2009-2010 Duke Application Thread

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Anyone interviewing on 9/16 who needs to get back to the airport immediately after the end of the day want to split a cab? I have to get back to the airport ASAP after the end of the interview session to make my flight.
 
Comoroa said:
Anyone interviewing on 9/16 who needs to get back to the airport immediately after the end of the day want to split a cab? I have to get back to the airport ASAP after the end of the interview session to make my flight.
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I'm not interviewing that day, but out of curiousity how much are cabs to the airport?
 
heyy! so i'm filling out this awesome secondary and i'm stumped on question 1... what if i really havent had any moral or ethical dilemma's that were significant enough for me to even remember? is it going to hurt me if i just write about how i dont have one but just because i dont have one doesnt mean i am going to be any less of a doctor?
 
lykyamy00 said:
heyy! so i'm filling out this awesome secondary and i'm stumped on question 1... what if i really havent had any moral or ethical dilemma's that were significant enough for me to even remember? is it going to hurt me if i just write about how i dont have one but just because i dont have one doesnt mean i am going to be any less of a doctor?
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Hmm, I am sure there is something. Think hard enough, it needn't be personal as in affecting you directly but something that affected those around you or the broader community or something.

Don't write that you have had no dilemmas. Its just my opinion.
 
lykyamy00 said:
heyy! so i'm filling out this awesome secondary and i'm stumped on question 1... what if i really havent had any moral or ethical dilemma's that were significant enough for me to even remember? is it going to hurt me if i just write about how i dont have one but just because i dont have one doesnt mean i am going to be any less of a doctor?
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I agree that you should definitely put in the effort to come up with something. Pitt has essentially the same prompt and they specifically say that it isn't acceptable to write that you've never had an ethical dilemma. Of course, Duke doesn't put give that same disclaimer, but I wouldn't be surprised if they'd frown upon saying that. The only exception I could see is if you somehow made some amazing spin on it and turned it into a really unique essay. But just writing "Well I haven't really had an ethical dilemma. Guess I'm just lucky" isn't gonna be evaluated favorably, I'm pretty sure.
 
Fares are supposedly $30-$40 or something like that. I know that you can take a LTD shuttle if you make reservations first. That has a flat rate of $30.
 
oh thats nice, 80% chance of being rejected after a $300 interview and we would have to wait until march!
 
brooklynblunder said:
oh thats nice, 80% chance of being rejected after a $300 interview and we would have to wait until march!
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Yea, but I'm getting a chicken sandwich with potato salad (and a sprite). That makes up for the admissions fee fo sho.

And you're not paying $300 for the interview, that's the cost of travel to North Carolina. People pay that much to go to North Carolina and don't get interviews (OR chicken sandwiches)!
 
When, Oh when will you review my app Duke?

8 weeks and waiting...

For a non-rolling school they sure seem to have sent out rejections. I am guessing only the acceptances are non-rolling.
 
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trueBelief said:
When, Oh when will you review my app Duke?

8 weeks and waiting...

For a non-rolling school they sure seem to have sent out rejections. I am guess only the acceptances are non-rolling.
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Wow are they that slow. I haven't even started the essays.
 
neuronc said:
Wow are they that slow. I haven't even started the essays.
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I think they have some sort of a strange system in which apps gets emailed to reviewers so if you read the previous pages of this thread you will see that some people have heard back after 2 months while others have gotten invites within 24 hours. It really does matter which busy adcom member's inbox your app lands into and gets buried deep under a pile of more important emails.

I do think they eventually get around to them =p
 
brooklynblunder said:
oh thats nice, 80% chance of being rejected after a $300 interview and we would have to wait until march!
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Lucky for me, it's only about a $15 interview, aka the cost of 160 miles of gas. Having said that, I'm not feeling that great about my chances. But I'm not sure who would with those odds.
 
trueBelief said:
When, Oh when will you review my app Duke?

8 weeks and waiting...

For a non-rolling school they sure seem to have sent out rejections. I am guessing only the acceptances are non-rolling.
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With the interviews that you have lined up, I'm kind of surprised you care about Duke. 🙂

I'm obsessive because my committee letter still hasn't been sent out, so Duke is basically the only school that has actually considered me. (Except for Mayo/Ketchup clinic, which didn't care about my letters before rejecting me).
 
