2008-2009 Duke Secondary Application Thread

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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labgod said:
i'm in the same boat as you. i had mine early november and loved it. the curriculum is amazing!
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Agreed. You simply can't beat that curriculum. Who says your basic sciences have to take up two years of med school? And the third year seems to give you a chance to find your niche in medicine and/or resume build, which I think is PERFECT.

Not to mention, Duke is loaded with amazing faculty.
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Feels funny to see a thread on the Duke Secondary. I remember how much time it took to make it through all those crazy essays.

Worth. Every. Moment.

/2009!
 
do you guys have any travel/lodging suggestions for duke? can i get away without renting a car? hotel/motel ideas? i'm totally lost. thanks!
 
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Brookwood Inn is awesome...and they're drive you to where you're supposed to go in the morning.
 
I'd recommend staying with a student, but if you don't want to do that, Brookwood Inn is the closest and it is within walking distance. And I think they might give a discount if you say you're interviewing at Duke. If you stay there, you won't need to rent a car but you will need to get from the airport to Duke. There is someway to do public transportation via the bus if you have a lot of free time and no money, but I wouldn't recommend it. There used to be a shuttle that was like $25 one way but I'm not sure if they still have it. A taxi will cost you about $40 one way, but you can likely pair up with someone in admissions to split the cost on the way back. As a note, I've picked up students at the airport if they were staying with me overnight... so that's one advantage, although everyone isn't that nice/may be too busy.
 
diosa428 said:
There used to be a shuttle that was like $25 one way but I'm not sure if they still have it. A taxi will cost you about $40 one way, but you can likely pair up with someone in admissions to split the cost on the way back.
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It cost me $35 to my student host's apartment using the on-time taxi service. They have the LTD shuttle for $30 from the airport <--> campus. I would definitely suggest splitting the fare with other students on the way to the airport after the interview. If you use the LTD shuttle, you need to call ahead and arrange a specific pick up time/place.

On a transportation-unrelated note, Duke was amazing!! Definitely glad I filled out that mean secondary.
 
bosco44 said:
Hi again,

Thanks for the information regarding the acceptance rates. I have two more questions about Duke that I can't find answers for. I'm curious to know what the process is for whom they choose. Do they give everyone a ranking based on all of the materials/interviews/applications submitted or are there other factors involved? I ask because I heard that Duke likes to have lots of undergraduate institutions represented. Does anyone have a source on where their last class came from? I'm curious if undergraduate institution could have an effect (i.e. They only want one student from my university so I'm really just competing against my classmates and no one else.)

If anyone has any input that'd be great.
Thanks
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1. Like diosa said, points are assigned to things and applicants are scored. Offers of admission then roughly follow the scoring.

2. Undergrad institution is weighted based on grade inflation vs. grade deflation, especially in particular degree tracts at those institutions. Final scoring takes this into account when looking at the strength of your demonstrated academic abilities. Nothing in past years to suggest that you are disadvantaged by being at a certain school, but reasonable to say that Duke has respect for its undergraduate component, as well as UNC, NC State, and Davidson as peer undergraduate institutions in the state of North Carolina. No matter your school you are competing against the entire rest of the applicant pool.

Also, every year Duke gets 4000-5000 applications, does 700-900 interviews, and admits 160-200 students. It amounts to 20% getting interviews and 20% getting accepted after interview, or a roughly 4% acceptance rate.
 
oeste05 said:
do you guys have any travel/lodging suggestions for duke? can i get away without renting a car? hotel/motel ideas? i'm totally lost. thanks!
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When I interviewed I stayed at the Durham Hilton. It was nice and had shuttle service to both the airport and the hospital/school. It is about a 5-10 minute drive from the medical school.
 
MrBurns10 said:
nevercold! How's life as an intern?
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Not that much harder than med school -- scary sometimes because it's really YOU that is responsible for a lot of stuff -- but not that bad at all. I'm on newborn nursery now so I'm a little bit re-energized (50 hrs/wk, no overnight call). I recommend med-peds to everyone (that would want to do it)!
 
Nevercold, your numbers are a bit off. If they admit around 200 students, then they accept far more (if you get an interview at Duke, you're probably interviewing at many of the top-20 schools, and may choose one of those above it).

