2008-2009 Duke Secondary Application Thread

[shemarty]

What is the most significant moral or ethical dilemma that you have faced in your life (excluding academic dishonesty)? Describe how you dealt with and potentially resolved it, including beliefs, resources, individuals, etc. How did this dilemma and its resolution change your life and what, if any, impact will this have on your future as a health care provider?


What do you consider to be professional behavior? Provide an example of the kind of professional behavior you will exhibit as a physician.


How will you add a unique dimension to our medical school community? In answering this question, please also describe your greatest strength? What is your most significant vulnerability? Please understand that the "strength/vulnerability" questions will in fact require two separate responses; they are two different questions. They are both important but not necessarily related.


What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?


What relationship in your life has best prepared you for a career as a physician?

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[shemarty]

Duke's LOR Requirement: 3, no more than 4, two must be from science faculty.

If you're letters are arriving as a committee packet, there is no limit on how many letters can be in the packet. Use good judgment and don't over-do it, though.

 

[rowerlauren]

Duke's LOR Requirement: no more than 4

[FONT=Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Take care to select the four recommendations that will best describe your suitability for the rigors of medical school and a career in health care. With the volume of applications we received, we have to limit the number of recommendations to four..

That's so annoying... I have a letter packet that my school sends out. So what would they say if I just sent the entire packet, which would include a pre-med committee cover letter (not an additional rec they claim), two science profs, my PI, my Coach and another non-science prof I have known since freshman year and taught 4 classes of mine... I don't know what one of these I really could call better. I guess I'll just make the deans that have seen my letters put them in the order that makes me look the best... haha

 

[harposnarpo]

Meh, I only have 2 decent letters.

 

[shemarty]

Anyone else anxiously awaiting Duke's monstrous secondary?

 

[shemarty]

Bump

Because simply editing my old post doesn't work.

I started drafting the "which relationship best prepared you...?" essay today.

Aaaaah. I'm almost glad it's not out yet because that would make the time pressure so much more real.

On the other hand, I haven't received a secondary in awhile, so I'd like to have another one to work on.

Who else is applying to Duke?

 

[shemarty]

Aah, so my 1st complete draft of one of the six essays is 4400 characters.

I know they say that there are no character limits...but... I'm thinking 4400 is excessive?

Maybe if a couple of them are longer and better developed, and a couple of them are shorter if I don't have as much to say?

 

[doomknight]

they don't have limits but 4400 isn't bad, does it fit in one page single spaced? I would keep it under a page if I were u

 

[shemarty]

Me - "Will the essays on the secondary application be the same as last year? I know it's not available for another few weeks, but I was hoping to start early"

Duke office -"There are a couple changes. A few of the questions are different"

I hope my 4400 char. essay didn't just become totally unusable.


On the other hand, maybe they're swapping out a few of the tougher ones in favor of some easier ones?

 

[dr drummer]

I'm really anxious to get the duke secondary.... i would do anything to get in there.

I have three secondaries lingering over me that I need to finish before this beast arrives. I hate this month.

 

[sss403]

Aah, so my 1st complete draft of one of the six essays is 4400 characters.

I know they say that there are no character limits...but... I'm thinking 4400 is excessive?

Maybe if a couple of them are longer and better developed, and a couple of them are shorter if I don't have as much to say?

My six Duke essays have a total of 14,236 characters, counting spaces.
Most are 2500 - 3500 characters each, about 2.5 - 4 paragraphs.

 

[shemarty]

My six Duke essays have a total of 14,236 characters, counting spaces.
Most are 2500 - 3500 characters each, about 2.5 - 4 paragraphs.

Ooh, thanks for the info I take it you applied last year? Where are you going?

 

[sss403]

Ooh, thanks for the info I take it you applied last year? Where are you going?

Nope, but Duke is my top choice, so I started working on their essays in December, and finished a few weeks ago. I am SOOOOOOOO depressed/mad that some changed ...I worked so hard on those!! On the other hand, maybe the admissions person lied ..wishful thinking.

 

[shemarty]

Nope, but Duke is my top choice, so I started working on their essays in December, and finished a few weeks ago. I am SOOOOOOOO depressed/mad that some changed ...I worked so hard on those!! On the other hand, maybe the admissions person lied ..wishful thinking.

Oh wow! Maybe they didn't really change significantly at all, and she was just telling me that so I wouldn't work on them so early

 

[MrBurns10]

Just remember that Duke is non-rolling. If you turn in your secondary as soon as it comes back and interview in Sept/Oct, that's a LONG wait until March when you hear back...Don't stress too much about it

 

[hellosc]

i havent received my duke secondary yet...what are their essay questions?

