Inside the Craziest College-Admissions Season Ever

Nearly every weekday morning during the winter months, Christoph Guttentag blocks off four hours on his schedule for reading. The task: helping to sort through the 48,000 applications that have arrived for regular-decision admission to Duke University. Even the veteran dean of admissions at Duke, in his job since 1992 and leading a staff of 40, is not exempt. “Ten before ten” is his goal each morning. During his tenure, applications to Duke have basically quadrupled; in the last five years, they are up 37 percent. Everyone has a lot more applications to review, including the boss.