2010-2011 Duke Application Thread

Definitely one of my top choices.

I heard Duke (undergraduate) alums have a much better than average chance of being accepted. True or no?

Hemichordate said:

I heard Duke (undergraduate) alums have a much better than average chance of being accepted. True or no?

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That's true of most undergraduate schools with their respective medical schools.

Be prepared for the secondary beast...

ColeOnTheRoll said:

Be prepared for the secondary beast...

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This is off-topic, but, DUDE, what a beast! 15 VR! I didn't even know that was possible....

I was goning to apply to Duke...but then I called them to schedule a tour of the campus and they completely blew me off. And then there is the legendary secondary. I just get the impression that Duke is too full of themselves. Anyone else get a similar response?

No offence to anyone who goes there, just my experience.

Another university, on the other hand, showered me with love and happiness. They even sent me a free calendar. YAY!

BioBA said:

I was goning to apply to Duke...but then I called them to schedule a tour of the campus and they completely blew me off. And then there is the legendary secondary. I just get the impression that Duke is too full of themselves. Anyone else get a similar response?

No offence to anyone who goes there, just my experience.

Another university, on the other hand, showered me with love and happiness. They even sent me a free calendar. YAY!

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I probably won't refuse to apply to a school because someone in the office was busy that day.

BioBA said:

I was goning to apply to Duke...but then I called them to schedule a tour of the campus and they completely blew me off. And then there is the legendary secondary. I just get the impression that Duke is too full of themselves. Anyone else get a similar response?

No offence to anyone who goes there, just my experience.

Another university, on the other hand, showered me with love and happiness. They even sent me a free calendar. YAY!

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Troll alert,

If you are uninterested in Duke, then there is no reason to be posting in the Duke thread.

If, on the other hand, you want to discourage other highly motivated SDN people to not apply to Duke in order to increase your chances, then the Duke thread would be a good place to post insults about the school

BioBA said:

I was goning to apply to Duke...but then I called them to schedule a tour of the campus and they completely blew me off. And then there is the legendary secondary. I just get the impression that Duke is too full of themselves. Anyone else get a similar response?

No offence to anyone who goes there, just my experience.

Another university, on the other hand, showered me with love and happiness. They even sent me a free calendar. YAY!

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At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8212289 BioBA said he had , "37 MCAT (11 PS 13VR 13BS)" and Duke was his 2nd choice school

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=664545 he said that he had "10 PS 10 VR 14 BS and an L on writing"

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9429537#post9429537 He said that he scored a 36.

Today at http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=729138 he claims "I got a 24 on the ACT and a 36 on the MCAT."

Moderator, you might want to check out this poster.

I'm detective Ed Long Shanks.... I'm a cooop you iiiidiiiot!

EdLongshanks said:

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8212289 BioBA said he had , "37 MCAT (11 PS 13VR 13BS)" and Duke was his 2nd choice school

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=664545 he said that he had "10 PS 10 VR 14 BS and an L on writing"

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9429537#post9429537 He said that he scored a 36.

Today at http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=729138 he claims "I got a 24 on the ACT and a 36 on the MCAT."

Moderator, you might want to check out this poster.

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Nice shooting, soldier.

Duke's a funny school. They interview a ton of people and seem to reward applicants who submit thoughtful essays, and the secondary serves its purpose of filtering out applicants who don't care much about the school.

The problem is they interview about half of the people (~1200) who submit the secondary (~2500, since many never go ahead with it) and only accept about 200 when it's all said and done. It's a nice school, but interviewing half of your applicants for a class of 100 ends up entangling lots of people who don't realistically have a chance.

EdLongshanks said:

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8212289 BioBA said he had , "37 MCAT (11 PS 13VR 13BS)" and Duke was his 2nd choice school

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=664545 he said that he had "10 PS 10 VR 14 BS and an L on writing"

At http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9429537#post9429537 He said that he scored a 36.

Today at http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=729138 he claims "I got a 24 on the ACT and a 36 on the MCAT."

Moderator, you might want to check out this poster.

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Ya I took the MCAT twice, got a 34L then a 36Q...wow thats so crazy...

