2009-2010 Duke Application Thread

[Amadelphous]

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You can always call the office and ask if they have your LORs to confirm. They are very friendly and helpful.

 

[MBHockey]

I sent mine by VirtualEvals around the time my primary was certified (so before I had even received the Duke secondary). I think you can basically send them in any time, they're just not required for an interview and they might not look at them unless you have an interview. They didn't mention LORs at the interview, doesn't seem like the timing is critical, if you have them, send them in basically (I think).

Thanks for that. I just submitted a delivery through interfolio.

Maybe I messed it up, but I think they received them through AMCAS? Otherwise I did nothing else and they seemed not to mind?

I just logged into AMCAS and Duke is not on the list of participating schools for the AMCAS letter service -- i'm pretty sure they didn't get yours through AMCAS.

 

[NotSur]

.

 

[AyCaramba]

Hosting questions.

My dashboard currently says "If you have responded "Yes" you would like to be hosted by one of our students, please expect to be contacted by a student representative in the next two weeks. " I can't find where I'm supposed to have responded "yes." How do I find this page?

When I got my invite a couple months ago, we had to email someone to set up hosting. It should be described in your interview confirmation email(?)

 

[MBHockey]

Hosting questions.

My dashboard currently says "If you have responded "Yes" you would like to be hosted by one of our students, please expect to be contacted by a student representative in the next two weeks. " I can't find where I'm supposed to have responded "yes." How do I find this page?

I just did this yesterday. Right after I selected my interview date they sent me a confirmation email to that effect. In that email was a link to a Google Docs spreadsheet (with the instructions to fill it out if I wanted to request a student host). It was very short and at the end it said someone would contact me if available.

 

[NotSur]

.

 

[MBHockey]

ah, there we go. somehow i skipped over that email. thx!

No problem.

 

[nacholibre]

Hey anyone interviewing on Monday?

Also to those of you who interview or who know the area....
1-How did you get to the school from RDU? Is there any public transportation.
2-Did anyone stay in a hotel near the medical school?

I guess there are some big first and second year exams and I didn't get a host.

 

[Tatastrophy]

Hey anyone interviewing on Monday?

Also to those of you who interview or who know the area....
1-How did you get to the school from RDU? Is there any public transportation.
2-Did anyone stay in a hotel near the medical school?

I guess there are some big first and second year exams and I didn't get a host.

I would just get a cab-I looked up the public transit route...2 transfers..liable to get lost with your bags.

 

[MBHockey]

This is kind of a side note: what's with Duke and bacon? I think 95% of the lunch choices had bacon on them! Is it a north carolina thing?

I'm not complaining -- I love this school and just found that funny 🙂

 

[VBaller12]

Hey anyone interviewing on Monday?

Also to those of you who interview or who know the area....
1-How did you get to the school from RDU? Is there any public transportation.
2-Did anyone stay in a hotel near the medical school?

I guess there are some big first and second year exams and I didn't get a host.

I took a cab and it cost me $40 one way. As far as I know, there is no better way of getting to Duke. If possible, you should try to share a cab with someone--at least on the way back to the airport. I also stayed at the Brookwood Inn, which was nice. It's basically on the Duke campus and they have a free shuttle that will take you to the building that the holds the admissions office. The shuttle runs every half hour.

 

[nish06]

Hey anyone interviewing on Monday?

Also to those of you who interview or who know the area....
1-How did you get to the school from RDU? Is there any public transportation.
2-Did anyone stay in a hotel near the medical school?

I guess there are some big first and second year exams and I didn't get a host.

try supershuttle.com, depending on where you're staying it should cost you around $20 each way

 

[BerlinDude]

Anyone know if they look over your letters of recommendation before you carry out your interview?

Has anyone been asked about anything in their letters during the interview?

 

[FluffyRabbit]

Anyone know how possible it is to reschedule interviews? I just realized that my interview is during Thanksgiving, which means flights are harder to book, much more expensive, and there will be essentially no students around the school. 🙁

 

[Dr Durden]

Anyone know if they look over your letters of recommendation before you carry out your interview?

