Doing double-takes on campus? Should you get your vision checked? Don’t worry about it — twins tend to come in pairs.
Gary Lloyd, associate university registrar for Records and Reporting at UNC, said there is no official record on the number of twins on UNC’s campus.
But whether by coincidence or choice, many twins seem to attend the same university.
Ashley Memory, senior assistant director of Admissions, said that whether or not someone is a twin is not a determining factor in the application process.
“We consider family relationships, but it is not part of the application review,” Memory said. “Each application is read on an individual basis.”
For junior identical triplet sisters, Risi, Sheri and Rucca Ademola, the decision to all attend UNC was a matter of chance and finance.
“We all applied to Carolina. That was the only school that we applied to that was the same,” Risi Ademola said. “Initially we didn’t think we would attend the same school. I thought I would go out of state or in state somewhere away from Raleigh. But we all ended up getting scholarships.”
The application for Duke University specifically asks if an applicant is a twin or triplet.
Christoph Guttentag, dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke, said many times twins or triplets will have similar names and social security numbers in addition to having the same birth-date and address, which can complicate the sorting process for applications.
Guttentag said another reason Duke considers the twin factor is because twins tend to be interested in many of the same activities, have taken many of the same classes, and can be very similar.
“Our approach is that we want to be sure that we are being consistent in the way we view the applications of twins or triplets,” he said. “Much of the time, the applications are similar enough that it’s not difficult to make the same decision for both of them.”
Nevertheless, Guttentag said they won’t hesitate to accept one twin and reject another if they are not equally qualified.
“We don’t worry about splitting them up because they can decide whether they want to go to school together or not,” he said.
Junior Nick Peterson said networking is a big advantage to having his twin with him on campus.
“The best part of having my twin with me is the amount of people I meet,” Peterson said. “I know double the amount of people because I have someone who fills me in on who he meets and knows. So I have all these people I meet through Dan and it goes both ways. He knows all my friends. There’s a lot more connections.”
Many twins find it comforting to be at the same school. Sophomore Sarah Hanson said she enjoys the familiarity of her twin, especially being away from home.
“I really like having my twin at school with me,” Hanson said. “I consider Laura to be my best friend. I know some twins aren’t as close, but sometimes we are best friends, then sisters.”
“If I feel homesick I can just hang out with her and I feel better. It’s nice having her to talk to,” she said. “It’s just one of those funny things. People ask what’s it like to be a twin, and I’m like, ‘What’s it not like?’ It’s all I know.”
So the next time you wave at your friend and he doesn’t wave back, consider that it might just be his twin.
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