2011-2012 Duke Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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chronicidal said:
I feel like this is a passive attitude that we all tend to take because we have little idea of how MMIs are rated.

If someone actually knows the rating criteria, I'm sure there would be ways to prepare.

For instance, if cogency of thought can be determined by how thorough your initial response to the scenario is, it would behoove applicants who are normally reticent to push back against urges to merely be concise. In MMIs, perhaps it would be better to vocalize all the different possibilities, pros and cons, contingencies, of each scenario upfront, rather than assuming and dismissing some internally and then bluntly stating your position. The more prompting questions that the rater has to give you, the more indicative of your incompleteness of thought. Maybe.

For the few ethical scenarios there are, helpful frameworks exist for thinking about your answer. You seem more competent when you can organize your thoughts about some ethical dilemma into neat categories like, 1) what's good for the patient, 2) what allows the patient most autonomy, 3) what's most fair and just, 4) are there social/legal context considerations.

It also might be helpful (but lower yield) to read generally about medically-relevant topics like giving bad news, overcoming guilt, overcoming addiction, cultural competency, insurance, pharma, malpractice, evidence-based medicine, role of residents and students in care, discrimination, medical errors. For many of these, I felt it helped a little to read the health/medicine columns in the NYTimes.
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Very true and well said. Thank you for sharing the insight.
 
II today after being complete back in August!!

I am a re-applicant, and I had interviewed at Duke the last time I applied... I'm really happy they're giving me another chance!
 
hey, does anyone know about letters of rec with Duke? duke told me that they request our rec letters from our letter writers (since Duke doesn't use the AMCAS letter writer service); however, I've asked a couple of my letter writers about this and they said they never heard anything from duke. has me a bit concerned. i'm post interview, btw.
 
themetalhawk said:
hey, does anyone know about letters of rec with Duke? duke told me that they request our rec letters from our letter writers (since Duke doesn't use the AMCAS letter writer service); however, I've asked a couple of my letter writers about this and they said they never heard anything from duke. has me a bit concerned. i'm post interview, btw.
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have your writers send them in via virtual evals or interfolio.
 
i think my school committee sent it directly to Duke through interfolio.
 
I'm hoping my school mailed them directly, because I received no delivery notification from VirtualEvals like I did for those sent to AMCAS. I went in person to tell them to either mail or upload them about a month ago. I'm nervous now, since my interview is Monday and I can't call and ask them tomorrow due to Thanksgiving break. 🙁
 
Cinclus said:
I'm hoping my school mailed them directly, because I received no delivery notification from VirtualEvals like I did for those sent to AMCAS. I went in person to tell them to either mail or upload them about a month ago. I'm nervous now, since my interview is Monday and I can't call and ask them tomorrow due to Thanksgiving break. 🙁
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Don't worry. If they don't have them, they will let you know at your interview. No big deal
 
Just checked status on a whim, changed to:

Application Process Complete - Thank you for your interest in the Duke University School of Medicine. We deeply appreciate the work you've put into your application but we are sorry to inform you that the Admissions Committee has not selected you for an interview. While we recognize that this decision may be disappointing, it is in no way a reflection of your potential as a future physician. We wish you great success in your academic and professional pursuits.

Disappointing, but life goes on. Best of luck to everyone else!
 
invite!

I skimmed through the thread, but anyone want to comment on school life/curriculum/favorites and least favorite things about Duke?
 
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😱 Interview invite this morning. I had given up hope on this school months and months ago. I'm pretty sure I had no business applying here (I mean look at my GPA in MDApps...), and still have basically no chance of getting in, but apparently whoever reviewed my app liked something.

When I log in to schedule my date it says: "There are no available interview sessions scheduled at this time. Please check back later to schedule your interview session." Does that mean I'm basically a 'back-up' invite in case people decline? Additionally, I saw earlier on this page someone mention that their email said Jan 30 was the last interview day, but mine says Feb 10 is the tentative last day.
 
Morzh said:
When I log in to schedule my date it says: "There are no available interview sessions scheduled at this time. Please check back later to schedule your interview session." Does that mean I'm basically a 'back-up' invite in case people decline? Additionally, I saw earlier on this page someone mention that their email said Jan 30 was the last interview day, but mine says Feb 10 is the tentative last day.
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*high five* II this morning too =D

I had the same message when I logged in, but called up admissions about 15 minutes ago. I got scheduled for Jan 27th - the last date they had available. The lady I talked to said they're looking to open up more interview dates in early Feb, guessing that's the tentative date part.
 
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Hey guys!

I am very excited -- interview invite this morning.

I have never been to North Carolina, but a friend of mine went to Duke undergrad and liked it a lot. However, when I tried to book a slot the online system said that no dates available. I tried calling admissions but no one picked up?

One aspect of the interview day does scare me more than MMI. In the email they say that you will be evaluated not only during the interviews but also during the day as you interact with other applicants.

Now that thought is liable to be stuck at the back of my mind the whole day. 😛 I wonder if they have hidden cameras too. Maybe they will even be talking to our student hosts? Who knows.

EDIT: Oh, oh, maybe they have fake-interviewee plants in order to reveal your true personality. That would be kind of exciting. And weird. Maybe that guy from North Dakota isn't who he says he is. Where is University of North Dakota - Grand Bend anyway?
 
Nobody seemed to be monitoring us throughout the day, just so you're not freaked out. 🙂 Just be friendly and polite, and you shouldn't have any problems. Everyone was really nice at Duke.
 
Got my rejection today... Duke was a bit of a stretch, but would have been nice. Best of luck to everyone still in the running!
 