Has anyone been asked about anything in their letters during the interview?

Interviewers at Duke have access to everything on your application except for grades and MCAT score. Now whether they took the time to read your essays, letters, and extracurricular list in advance is another story. They should not be discussing your letters if you waived your right to see them.

Anyone know how possible it is to reschedule interviews? I just realized that my interview is during Thanksgiving, which means flights are harder to book, much more expensive, and there will be essentially no students around the school. 🙁

Just call and explain your concerns. The admissions office staff is very friendly and won't bite.

 

[MBHockey]

Interviewers at Duke have access to everything on your application except for grades and MCAT score. Now whether they took the time to read your essays, letters, and extracurricular list in advance is another story. They should not be discussing your letters if you waived your right to see them.

Thanks for that. I just assumed that they had access to everything.

Do you know if there are any big exams around Nov. 18th? I put a request in for a student host for the 18th but I'm not sure how realistic it will be for me to get a host then.

 

[Dr Durden]

Thanks for that. I just assumed that they had access to everything.

Do you know if there are any big exams around Nov. 18th? I put a request in for a student host for the 18th but I'm not sure how realistic it will be for me to get a host then.

The MS-1s have exams Mon Nov 2, Mon Nov 23, and finals Dec 14-18.

 

[JOE Verghese]

Do you know how the admission process works at DUke? - Is it a point system?

 

[Amadelphous]

This is kind of a side note: what's with Duke and bacon? I think 95% of the lunch choices had bacon on them! Is it a north carolina thing?

I'm not complaining -- I love this school and just found that funny 🙂

Funny thing. Bacon/pork is actually HUGE in NC because hog farming essentially replaced the tobacco industry in terms of the economy.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Change of topic here, but I'd be curious to know what experiences others have had with more prestigious programs before they interviewed at Duke. My undergrad was a tiny, tiny little school (with no reputation to speak of), and Duke was my first really prestigious school to interview at.

I found it kind of off-putting how much the doctor talking about the curriculum dropped names and talked about how he had trained at Harvard and Yale and MGH and Case Western, etc. He also assured us tons of times that we would work with famous people at the NIH and Harvard and Yale and get amazing jobs because of all these awesome connections. Is this standard? If/when I go to my interviews at Harvard, JH, and Penn, will I get another earful about how going here will let me work with super, awesome, hotshot physicians? Just curious. It was a different experience than my other interviews.

 

[brooklynblunder]

it happens, get used it bro. its pretty lame i know but we are have some sort of an ego and its perfectly okay to be off-put and whatnot and decide not to go there. but you won't know for sure until you interview at other places and things could vary substantially depending on the interviewer, the day, the questions that you ask and all that

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Yeah, I mean, nothing against Duke personally, it seems like a great school. It just occurred to me that maybe I'm not a good fit there, since I'm not interested in being an attending at an Ivy league med school. Hard to know what to do though, as their scholarships are definitely more generous than some of my other picks...

 

[MBHockey]

Funny thing. Bacon/pork is actually HUGE in NC because hog farming essentially replaced the tobacco industry in terms of the economy.

Interesting...thanks for that.

 

[wahoo2010]

I'm currently a senior, and my GPA is decreasing because of Bs in P-Chem and its lab. Is it required to send the first semester transcript to Duke before March?

 

[BerlinDude]

Yeah, I mean, nothing against Duke personally, it seems like a great school. It just occurred to me that maybe I'm not a good fit there, since I'm not interested in being an attending at an Ivy league med school. Hard to know what to do though, as their scholarships are definitely more generous than some of my other picks...

My thought is that if you just want to be a doctor, treating patients full-time or almost full-time, you don't need to go to a top school and put yourself through all that stress - just about any school will do.

 

[AyCaramba]

My thought is that if you just want to be a doctor, treating patients full-time or almost full-time, you don't need to go to a top school and put yourself through all that stress - just about any school will do.