BerlinDude said:
With the interviews that you have lined up, I'm kind of surprised you care about Duke. 🙂

I'm obsessive because my committee letter still hasn't been sent out, so Duke is basically the only school that has actually considered me. (Except for Mayo/Ketchup clinic, which didn't care about my letters before rejecting me).
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I care about Duke because I think they have an amazing program and my brother is there so it would be nice to be closer to the only person from my family who is in the States.

PS: That's the first time i have heard 'Mayo/Ketchup Clinic' :laugh:
 
archimedesxx said:
I have been offered an interview however I want to schedule it for January. My reason for this is because I want to gain enough experience on the trail b4 tackling Duke and also because it is non-rolling. Will my late interview signal lack of interest in Duke? I don't want to jeopardize my chances because of this. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance.
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i dont know man. ive been told by an adcom in penn that they have frequent decision meetings even though they are non-rolling. so possibly they could make a decision about you the week after your interview and just hold out until march.

now maybe duke is not like that but you would think interviewing early = more open spots. its pretty tough to decide on 1200 interviewees in the month of february (i guess you can do a point based system and just cut things down though)
 
brooklynblunder said:
oh thats nice, 80% chance of being rejected after a $300 interview and we would have to wait until march!
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Duke is one of the few schools (if not the only) that offers regional interviews, so if the expense is too much you can choose that option.
 
brooklynblunder said:
i dont know man. ive been told by an adcom in penn that they have frequent decision meetings even though they are non-rolling. so possibly they could make a decision about you the week after your interview and just hold out until march.

now maybe duke is not like that but you would think interviewing early = more open spots. its pretty tough to decide on 1200 interviewees in the month of february (i guess you can do a point based system and just cut things down though)
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Yes, Duke has a point-based system.
 
diosa428 said:
I don't know what the breakdown is. It's based on your application + interview, but that's as much as I know.
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Does Duke prefer Committee letters or individual letters and where do they say about the number and types of letters to send?
 
brooklynblunder said:
i dont know man. ive been told by an adcom in penn that they have frequent decision meetings even though they are non-rolling. so possibly they could make a decision about you the week after your interview and just hold out until march.

now maybe duke is not like that but you would think interviewing early = more open spots. its pretty tough to decide on 1200 interviewees in the month of february (i guess you can do a point based system and just cut things down though)
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That doesn't seem non-rolling at all, it just means they are rolling and make premeds a little more neurotic by not telling you until a long time later.

On a slightly more related note, I've been complete at Duke for over a month now with still no news.
 
FluffyRabbit said:
That doesn't seem non-rolling at all, it just means they are rolling and make premeds a little more neurotic by not telling you until a long time later.

On a slightly more related note, I've been complete at Duke for over a month now with still no news.
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I've heard that what happens is that two people look over your application. Which two people grab your application is pretty random - so if you get stuck with a surgeon who works 80 hr weeks it might be a while before you are reviewed. You shouldn't interpret delays as anything more than that.
 
diosa428 said:
Duke is one of the few schools (if not the only) that offers regional interviews, so if the expense is too much you can choose that option.
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Anyone interviewed yet? can you post your experiences to see how things are gong?
 
I've been complete since mid-July. Nothing. I am comforted by the fact there have been rejections, and I am not one of them although I feel bad for the fallen brethren. Even still.....
 
Doe87 said:
I've been complete since mid-July. Nothing. I am comforted by the fact there have been rejections, and I am not one of them although I feel bad for the fallen brethren. Even still.....
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From the postings I have seen it looks like they are taking anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks.

Does anyone know how many per day are interviewed and approximately how many they interview per week.
 
Interview invite! No, I did not sleep with an admissions officer 😛

You cant be any more suprised than I am.
 
9 weeks here... waiting patiently.
 
hey guys,
I haven't been to pre-allo in a while, so I just found this thread. I'm a 4th year here, and I just wanted to wish everyone good luck! If you haven't heard back after submitting your secondary, just wait it out and hope for the best. It's true that sometimes applications get reviewed right away while for others it may take a while (or they're still deciding whether or not to interview). If you are not going to be offered an interview they'll let you know before March, so just try to be patient. Trust me, I know it's hard...I'm going through that right now with residency interviews. And as far as interviewing late vs. early, it doesn't matter in the least. I interviewed 2 weeks before the last interview day and there are four people in my class from that day alone.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them. Best of luck to everyone!
 