This, at least, is what I tell myself every night. Duke was amazing.
 
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I'm going in 2 weeks - was the ethical interview scary?
:scared:
 
20% ain't good gambling odds. :p
 
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shemarty said:
I'm going in 2 weeks - was the ethical interview scary?
:scared:
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Neither of my two interviews ever brought up any ethical issue or put me on the spot with my opinion. I heard a lot of stories about how Duke interviewers could be more geared towards that, but I didn't experience any, which I was very thankful for.

I guess the only "tough" question I got was one from the student and he said what major medical issue/controversy would I solve if I had a magic wand and all the money in the world.
 
One of my interviewers gave a few ethical questions.
 
shemarty said:
I'm going in 2 weeks - was the ethical interview scary?
:scared:
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I did not get a single ethical question during both of my interviews. In fact, my interviews were very conversational and barely went over the traditional questions. I almost did not know what to think of them afterwards...
 
VManForever said:
I did not get a single ethical question during both of my interviews. In fact, my interviews were very conversational and barely went over the traditional questions. I almost did not know what to think of them afterwards...
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Same here. One of my interviewers talked about basketball and the shenanigans he pulled in his youth. The other obviously didn't want to be there and laughed in my face at one of my (in my opinion, quite legitimate) questions. Pretty sure that doesn't bode well for me, but it's too late now!
 
One of my interviews was very traditional and conversational ("tell me about yourself" kind of questions). The other "beta interview" is meant to test your "humanity and compassion" (my interviewers words)...whether that be via ethical questions (which a few interviewees on my day experienced) or other questions. I personally did not get any ethical questions, but the interviewer definitely wanted to know about my morals. He asked things like "How and when did you know you were a compassionate individual?" "Why did you engage in community service?" "What qualities do you look for in choosing a close friend?"
 
Has anyone interviewed at Duke and still does not have a YES next to all of their letter of recommendation writers?

Thanks.
 
woohoo in 2 hours i can stop thinking about how i should really do those 5 secondary essays since duke is right down the highway
 
when they say the duke secondary app is no longer accessible does that mean it will be impossible to submit? so technically if we were able to submit and go to committee screening that means we made the deadline?
 
Do they ask for letter of recs or do we just send them in after an invite?
 
DreamPills said:
Do they ask for letter of recs or do we just send them in after an invite?
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I (perhaps accidentally?) sent them along before I got my invite. So I think it is fine to send them before or after an invite...if admissions doesn't want to consider LORs unless you get an interview, then I guess they can choose to wait to look at them.
 
DreamPills said:
Do they ask for letter of recs or do we just send them in after an invite?
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good question.

i was using VirtualEvals and i assume they just downloaded themafter offering an interview...cause they never asked . i hope this is the case anyway--my interview is on monday!
 
Thanks! They never asked for them in the invite email. I'm using a school letter service, so I guess I'll have them send them out.
 
So I've been complete since some time in August, and I'm still in committee screening - now that all the secondaries are due in, I'd have to think that a decision will be coming soon on whether or not they'll interview me? Does anyone with inside info know anything? Are there even any spots left? I have very good numbers, but - and I know Duke in particular doesn't like this about my application - I have no research experience (I'm a nontrad, so by the time I realized I wanted to go to med school, research opportunities weren't exactly abundant).

Do I have any chance at an interview? I imagine that no one really knows any better than I do, so I guess I'm mostly venting. I love Duke's curriculum - I think it's the best and most innovative curriculum out there, and I think that med schools will eventually realize that and follow suit. I would absolutely love to wind up at Duke.
 
Bearferret said:
So I've been complete since some time in August, and I'm still in committee screening - now that all the secondaries are due in, I'd have to think that a decision will be coming soon on whether or not they'll interview me? Does anyone with inside info know anything? Are there even any spots left? I have very good numbers, but - and I know Duke in particular doesn't like this about my application - I have no research experience (I'm a nontrad, so by the time I realized I wanted to go to med school, research opportunities weren't exactly abundant).