I would go a step further and say that if you go to any medical school in the US (or even abroad in many cases), you can pursue any type of career you want, even an academic one. It depends more on how competent and creative you are as a researcher and how much time and effort you put into it than what the name of your medical school is. (though I am not so naive as to think that going to a "top" research school won't help a lot, because it definitely can) People from ANY medical school can take a year off and do prestigious programs such as those at the NIH or Howard Hughes to strengthen research credentials. Certain residencies will also allow time for research, or you can pursue a full-time post-doc research position after graduating from med school (yes, even without a PhD). Some schools have relatively few research opportunities for students compared to Duke or Harvard/Hopkins/Stanford, whatever, but you CAN make your own opportunities.

Sorry, just thought I'd add that...

 

[Amadelphous]

Just to answer the question about is that standard....my interview at Columbia was similar with the name dropping. But I feel it is more a matter of pride rather than just being pretentious. People have done big things at these big name schools so they are happy to offer the opportunity to students to work with those people.

 

[Tatastrophy]

Just to answer the question about is that standard....my interview at Columbia was similar with the name dropping. But I feel it is more a matter of pride rather than just being pretentious. People have done big things at these big name schools so they are happy to offer the opportunity to students to work with those people.

That's the way I perceived it as well.

 

[277768]

Just interviewed. Wow, love the school.

 

[277768]

So I heard if you are admitted to Duke, you can change from MD to MD/PhD while a student? How does this work? 🙂

 

[jla314]

So I heard if you are admitted to Duke, you can change from MD to MD/PhD while a student? How does this work? 🙂

you can do that at almost any school i think... once you're there i believe you simply apply into the PhD program. they typically fund you after you are in the PhD program but they will not retroactively apply funding to cover your year(s) when you were MD-only

 

[legnakrad]

i'm sure this question has been answered already... but does anyone know what our chances are post-interview?

 

[BerlinDude]

i'm sure this question has been answered already... but does anyone know what our chances are post-interview?

One in five for a random applicant.

I've heard that GPA and MCAT scores are not considered in making a decision about an interview. They are considered only after the interview. So, if your GPA and MCAT scores are high, your chances would be pretty good.

I don't know how accurate this info is though, I heard it from someone who heard it from the Dean of admissions at Duke.

 

[jla314]

One in five for a random applicant.

I've heard that GPA and MCAT scores are not considered in making a decision about an interview. They are considered only after the interview. So, if your GPA and MCAT scores are high, your chances would be pretty good.

I don't know how accurate this info is though, I heard it from someone who heard it from the Dean of admissions at Duke.

I think your interviewers may be blind to your numbers, but I'm not too sure how Duke could neglect those numbers when inviting to interview. If that were indeed the case, how you could explain the immediate interview invite turn-around that some people have after submitting their secondaries? Primary app essays and activities are a possibility, I guess...

 

[Bbon]

One in five for a random applicant.

I've heard that GPA and MCAT scores are not considered in making a decision about an interview. They are considered only after the interview. So, if your GPA and MCAT scores are high, your chances would be pretty good.

I don't know how accurate this info is though, I heard it from someone who heard it from the Dean of admissions at Duke.

Almost certain that's not accurate from what they told us on the interview day. If anything, it's the other way around.

 

[BerlinDude]

Almost certain that's not accurate from what they told us on the interview day. If anything, it's the other way around.

Like I said, I heard it from someone who heard it from the Dean of Admissions. I don't know for sure (they didn't tell me anything on interview day related to admissions), but there are lots of people interviewing with low MCAT scores - it makes me think numbers didn't have a big role in the interview decision.

 

[LIDO]

Like I said, I heard it from someone who heard it from the Dean of Admissions. I don't know for sure (they didn't tell me anything on interview day related to admissions), but there are lots of people interviewing with low MCAT scores - it makes me think numbers didn't have a big role in the interview decision.

GPA and MCAT are most certainly considered before inviting one for an interview at Duke. The Dean specifically stated that three people review your app. One person is a patient from the hospital involved with the adcom who reads the essays, another professor adcom member reads the essays and a third person evaluates your GPA/MCAT/curriculum. LOR's are not considered until after the interview.