 

[diosa428]

FYI, when some students were speaking with one of the doctors who works with admissions, it was suggested that the character limits be reinstated because of complaints last year that no one knew what was expected.

 

[hellosc]

has anyone received duke's secondary yet? thx very much

 

[sss403]

has anyone received duke's secondary yet? thx very much

Nope, its not ready. The new web page is amazing though!

http://dukemed.duke.edu/modules/flash_articles/

The link for the secondary is there, but it is obviously still under construction.

Soon though it seems...very soon

 

[rowerlauren]

Go to the page... the comment in the upper right portion is
"Message of the Day

The Duke Supplemental Applications are now open!"

Ahhhh, so much writing I'm going to have to do, once they send out emailed that is.

 

[pianola]

Go to the page... the comment in the upper right portion is
"Message of the Day

The Duke Supplemental Applications are now open!"

Ahhhh, so much writing I'm going to have to do, once they send out emailed that is.

Has anyone had the secondary sent yet? Thanks much to all of you

 

[shemarty]

I guarantee it's going to pop up on SDN as soon as one of us gets it

 

[pianola]

I guarantee it's going to pop up on SDN as soon as one of us gets it

Heh, I should have guessed Just being a little paranoid since I already know I'm missing one secondary I should have...(school doesn't screen).

Thanks, shemarty.

 

[shemarty]

I was missing some, too. Schools often send out the e-mails in batches. But as soon as SOMEBODY gets it, they generally post it on the secondary application thread. Then, discussion picks up in the school-specific thread. So don't worry, it's not out yet

 

[shemarty]

Me: When will the supplemental application be available?
Duke: We're hoping within a week.

 

[Dal2487]

Wow you guys are insane...but in a good way. I wish I could be writing essays ahead of time instead of always playing catch-up (is a turnaround time of 3 weeks considered bad for secondaries?)

Oh, and does anyone know anything about the rumor that Duke actually prefers students from other undergraduate schools instead of its own? "Officially", they've told me that they don't give preference either way but I keep hearing something about Duke wanting their students to have a diversity of experiences

 

[pianola]

Me: When will the supplemental application be available?
Duke: We're hoping within a week.

Thanks, shemarty

 

[MrBurns10]

Oh, and does anyone know anything about the rumor that Duke actually prefers students from other undergraduate schools instead of its own? "Officially", they've told me that they don't give preference either way but I keep hearing something about Duke wanting their students to have a diversity of experiences

Historically, the opposite is true: Duke tends to prefer its own undergrads. In my class, there are 13 dukies out of 100 (with the next highest being 5 from Princeton), in the class above me I think it's 15/100.

 

[Dal2487]

Historically, the opposite is true: Duke tends to prefer its own undergrads. In my class, there are 13 dukies out of 100 (with the next highest being 5 from Princeton), in the class above me I think it's 15/100.

Oh wow, I didn't know the numbers were that high...I guess I've been listening to the wrong people. Thanks for the info.

And this might also be completely off target but do you know if Duke extends interviews to all of its own undergrads that apply? (heard this from a former Dukie so hopefully there's some truth behind it)

 

[shemarty]

Oh wow, I didn't know the numbers were that high...I guess I've been listening to the wrong people. Thanks for the info.

And this might also be completely off target but do you know if Duke extends interviews to all of its own undergrads that apply? (heard this from a former Dukie so hopefully there's some truth behind it)

That *sounds* like it'd be improbable, because there might be extremely underqualified Duke undergrads competing for the same interview spot as an extremely qualified non-Duke undergrad. It wouldn't make sense to make the blanket agreement to interview every Duke undergrad. But that's just my random guess based on absolutely nothing. If I were running an admissions office, that's how I'd do it.

 

[diosa428]

Historically, the opposite is true: Duke tends to prefer its own undergrads. In my class, there are 13 dukies out of 100 (with the next highest being 5 from Princeton), in the class above me I think it's 15/100.

First of all, there are 102 of us. Second of all, 102 - 13 = 89, so 89/102 come from other undergraduate schools. So I think that shows an obvious preference to people from other undergrads. Duh

 

[diosa428]

Oh wow, I didn't know the numbers were that high...I guess I've been listening to the wrong people. Thanks for the info.

And this might also be completely off target but do you know if Duke extends interviews to all of its own undergrads that apply? (heard this from a former Dukie so hopefully there's some truth behind it)

I've read this on SDN, but I'm really not sure if it's true or not, although I think not.