Do I have any chance at an interview? I imagine that no one really knows any better than I do, so I guess I'm mostly venting. I love Duke's curriculum - I think it's the best and most innovative curriculum out there, and I think that med schools will eventually realize that and follow suit. I would absolutely love to wind up at Duke.
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Research is definitely not a requirement for an interview at Duke. Lots of people were in my class with zero or little research experience. And numbers definitely aren't everything at Duke - there is a heavy emphasis on how they view your essays and your experiences and your motivation for medicine. Chin up though, as interviews go through January if not to the first of February and people are constantly canceling and opening up more spots.
 
Just interviewed today. The talk at the beginning really explains why they ask what they do on the secondary. It all makes sense when they explain it. The interview day was well planned, lunch/tour were good, but interviews were really short. They were only supposed to be 30 min each, but the interviewers needed a moment to write stuff down between people, so they were actually shorter than that. I wasn't asked anything hard, though. No ethical questions. Will post on interview feedback page soon.

Introduced myself as Shemarty, I think 2 ppl knew what i was talking about, others thought I was crazy. I figured I might as well just come out with it :laugh:
 
My interviews were similarly short a week ago or so. However, one of my interviewers had this binder that he just kept picking questions out of to ask me. And any time I came up with some semblance of an answer he would fire another one at me. It was sort of weird, but you never know. This only shows the differences between interviewers.
 
rowerlauren said:
My interviews were similarly short a week ago or so. However, one of my interviewers had this binder that he just kept picking questions out of to ask me. And any time I came up with some semblance of an answer he would fire another one at me. It was sort of weird, but you never know. This only shows the differences between interviewers.
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Haha was it an old guy? I had a very similar interview... 3 years ago? Has it been that long? It was like "Why do you want to go into medicine? What leadership experience do you have? Do you speak a foreign language?" Without ever commenting or wanting to talk about any answers I gave him. He also asked me this long complex ethical question, and then when I gave him my answer he asked why, and then proceeded to lecture me on why the answer I gave was right (I guess he didn't really like my explanation).
 
diosa428 said:
Haha was it an old guy? I had a very similar interview... 3 years ago? Has it been that long? It was like "Why do you want to go into medicine? What leadership experience do you have? Do you speak a foreign language?" Without ever commenting or wanting to talk about any answers I gave him. He also asked me this long complex ethical question, and then when I gave him my answer he asked why, and then proceeded to lecture me on why the answer I gave was right (I guess he didn't really like my explanation).
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I wonder if you and I had the same interviewer. I think he asked me one question "so have you gotten in anywhere yet" or "where else have you applied" (something along those lines) and the first school I mentioned he went off on a very long tangent about what a great school it was. Which was a little odd considering I was at an interview. :) But he's a really nice guy.
 
hi all--i interviewed at Duke this week. was very impressed.
however, my second interviewer point-blank asked me my MCAT score...after dr. armstrong made such a big deal about how interviews weren't about numbers and that the interviewers were blinded to this info, it made me very uncomfortable and nervous.... do you think i should be concerned? should i bring it to the attention to somebody or just let it go? thanks.
 
Do any of you have an idea about when duke sends out its first batch of acceptances? I did some research and saw that they accepted some kids in dec.. Is this legit, or does this only apply to certain programs, like MSTP ?


AtG
 
Bearferret said:
So I've been complete since some time in August, and I'm still in committee screening - now that all the secondaries are due in, I'd have to think that a decision will be coming soon on whether or not they'll interview me? Does anyone with inside info know anything? Are there even any spots left? I have very good numbers, but - and I know Duke in particular doesn't like this about my application - I have no research experience (I'm a nontrad, so by the time I realized I wanted to go to med school, research opportunities weren't exactly abundant).

Do I have any chance at an interview? I imagine that no one really knows any better than I do, so I guess I'm mostly venting. I love Duke's curriculum - I think it's the best and most innovative curriculum out there, and I think that med schools will eventually realize that and follow suit. I would absolutely love to wind up at Duke.
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No worries. I was complete mid-August, invite first week of Dec, interviewing mid-late Jan. There are lots of spots left in Jan and Feb.
Good luck!
 