 

[MsTaco]

GPA and MCAT are most certainly considered before inviting one for an interview at Duke. The Dean specifically stated that three people review your app. One person is a patient from the hospital involved with the adcom who reads the essays, another professor adcom member reads the essays and a third person evaluates your GPA/MCAT/curriculum. LOR's are not considered until after the interview.

On my interview day (last year) they told us that at the point you were offered an interview, they had already determined that you were capable of handling the science of medical school. But a lot more goes into it than just numbers--they consider applicants with strong stories and low numbers, so long as they can determine from some aspect of that candidate's application that that candidate can "handle the science." I was told on my interview day that numbers were no longer an issue post-interview--if they gave you an interview, your numbers are good enough, and what matters at that point is whether you will be a good doctor (and a good fit for their school). It sounds idealistic...but it's what we were told by the director of admissions.

As a side note, does anyone else think it's incredibly cool that they have patients be a part of the adcom? Do any other schools do that?

 

[AyCaramba]

As a side note, does anyone else think it's incredibly cool that they have patients be a part of the adcom? Do any other schools do that?

whaaat? I did not know this... I'm not sure if it's "incredibly cool" or just kind of ... bizarre

 

[LIDO]

Duke Med selects a group of patients who work with the admissions committee. I think that is a wonderful idea. It really allows your applications motivation and honesty to become visible.

Thumbs up for Duke's innovative thinking. 👍

 

[AyCaramba]

Duke Med selects a group of patients who work with the admissions committee. I think that is a wonderful idea. It really allows your applications motivation and honesty to become visible.

Thumbs up for Duke's innovative thinking. 👍

I guess I'm just having a hard time figuring out what a patient can add in terms of perspective on your application that a physician/dean/student or even a normal everyday person couldn't. Are patients better at detecting honesty than anyone else? "Patients" aren't some other species of animal that can sniff out lies. I mean, I don't want to sound antagonistic, and I agree that maybe they can give a different perspective to what an applicant claims in an application regarding patient care, but it just seems unnecessary to me. I guess that's why I'm not in charge of a top-10 medical school🙂.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am also turned off by the fact that you still have to pay tuition for the 3rd year. They're pretty much making you pay for the privilege of working for them (or some other unrelated institution). I guess grants are available, etc., but I never understood the rationale behind making you pay tuition when they're not actually doing anything but making you essentially be a grad student for a year... Would the school go bankrupt without that money...

Sorry, don't want to sound like a Duke basher, because trust me, I love the school. I just find it eccentric in some ways compared to other schools

 

[Bbon]

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am also turned off by the fact that you still have to pay tuition for the 3rd year. They're pretty much making you pay for the privilege of working for them (or some other unrelated institution). I guess grants are available, etc., but I never understood the rationale behind making you pay tuition when they're not actually doing anything but making you essentially be a grad student for a year... Would the school go bankrupt without that money...

Sorry, don't want to sound like a Duke basher, because trust me, I love the school. I just find it eccentric in some ways compared to other schools

Completely with you. I brought up this concern to a bunch of the med students I talked to there. Really doesn't make sense. At best, you get a grant so that you basically don't pay tuition, but you're still doing a full-time job for free; and that's just the fortunate ones. Very strange. Of course there are lots of amazing draws to the school, but that's something that bothered me. One of the M1s I talked to said there are students trying to get the policy changed, but I doubt we'll see a change anytime soon if ever. Seems pretty difficult to convince a school to give up another 4 million dollars a year, especially in this economy.

 

[MBHockey]

As a side note, does anyone else think it's incredibly cool that they have patients be a part of the adcom? Do any other schools do that?

I think that is awesome. It makes me appreciate my interview invitation even more.