 

[Huey]

First of all, there are 102 of us. Second of all, 102 - 13 = 89, so 89/102 come from other undergraduate schools. So I think that shows an obvious preference to people from other undergrads. Duh

Look how many get in that are from Duke (not just those who matriculate) and I think you'll see there is a preference. Don't really remember a number but thought it was somewhere crazy like 30 accepted from Duke alone but the students want more experiences elsewhere...

 

[MrBurns10]

And this might also be completely off target but do you know if Duke extends interviews to all of its own undergrads that apply? (heard this from a former Dukie so hopefully there's some truth behind it)

Duke extends interviews to a lot of their undergrads (I heard ~60%, but this may be a bit high), but not all. I know a couple people who did not receive an interview my year.

 

[MrBurns10]

First of all, there are 102 of us. Second of all, 102 - 13 = 89, so 89/102 come from other undergraduate schools. So I think that shows an obvious preference to people from other undergrads. Duh

If there were a "backhand" emoticon, I'd use it here. Besides, I believe we have 101.

Also, Huey, diosa was being facetious...or should I say trying to be

 

[diosa428]

Look how many get in that are from Duke (not just those who matriculate) and I think you'll see there is a preference. Don't really remember a number but thought it was somewhere crazy like 30 accepted from Duke alone but the students want more experiences elsewhere...

Yeah, that was a joke. I was making fun of Burns, because I like to.

 

[MrBurns10]

Yeah, that was a joke. I was making fun of Burns, because I like to.

You know what they say about girls that tease girls...

 

[shemarty]

Me: When will the supplemental application be available?
Duke: We're hoping within a week.

*sigh* Duke secondary, where are you...?

 

[harposnarpo]

*sigh* Duke secondary, where are you...?

Where did you get the secondary questions for last year? You had mentioned writing a "4400 word essay."

 

[shemarty]

Where did you get the secondary questions for last year? You had mentioned writing a "4400 word essay."

There's a link on the 1st page of the main secondary application thread that takes you to the prompts from last year.

But I called Duke and they said there were some changes on the secondary this year, so I decided to hold off working on it any more.

And it was 4400 characters, not words

 

[harposnarpo]

There's a link on the 1st page of the main secondary application thread that takes you to the prompts from last year.

But I called Duke and they said there were some changes on the secondary this year, so I decided to hold off working on it any more.

And it was 4400 characters, not words

my bad. Thanks.

 

[sss403]

MOD
Message of the Day

Now processing 2009 AMCAS applications. Finally...

 

[shemarty]

MOD
Message of the Day

Now processing 2009 AMCAS applications. Finally...

Haha, I just saw that right now and came to make a post about it, but you beat me to it

 

[pagemmapants]

Well, with Diosa and Burnsie I'm here to round out the welcome wagon! Ask us anything about Duke - we'll be entering our research year here soon so we'll have plenty of time to answer your PMs and stalk the Pre-Allo Duke threads.

 

[diosa428]

Well, with Diosa and Burnsie I'm here to round out the welcome wagon! Ask us anything about Duke - we'll be entering our research year here soon so we'll have plenty of time to answer your PMs and stalk the Pre-Allo Duke threads.

Yeah cuz we totally didn't do that during years 1 & 2 when we didn't have time....

 

[bozz]

Guys, it's a great thing Duke's secondary is getting delayed. Gives us a ton of time to work on other secondaries
Don't get why everybody's in such a hurry

 

[amp3r5and]

Guys, it's a great thing Duke's secondary is getting delayed. Gives us a ton of time to work on other secondaries
Don't get why everybody's in such a hurry

hear hear!

 

[doctorobvious]

Guys, it's a great thing Duke's secondary is getting delayed. Gives us a ton of time to work on other secondaries
Don't get why everybody's in such a hurry

my thoughts exactly. chicago is really killing me.

 

[rowerlauren]

Guys, it's a great thing Duke's secondary is getting delayed. Gives us a ton of time to work on other secondaries
Don't get why everybody's in such a hurry

It's because I already did all of my other secondaries since I anticipated needing time to do Duke's. Next week I am moving and I would rather have this one out of the way, but I may not be able to...
Apparently I applied to a lot of late to send out secondaries schools, so while some people are done with all their secondaries I still have potentially 5 left to do.

 

[shemarty]

Yea, I have a feeling UCLA, Duke, Stanford and Vandy are all going to come at once. At least with UCLA, we have reason to believe that the prompt is the same as last year. With Duke... I don't know what changes were made, so I'm too scared to continue working on it.