That forst post, I was curious to what people thought my chances were had I gotten a 37.

And yes, Duke was actually my first choice, not my second

I apologize; I thought people were allowed to have conversations on this thread. I guess I can only say, "GO DUKE!!! DUKE RULZ!!!"

My bad.

EdLongshanks said:

I probably won't refuse to apply to a school because someone in the office was busy that day.

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Oh and FYI Duke wasn't just busy that day...they don't offer tours to prospective students.

Again, Duke is a great school and I'm sure all the students are cool, but these are my experiences.

BioBA said:

Oh and FYI Duke wasn't just busy that day...they don't offer tours to prospective students.

Again, Duke is a great school and I'm sure all the students are cool, but these are my experiences.

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I'd encourage you to apply anyway. I'm sorry if you feel as though Duke has given you the cold shoulder. It isn't the only school that won't offer tours to pre-applicants. Rest assured there is a very solid tour of campus and the medical center during interview day. If Duke is really one of your top choices, it should be worth the activation energy of filling out the secondary. The essays give Duke some insight into your motivations and character before you show up to interview. Once you attend a few interviews in the Fall and get sick of the generic interview questions (Why medicine? What do yo do for fun? Talk about x activity?) you'll understand how wonderful it is to interview at a school that knows you beyond your personal statement.

Honestly though, if writing five essays is too much for you, you may want to rethink attending a school with an extensive research and thesis requirement.

If you apply and get rejected from the MD/PhD program, does the admissions committee still consider you for the MD program?

Hemichordate said:

If you apply and get rejected from the MD/PhD program, does the admissions committee still consider you for the MD program?

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I am not sure about Duke, but I know for most other schools they will still consider you for the MD program if you get rejected from the MD/PhD.

hey all, i can't find much on the duke admissions website about letters of eval. the AMCAS website says that duke is not a participant in the AMCAS letters service for this cycle though.

do any of you all know more about this?

gracefulskies said:

hey all, i can't find much on the duke admissions website about letters of eval. the AMCAS website says that duke is not a participant in the AMCAS letters service for this cycle though.

do any of you all know more about this?

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I called and the AdCom officer told me that they don't need letters until they invite you for interview, so you don't send letters for now.

I just wrote some essays for last years Duke secondary to get my chops up, definitely some of the most difficult questions around!

Definitely the most difficult questions of any secondary I have.

There's no limit on these essays, correct?

previous years had no limit. were you already invited to fill out their application or are you looking at last year's essays?

Erosional Seven said:

previous years had no limit. were you already invited to fill out their application or are you looking at last year's essays?

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Looking at last years. Can I expect the same essays?

ShameFame said:

There's no limit on these essays, correct?

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Duke uses the length of your response as part of the evaluation. So...more isn't always better.

this school interviews way too many people -> many expensive rejections.

maybe they should actually use their secondaries or something to cut down the pool from the start. ******s

JasonE said:

this school interviews way too many people -> many expensive rejections.

maybe they should actually use their secondaries or something to cut down the pool from the start. ******s

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highly unnecessary, its ok, you'll soon learn

JasonE said:

highly unnecessary, its ok, you'll soon learn

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SpaceDementia said:

Duke's a funny school. They interview a ton of people and seem to reward applicants who submit thoughtful essays, and the secondary serves its purpose of filtering out applicants who don't care much about the school.

The problem is they interview about half of the people (~1200) who submit the secondary (~2500, since many never go ahead with it) and only accept about 200 when it's all said and done. It's a nice school, but interviewing half of your applicants for a class of 100 ends up entangling lots of people who don't realistically have a chance.

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didn't realize you already mentioned it. regardless, many schools fall victim to that problem. i think its because of laziness/natural procrastination (its easier to throw the axe later all at once than carefully sift through at the beginning).

there was a student last year who was told she did well on both her interviews and would be able to pass that stage. if i remember correctly, you get scored out of 5 (5 max) by 2 interviewers and you need a certain score to "pass" the interview. well it seems she passed, but was then rejected, which begs the question why she even got an interview in the first place. unless they lied to her

BioBA said:

Oh and FYI Duke wasn't just busy that day...they don't offer tours to prospective students.