AtheGre said:
Do any of you have an idea about when duke sends out its first batch of acceptances? I did some research and saw that they accepted some kids in dec.. Is this legit, or does this only apply to certain programs, like MSTP ?


AtG
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I'm not sure about MSTP, but all MD acceptances (as well as post-interview rejections and waitlists) go out in the end of Feb/beginning of March.
 
diosa428 said:
I'm not sure about MSTP, but all MD acceptances (as well as post-interview rejections and waitlists) go out in the end of Feb/beginning of March.
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Thanks for the info!
 
amp3r5and said:
hi all--i interviewed at Duke this week. was very impressed.
however, my second interviewer point-blank asked me my MCAT score...after dr. armstrong made such a big deal about how interviews weren't about numbers and that the interviewers were blinded to this info, it made me very uncomfortable and nervous.... do you think i should be concerned? should i bring it to the attention to somebody or just let it go? thanks.
Click to expand...

If it were me, I would just let it go. I don't think it would do any good to bring it up. What could they possibly do about it? I don't think they'll look at your interviewer's evaluation of you any differently if they knew he/she asked you for your MCAT score. Its always best not to draw attention to yourself in a potentially negative way.

Any other opinions on this?
 
shemarty said:
If it were me, I would just let it go. I don't think it would do any good to bring it up. What could they possibly do about it? I don't think they'll look at your interviewer's evaluation of you any differently if they knew he/she asked you for your MCAT score. Its always best not to draw attention to yourself in a potentially negative way.

Any other opinions on this?
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this is what i was thinking....if i said anything, it would have had to have been said right away. :rolleyes:

oh well
 
Hello all, I know we should not submit 2nd app at the last minute, but I did. Deadline was 11:59PM Dec. 1 EST, and I submitted at 10:59PM PST. For some reasons the system still let my application in and recorded the submission time at 1:59AM EST, Dec. 2. I thought they wouldn't let you access the application after 11:59PM Dec. 1 EST???
So, I think this school is over with me because the screeners may see the submission time and disqualify me right away due to late submission (technically, I'm on time based on PST but I don't think the argument would hold).
The strange thing happened when I was surfing web this morning, got bored and somehow decided to check the application status. The system said I need to pay the application fee. I followed its direction, i.e. entering credit cards... and everything else. And now my application is marked "under screening"???? My LOR is still marked 'not received' even though it was posted on VirtualEvals in November.
I also have a fee waiver from AAMC so I forwarded a copy to the office. The director emailed me back saying that it's passed the deadline and they won't accept anything. But the online payment is still accepted :confused:. I emailed him again but it seems like the email was ignored.

So what's going on :confused:?
 
Bearferret, sounds like you and I are in similar positions. Nontrad Duke obsessives in need of some love from the admissions committee. We may have to form an emotional support group if this continues. Are there others trolling this thread that applied to Duke and have not been offered an interview?

On a related note, does anyone know if Duke rejects people who have been granted an invitation to complete the secondary prior to the end of interview season? Or does an eventual reject inevitably see 'committee screening' until doomsday?

Bearferret said:
So I've been complete since some time in August, and I'm still in committee screening - now that all the secondaries are due in, I'd have to think that a decision will be coming soon on whether or not they'll interview me? Does anyone with inside info know anything? Are there even any spots left? I have very good numbers, but - and I know Duke in particular doesn't like this about my application - I have no research experience (I'm a nontrad, so by the time I realized I wanted to go to med school, research opportunities weren't exactly abundant).

Do I have any chance at an interview? I imagine that no one really knows any better than I do, so I guess I'm mostly venting. I love Duke's curriculum - I think it's the best and most innovative curriculum out there, and I think that med schools will eventually realize that and follow suit. I would absolutely love to wind up at Duke.
Click to expand...
 
i just interviewed at duke today (dec 18) and Dean Armstrong said everyone gets a chance to do the duke secondary.

their first screen is the interview invite.
 
desice said:
i just interviewed at duke today (dec 18) and Dean Armstrong said everyone gets a chance to do the duke secondary.

their first screen is the interview invite.
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Is the question actually "Are there pre-interview rejections?"

I don't actually know the answer. I assume they do it all in March.
 
Does anyone know Richard Wallace's email address?
 
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