MrBurns10 said:
hey guys,
I haven't been to pre-allo in a while, so I just found this thread. I'm a 4th year here, and I just wanted to wish everyone good luck! If you haven't heard back after submitting your secondary, just wait it out and hope for the best. It's true that sometimes applications get reviewed right away while for others it may take a while (or they're still deciding whether or not to interview). If you are not going to be offered an interview they'll let you know before March, so just try to be patient. Trust me, I know it's hard...I'm going through that right now with residency interviews. And as far as interviewing late vs. early, it doesn't matter in the least. I interviewed 2 weeks before the last interview day and there are four people in my class from that day alone.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them. Best of luck to everyone!
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Hey MrBurns10

So what is it like to be a medical student in DukeMed? - I interviewed there last year but was not accepted. The hospital looked amazing. I have bunch of friends that worked there and they have nothing but great things to say about it. If possible please share your thoughts on the school. Thanks.
 
BrainBox said:
Hey MrBurns10

So what is it like to be a medical student in DukeMed? - I interviewed there last year but was not accepted. The hospital looked amazing. I have bunch of friends that worked there and they have nothing but great things to say about it. If possible please share your thoughts on the school. Thanks.
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Here's a thread I started a few months ago with my thoughts on the school. Diosa pitched in hers as well. I'll embed the original post here, but in case you want to see the whole thread, the link is below. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂

As more and more versus threads pop up daily, I thought I'd make a post about my experiences at Duke so people could refer to it when deciding between it and another school (especially because Duke's decisions should be coming out in the next few weeks). Anything so I don't have to write this multiple times...I'm lazy. I'm currently a 3rd year so I can't comment yet on residency applications, so I'll just talk about the first three years.

First year
Curriculum
As I'm sure you know by now if you've applied there, Duke has an 11-month first year that encompasses all of the basic sciences. Some people say "that's insane! It must be crazy busy!" Well, the answer is yes and no. Yes, it's a busy year. Typical schedule is lectures 9-4 everyday, usually with one or two half days off per week. The beautiful thing is that lectures are streamed online, so you only have to come for whatever mandatory sessions (mainly in the 2nd semester). My class had a notes group, where one person was assigned a lecture and that person streamed the lecture and took very detailed notes, then sent them out to everyone. This averaged out to doing one lecture every 5 weeks or so, making studying tremendously efficient because you could stay at home and study on your own just from the notes others had written. But some people still went to class, and if that's what works for you that's great. I personally had a ton more free time to do whatever I wanted when I realized going to class wasn't working for me. I got involved in volunteering, worked out regularly, and hung out with friends. Not bad if you ask me.

Grading and Teaching
Grading is P/F for the first block and H/P/F for the remaining 3 blocks. You may wonder if that makes for a competitive student body, but that's not remotely the case. It's not graded on a curve, meaning that everyone in the class could get honors if they achieved the necessary grades. Study guides were passed around all the time as a result. The teaching was great for the most part. Faculty were very open to helping students out, and there's a free tutoring service through the medical school.

Advisory Deans
This is one of the best parts about Duke. Your class of 100 is divided into 4 groups of 25 and you're assigned one advisory dean (the dean that will advise you and ultimately write your dean's letter). During first year, you will have weekly lunches with your advisory dean in groups of about 10 students. This is a place where you can air your grievances, get some informal advising about 2nd/3rd year, and allow your dean to get to know you on a personal level. The advisory deans are fantastic and want you to be as successful as you can be.

Practice Course
A half day per week throughout first year, then 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off during your second year. This is where you learn how to interview patients on all sorts of topics, how to give bad news, etc. Through practice course you'll also spend a half day in a clinic of your choice during 2nd semester.

Second year
This is the rotation year, exactly the same as the 3rd year in other schools. Rotations are: Surgery (8 weeks), Internal Medicine (8 weeks), Peds (6 weeks), Ob/gyn (6 weeks), Family Med (4 weeks), Psych (4 weeks), and 3 elective periods (two 2-weeks and one 4-week).

