I have a close family friend who is the n the board of alumni at Duke ,

It would be unwise to bank on it because preferential treatment really goes to hooked applicants that have direct ties to the university through legacy status from either parents attending or siblings. Barring that, recruited athletes, VIPs (Dean's list favorites), development candidates (Donor $$$ kids), and FacBrats (children of faculty or admin) are next in line to get admission bumps.

Although affirmative action has ended, I'm more than certain that Duke will continue to prioritize persons of color from marginalized zip codes and other folk that come from less privileged backgrounds like first-generation and low-income applicants.

Statistically speaking, the most successful applicants at Duke come from the top 1% of family incomes or the bottom 20% of family earners. Top 1% of kids typically have the highest SAT/ACT test scores, AP/IB test scores, course rigor, ECs, and some unique spike activity like being a recruited athlete because of family resources to fund such endeavors.

If one is applying from a middle or upper-middle-class income bracket and have no track record of heavily contributing financially to Duke, these are the most difficult demographics.

Of course, any outside or inside good words will help any applicant but keep in mind that Duke rejects 95.2% of all applicants, many of whom have checked all the boxes and come from excellent family backgrounds.

30-40 years ago an inside top alumni endorsement might have been the tie-breaker for an applicant but these days there are just too many amazing kids lined up to get into a school like Duke.

If I were a parent of a child with a 2% chancing engine chance of getting into Duke, I might pull the friend aside at a social gathering and ask them to read your daughter's file (C.V) and Transcript and not ask for the favor directly. If your daughter is impressive to this family friend, then they will probably get the hint and act on it. But if your child is clearly outside of the typical Duke freshman profile, then your friend will give you some pointers on where they should apply instead (perhaps Wake Forest, UNC)

Good luck.