenth Choctaw and part of a very small and increasingly diminishing Native American population. The last full-blooded Choctaw in Prendergast’s family was a tribal chief.
“Duke is interested in Choctaws because right now Natives make up less than 1 percent of the population and over 80 percent of them don’t have a college degree,” Prendergast said.
Prendergast was even able to meet up with a familiar face while in North Carolina.
“I got to meet up with Lovejoy graduate Mac Karnuta and he really showed me a lot about the campus,” Prendergast said.
The opportunity to show off his school was fun for Duke freshman Mac Karnuta as well.
“I saw that Sydney was going and I offered to show her around when she visited. She seemed to really enjoy the visit and I showed her around to most of the interesting places on campus and showed her what life at a top 10 school is really like,” Karnuta said.
But, according to Karnuta, Prendergast’s accomplishment does not necessarily guarantee her acceptance.
“The Fly-in program is a campaign that Duke uses to entice persons of other ethnicities to come to Duke over other schools. Since Sydney is a fraction Cherokee, Duke chose to fly her to campus in an attempt to get her to come if she is accepted,” Karnuta said. “This doesn’t necessarily mean she is a shoo-in, however, since it is basically impossible to have a 100% guarantee at a school like Duke.”
In fact, Prendergast learned on Tuesday, December 11th that she has been deferred, until later notice, to her dream school. However, Karnuta is encouraging Prendergast not to give up.
“Sydney is a very smart and motivated girl who will excel wherever she goes, and if she doesn’t get into Duke its not a reflection on her intellectual abilities, but more so on her ability to fit into the class of 2017 profile,” Karnuta said. “I wish her the best of luck wherever she goes but I do truly hope that she gets into Duke.”
All in all, the program created a wonderful opportunity for Prendergast to thoroughly experience her dream school.
“The other 3 students were so incredible, I honestly couldn’t believe that I was accepted,” Prendergast said. “It was an amazing experience. It’s a beautiful place and I pray that I will be going there next year.”