One of the biggest assets of Duke's 2nd year is that you not only go through your rotations early, avoiding the stress of being at the end of your 3rd year and still not knowing what you want to go into, but you also get 3 electives. This is awesome because it allows you to explore fields outside of the traditional clerkship fields. A lot of other schools don't even give electives to 3rd years. No matter what school you go to, make sure you ask about elective rotations prior to 4th year.

Clerkship Directors
Another of Duke's biggest assets are its clerkship directors. They're all super nice and responsive to feedback. They take student input and actually make changes to subsequent rotations based on that feedback. And this change is quick (from the first rotation group to the second). It's nice knowing that they actually care about what we think.

Third year
In a word: awesome. Let's just say I could have easily written this dissertation of a post on a weekday than on a Saturday night, but I'm just killing time before I go out.

Research vs. Dual Degree
You have the option of doing a dual degree (MPH, MBA with an extra year, MPP, pretty much anything really) or doing research. The research can be basic, clinic, translational, epidemiological, really anything that can relate to medicine. There are several research scholarships available whose stipends range from $20-40ishK, helping cut costs. Some students choose to go abroad; I have 3 classmates in Africa, 1 in India, 1 in Singapore, etc.

Mentoring
The strongest aspect of the Duke curriculum. The mentoring is fantastic here, and while there are some bad ones (like at every school), I'd say the vast majority are really good. In case you can't tell, I absolutely love my mentor, as well as my project. A lot of people publish in their 3rd year; for some it's a conference abstract, for others it's a first author paper. The 3rd year allows you to get research experience (important for you and also looks good on the residency app), possibly publish, and get to know a mentor really well who can write a strong LOR and possibly make helpful phone calls to residency programs for you. The first two years are hands down worth the third year.

Step 1
You take step 1 anytime during the year. Some people take time off right after rotations to study and take it in September/October, others wait until before or after Christmas, others will take it this summer. You can spend a couple months studying a few hours a day, then take 3-4 weeks off from your research to study hardcore. It's very self-directed, and the great thing is that if you're not ready to take it, you can just push it back until you are. People ask if it's harder to relearn the material, and I would say yes and no. Your clinical year does help you remember and put into a clinical context diseases, meds, etc. It will take you longer to go back and relearn subjects like biochem and cell bio, but the good news is that there is time to do that.

Continuity Clinic
You will spend a half day per week in a continuity clinic of your choice. Some use their clinic to explore a particular field, while others (like me) chose it because they like their preceptor. It's a good way to keep in contact with patients and keep up your history-taking and physical exam skills.

Location
Durham is not for everyone, but I personally love it. I've been here 8 years now (did my undergrad here too) and I'd love to stay even longer and maybe even settle down here. Housing is cheap, lots of outdoor stuff to do, mountains and beaches are a few hours away, and traffic isn't bad. Great restaurants, too.

Well, I think that's enough writing for about a year. Sorry for the long post. In case you can't tell, I really love my school, and while there are always going to be some negatives, I don't think I could have chosen a better school for me. I'd be happy to answer any questions you all have, and good luck wherever you end up.
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http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=604761
 
great post, are you paying tuition and fees your 3rd year (Say if you go away for research/dual degree)
 
brooklynblunder said:
great post, are you paying tuition and fees your 3rd year (Say if you go away for research/dual degree)
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Yes, you pay tuition. But as I mentioned, there is a lot of funding available if you do decide to do research that would cut into the tuition fees. If you decide to get a dual degree you would have to pay two tuitions...but the good news is that at least 2 of my 3 classmates that are doing their MBA at Duke got a full scholarship for the business school, and if you want to do an MPH and become a NC resident the tuition is super cheap (~$6000). But there was talk that the MPH tuition might be changing, so don't hold me to that.
 