 

[AyCaramba]

Completely with you. I brought up this concern to a bunch of the med students I talked to there. Really doesn't make sense. At best, you get a grant so that you basically don't pay tuition, but you're still doing a full-time job for free; and that's just the fortunate ones. Very strange. Of course there are lots of amazing draws to the school, but that's something that bothered me. One of the M1s I talked to said there are students trying to get the policy changed, but I doubt we'll see a change anytime soon if ever. Seems pretty difficult to convince a school to give up another 4 million dollars a year, especially in this economy.

Yeah probably won't change anytime soon. And Duke is pretty good with financial aid, so I think it still works out better than a lot of other schools. The reasoning is probably that students get 4 years "worth" of medical school, so they should pay for that. If I get in, it will be worth the money haha

 

[Tatastrophy]

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am also turned off by the fact that you still have to pay tuition for the 3rd year. They're pretty much making you pay for the privilege of working for them (or some other unrelated institution). I guess grants are available, etc., but I never understood the rationale behind making you pay tuition when they're not actually doing anything but making you essentially be a grad student for a year... Would the school go bankrupt without that money...

I agree that it sounds a bit weird, however, the way they explained it to us is that we don't pay "per year" of education, we pay for the entire education but it is spread over 4 years... As much as I hated the giant number staring at me I didn't want to see it go up by another third lol so big deal 3rd year it is.


oh and I think that at some point or another we are all patients...we feel certain vulnerabilities and we look for certain things in people around us. Those characteristics may be around for only the "limited time" that we are actively in treatment. Duke just figured out how to harness that short lived state to seek out good doctors.
Thats my opinion .

 

[nacholibre]

Hey guys,

I just interviewed here and really loved the school's mentality; I think that I am sold on the 3rd year.

Just to let anyone know who doesn't want to spend $50 on taxis to and from the airport:

You can easily take public transportation.
From RDU: Take the TTA (Triange Transit Authority) #747. This will take you to the the Raleigh Regional Transport Center from there the TTA #403, #413 and #413S all go directly to Duke Hospital. If you need to go somewhere else in Durham get off at Durham Amtrak Station there you can catch DATA (Durham Area Transit) buses anywhere in the city.

To RDU from Duke: you can only take TTA #413 to the Regional Transport Center and then take #747.

This costs $1 each way.
It took me 45 minutes from Duke to the airport.

 

[BerlinDude]

Completely with you. I brought up this concern to a bunch of the med students I talked to there. Really doesn't make sense. At best, you get a grant so that you basically don't pay tuition, but you're still doing a full-time job for free; and that's just the fortunate ones. Very strange. Of course there are lots of amazing draws to the school, but that's something that bothered me. One of the M1s I talked to said there are students trying to get the policy changed, but I doubt we'll see a change anytime soon if ever. Seems pretty difficult to convince a school to give up another 4 million dollars a year, especially in this economy.

I brought it up too - repeatedly. I was actually surprised, since my friend who is a student at the school said that he didn't pay tuition third-year. However, there are a lot of grants you could get to cover third-year tuition (HHMI, Sarnoff, etc).

 

[MBHockey]

I brought it up too - repeatedly. I was actually surprised, since my friend who is a student at the school said that he didn't pay tuition third-year. However, there are a lot of grants you could get to cover third-year tuition (HHMI, Sarnoff, etc).

Wait, so I'm confused. Your friend's 3rd year tuition was covered by a grant? Or he really didn't pay tuition for his 3rd year?

 

[LIDO]

The third year at Duke is devoted to research. Almost every student receives or finds some amazing scholarship to pay for their research anywhere in the world and any related expenses. Those "related" expenses include your tuition and "living loans" that you take out for medical school. This is one of the major reasons Duke has such a low graduating student debt.....because each student has practically no loans for third year. Pretty amazing. Again, innovative Duke. 🙂 (This all came from the Dean's mouth).

 

[MBHockey]

LOL yeah he just didn't feel like paying, so he didn't. Sometimes med schools are cool with that if you really, really don't wanna pay for one year.

Clearly not what I meant. The way it was worded sounded like either a grant paid for it or they don't make you pay 3rd year tuition (isn't this obvious?), which conflicts with earlier information.

The latest post clears it up though.