Again, Duke is a great school and I'm sure all the students are cool, but these are my experiences.

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That's true, most med schools don't offer "tours" to prospective students. Med school applications are a completely different process than undergraduate applications. The tour is what happens when you are invited to interview.

I can say from personal experience Duke is an AMAZING place...and I hope they will accept me for a second time around!

DukeNatlChamps said:

That's true, most med schools don't offer "tours" to prospective students. Med school applications are a completely different process than undergraduate applications. The tour is what happens when you are invited to interview.

I can say from personal experience Duke is an AMAZING place...and I hope they will accept me for a second time around!

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No personal bias towards Duke, am i correct DukeNatlChamps ?

Am I that obvious?

I think there has been too much negativity on this thread, so I just want to say something nice about Duke Med:

I know the graduate school experience is far different than the undergrad experience, but the cool thing about Duke's campus is that the medical school campuses are very close to the undergrad buildlings, other grad school buildings, and main quads. And grad students have special access to Duke athletic events (such as basketball games in Cameron). So the med students seem more integrated into the overall university life than I have seen at other schools. The med students that I would run into on campus confirmed this, and said that they really felt like a part of the Duke community and liked the school spirit.

In conclusion: It's a top notch medical school in a fun and beautiful setting. No, you are not going to be hanging out and partying like the undergrads while you are in med school (nor do I think you would want to party with them in med school...) but you still get to really enjoy the Duke atmosphere (at least when it is not during finals!). Just my two cents as an undergrad observer. But med students may have another opinion, and I would love to hear it!

DukeNatlChamps said:

That's true, most med schools don't offer "tours" to prospective students. Med school applications are a completely different process than undergraduate applications. The tour is what happens when you are invited to interview.

I can say from personal experience Duke is an AMAZING place...and I hope they will accept me for a second time around!

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I agree. Besides, I think just visiting the school yourself and looking around the campus and facilities is almost as informative as going on an organized tour.

And +1 to the second part as well.

why is the secondary so bad? what do they ask?

dre2011 said:

why is the secondary so bad? what do they ask?

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A bunch of morality questions, I heard.

When does their secondary even come out?

Hemichordate said:

If you apply and get rejected from the MD/PhD program, does the admissions committee still consider you for the MD program?

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My roomie did that last year and they offered him an interview only for MD, so yes they do.

crx said:

My roomie did that last year and they offered him an interview only for MD, so yes they do.

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Awesome

Hello,

I'm interested in applying to Duke for one of my "far-reach" school. Anyway, I have last year's MSAR and was wondering if someone can post this years MCAT/GPA average for the school?

Thanks!

PinkNoise said:

Hello,

I'm interested in applying to Duke for one of my "far-reach" school. Anyway, I have last year's MSAR and was wondering if someone can post this years MCAT/GPA average for the school?

Thanks!

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Don't even worry about that. They hardly change any from year to year. A fraction of a point won't be statistically significant to you and your "chances".

Sorry if I've missed a previous post, but would someone mind posting the essay prompts for the Duke secondary prompts on this thread?

Thanks!

Got the email for the secondary, but can't make an account since my "information doesn't match." Anyone else having this problem?

I'm positive I'm entering everything correctly...

not working either, i wouldn't worry

goteamUSA said:

Got the email for the secondary, but can't make an account since my "information doesn't match." Anyone else having this problem?

I'm positive I'm entering everything correctly...

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I haven't gotten it yet. When did you all receive it?? This afternoon??

Still waiting for the e-mail as well.

Fstock said:

not working either, i wouldn't worry

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Not working... annoying. Someone shout if theirs works. Maybe let us in on the essays. I'll probably call tomorrow or some time soon.

ShameFame said:

Not working... annoying. Someone shout if theirs works. Maybe let us in on the essays. I'll probably call tomorrow or some time soon.

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Same here

goteamUSA said:

Got the email for the secondary, but can't make an account since my "information doesn't match." Anyone else having this problem?

I'm positive I'm entering everything correctly...

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yep, having the same problem