Aviator75 said:
Got my rejection today... Duke was a bit of a stretch, but would have been nice. Best of luck to everyone still in the running!
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Me too, I checked my status earlier. Life goes on....Good luck to those who got interviews:luck:
 
Rejected today. Not surprised, since for starters, Duke's average stats are way higher than mine.

After all that effort on the secondary for nothing, I'd at least like an "I completed the DukeMed Secondary Application" sticker! 😛
 
handsofblue said:
Just checked status on a whim, changed to:

Application Process Complete - Thank you for your interest in the Duke University School of Medicine. We deeply appreciate the work you've put into your application but we are sorry to inform you that the Admissions Committee has not selected you for an interview. While we recognize that this decision may be disappointing, it is in no way a reflection of your potential as a future physician. We wish you great success in your academic and professional pursuits.

Disappointing, but life goes on. Best of luck to everyone else!
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+1 Received this status today.

Good luck to everyone else! 👍
 
ModerateMouse said:
Hey guys!

I am very excited -- interview invite this morning.

I have never been to North Carolina, but a friend of mine went to Duke undergrad and liked it a lot. However, when I tried to book a slot the online system said that no dates available. I tried calling admissions but no one picked up?

One aspect of the interview day does scare me more than MMI. In the email they say that you will be evaluated not only during the interviews but also during the day as you interact with other applicants.

Now that thought is liable to be stuck at the back of my mind the whole day. 😛 I wonder if they have hidden cameras too. Maybe they will even be talking to our student hosts? Who knows.

EDIT: Oh, oh, maybe they have fake-interviewee plants in order to reveal your true personality. That would be kind of exciting. And weird. Maybe that guy from North Dakota isn't who he says he is. Where is University of North Dakota - Grand Bend anyway?
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It's worth knowing that Duke is not the only school who monitors how you interact with others throughout the day...probably 95% if not more schools will do this. It's nothing to be stressed out about.
 
interview invite, too! Completed August 20th with an MCAT of 29. There is still hope after all!
 
Le sigh. The last MSTP interview was handed out yesterday (11/30) and I was not a lucky recipient. Luckily, I've been sent to the big kids table. Officially a MD applicant 😛
 
Kira said:
Le sigh. The last MSTP interview was handed out yesterday (11/30) and I was not a lucky recipient. Luckily, I've been sent to the big kids table. Officially a MD applicant 😛
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At least you'll have plenty of time to research in their MD program.
 
if anyone is interviewing december 16th and arriving at raleigh airport (RDU) around 3pm and wants to split cab/shuttle fees, let me know! 🙂
 
lol what dooshes, didn't even get rejection email. checked that status after u guys pointed it out lmao.
 
Anyone here has the problem of receiving an Interview Invite recently (e.g. Monday) but when clicking on the interview scheduling link on the status page, the page shows that no interview sessions are available at this time!?
 
^Call them. They're opening more interview dates for early Feb. I had to do that.
 
hapticity said:
Anyone here has the problem of receiving an Interview Invite recently (e.g. Monday) but when clicking on the interview scheduling link on the status page, the page shows that no interview sessions are available at this time!?
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You got a 44 on the MCAT?!?😱
 
Would have been nice to have at least gotten an email. Surely the cost of secondary app, at least would cover an email!

Fortunately, I'm already accepted elsewhere. Good luck to all!
 
Rejected by status. I agree that they could have at least sent an email. . . their secondary is so freaking long too. 🙄
 
Anyone who has done the Skype interview care to share? I'm considering this option for the moment.
 
babydragon said:
Anyone who has done the Skype interview care to share? I'm considering this option for the moment.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Skype interview a thing of the past since they've moved onto MMI?

I could be wrong.
 
will we need to know our secondaries for any part of the interview day?
 
Velour Fog said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Skype interview a thing of the past since they've moved onto MMI?

I could be wrong.
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you're wrong. they still do skype. they still try to look out for the poor kids.
 
Velour Fog said:
Definitely missed that option when I was scheduling my interview, then 🙁

(yes poor kid)
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yea it was the bottom of the interview invite email: "** Applicants who have received an AMCAS Fee Waiver and for whom interviewing at Duke would present an extreme financial hardship may be considered for a Virtual (Skype) Interview during February 2012."
 
Has anyone heard back about student hosting for Fri December 16th interviews?
 
chronicidal said:
Duke has a rolling internal process (the executive committee reads and decides on your application pretty soon after you interview) but a non-rolling notification process (everyone finds out in the first week of March). Thus, Dr. Armstrong said not to send update letters post-interview.
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I am a little confused by the internal rolling and non-rolling notification process. I do not understand why they would decide on your application, but wait until March to notify you. Is the internal rolling process “accept, reject, waitlist” or placing applicants into groups “most likely accepted, maybe accepted, most likely not accepted” and waiting for all of the interviews to determine the final decision in March? Are my chances significantly decreased because I interview in February and most of the spots have been filled?
 
jmac13 said:

I am a little confused by the internal rolling and non-rolling notification process. I do not understand why they would decide on your application, but wait until March to notify you. Is the internal rolling process “accept, reject, waitlist” or placing applicants into groups “most likely accepted, maybe accepted, most likely not accepted” and waiting for all of the interviews to determine the final decision in March? Are my chances significantly decreased because I interview in February and most of the spots have been filled?
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I don't know. It's possible that they just put a ranking or numerical rating on applicants on a rolling basis, and then at the end accept the top X. All I know is that post-interview updates won't do any good.
 
When do they release final decisions (post-interview)? March 15th sounds familiar...is that the right date?
 
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