Say hi to everyone who interviewed there yesterday (9/16)! ^.^
 
MrBurns10 said:
Yes, you pay tuition. But as I mentioned, there is a lot of funding available if you do decide to do research that would cut into the tuition fees. If you decide to get a dual degree you would have to pay two tuitions...but the good news is that at least 2 of my 3 classmates that are doing their MBA at Duke got a full scholarship for the business school, and if you want to do an MPH and become a NC resident the tuition is super cheap (~$6000). But there was talk that the MPH tuition might be changing, so don't hold me to that.
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Is there really any value in doing an MPH?
 
brooklynblunder said:
if you want to go into public health...
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Lot of them are doing it for the sake of getting another degree not necessarily to go into public health. Does it help to get into residency programs - probably not if your step 1 scores are not good.
 
JOE Verghese said:
Lot of them are doing it for the sake of getting another degree not necessarily to go into public health. Does it help to get into residency programs - probably not if your step 1 scores are not good.
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My personal opinion is that it would depend on the specialty. Internal medicine? Yeah, an MPH would probably help some. Radiation Oncology? Not remotely.
 
Invite 9/16 complete 8/20.
This invite has me thinking though. I am thinking that I would like to specialize and so I am wondering...if I am just going to be less-than-average joe at a school like Duke should I shoot for a school where I have a better chance of ranking higher in my class or is being average at Duke just the same as being top of class at a smaller school? Any thoughts?
 
nacholibre said:
Invite 9/16 complete 8/20.
This invite has me thinking though. I am thinking that I would like to specialize and so I am wondering...if I am just going to be less-than-average joe at a school like Duke should I shoot for a school where I have a better chance of ranking higher in my class or is being average at Duke just the same as being top of class at a smaller school? Any thoughts?
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I think the pressure to be AOA is much higher at a school that isn't as well recognized, and I think that could impact your stress levels. Heck, I know for a fact that beyond AOA, Duke doesn't rank AT ALL...so you could be in the top 25% and not be in AOA or be ranked dead last and residencies wouldn't know the difference. I mean, they would when looking at your transcript but they wouldn't know you were last. Know what I mean? Compare this to schools that rank to the exact number...how is the intra-class competition in that case going to be?

Besides, it is damn hard to be AOA. For what it's worth, we only have 3 graded blocks first year (H/P/F) and second year is H/HP/P/F...I honored all my rotations and still wasn't AOA eligible because I just passed my first year. And I don't say that to remotely toot my own horn (haven't used that phrase in a while), just to get across how difficult it is and to say that you can do objectively "well" at Duke and still not be AOA. So, I don't think it's anything to worry about...but I'm just now applying so I can let you know if it is, indeed, a problem... 😛

Final point: don't underestimate the value of a full year of research.
 
Hi MrBurns10

Thanks for the info. It is very helpful. Good luck with ur match. Which field do u want to go into?
 
BrainBox said:
Hi MrBurns10

Thanks for the info. It is very helpful. Good luck with ur match. Which field do u want to go into?
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Thanks, BB. I'm applying to radiology, which would be stressful on its own but I'm also couples matching with my husband, who wants to do anesthesiology. So we'll see how that goes...

Good luck to you as well 🙂
 
MrBurns10 said:
I think the pressure to be AOA is much higher at a school that isn't as well recognized, and I think that could impact your stress levels. Heck, I know for a fact that beyond AOA, Duke doesn't rank AT ALL...so you could be in the top 25% and not be in AOA or be ranked dead last and residencies wouldn't know the difference. I mean, they would when looking at your transcript but they wouldn't know you were last. Know what I mean? Compare this to schools that rank to the exact number...how is the intra-class competition in that case going to be?

Besides, it is damn hard to be AOA. For what it's worth, we only have 3 graded blocks first year (H/P/F) and second year is H/HP/P/F...I honored all my rotations and still wasn't AOA eligible because I just passed my first year. And I don't say that to remotely toot my own horn (haven't used that phrase in a while), just to get across how difficult it is and to say that you can do objectively "well" at Duke and still not be AOA. So, I don't think it's anything to worry about...but I'm just now applying so I can let you know if it is, indeed, a problem... 😛

Final point: don't underestimate the value of a full year of research.
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Excuse my ignorance....AOA?
 
MrBurns10 said:
Thanks, BB. I'm applying to radiology, which would be stressful on its own but I'm also couples matching with my husband, who wants to do anesthesiology. So we'll see how that goes...

Good luck to you as well 🙂
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Good Luck. One of my good friends is a radiologist for the navy. Best of luck to you and your husband. Thank you for your help.
 
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