2013-2014 Duke University Application Thread

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wow!! Congrats!! phone call or email? did RW mention if there was more to come lol?
Group email, and he didn't mention it. But he made it pretty explicit that people who don't want to accept can just say no right away. I would imagine that means it should move quickly. Good luck!
 
Group email, and he didn't mention it. But he made it pretty explicit that people who don't want to accept can just say no right away. I would imagine that means it should move quickly. Good luck!

Sorry to be nitpicky, but did they give you a deadline by which to make a decision?
 
Accepted! They didn't give a deadline..it felt like an ASAP thing. Such an honor, but I will be withdrawing. Best of luck to those still waiting.
 
Hi all, is a car necessary for the first year (assuming housing is within walking distance to the med school)?
 
Hi all, is a car necessary for the first year (assuming housing is within walking distance to the med school)?
I went to UNC for undergrad, and REALLY appreciated having a car for the last three years. There is a great mall (Southpoint) a short drive from Duke, as well as the great restaurant and shopping offerings of Chapel Hill. You will also not be far from PNC arena, where you can sometimes get Carolina Hurricanes hockey tickets very cheaply!! A car gives you access to all the triangle (and Charlotte, etc. if you want a long weekend) has to offer, and it is not as difficult/expensive to keep a car as it might be in a bigger city.
 
totally surprised to be accepted off the waitlist this morning! The email was in my spam folder and I almost deleted it along with the weird life insurance emails I always get. Good thing Richard Wallace's name caught my eye. I was really not expecting this. I just skimmed the first paragraph trying to figure out why the heck I had this email and was poleaxed when I finally figured it out. Anyways. I did not send any updates/ LOIs. I will be withdrawing. Hope it goes to someone still waiting!
 
Accepted off the waitlist on Friday as well! Will likely be matriculating!

To accepted students: how did you find your financial aid package compared to other schools? I got all loans at some other schools, but I've heard Duke is typically pretty generous with grants and am hoping I don't have to take out 100% loans to come here.

Edit: I sent two update letters (publication, employment) but never used any "intent" type language.
 
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Accepted off the waitlist on Friday as well! Will likely be matriculating!

To accepted students: how did you find your financial aid package compared to other schools? I got all loans at some other schools, but I've heard Duke is typically pretty generous with grants and am hoping I don't have to take out 100% loans to come here.

Edit: I sent two update letters (publication, employment) but never used any "intent" type language.
Duke gave me my best offer. Was triple that of Cornell. Very generous.
 
Duke gave me my best offer. Was triple that of Cornell. Very generous.
Thats so funny because Duke gave me my worst package and it was completely unexpected. There are a lot of factors that schools use though so I guess it can be very different depending on the school
 
I certainly don't want to give the impression that Duke always beats out other offers---like Papa Doc said, there are likely many factors that play into it. My family has a high salary but no assets, so maybe Duke is biased in that respect, in that they care a lot about family assets (savings, retirement, 401ks, investments, properties, owned businesses).
 
Just out of curiosity, does anybody know what the daily schedule is like or where to find it? I wonder if the one year of preclinical requires a ton of extra work/study/classroom hours?
 
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what happens to folks still on the waitlist regarding financial aid for grants? I wasn't sure of my status and so I didn't finish the need access form. Anyone know how this works?
 
what happens to folks still on the waitlist regarding financial aid for grants? I wasn't sure of my status and so I didn't finish the need access form. Anyone know how this works?
do that ASAP!!!
 
Accepted way back in March, definitely matriculating. Wanted to hear current students' thoughts on the following:

What type of board review books did you use during first year? What are your thoughts on the following:

- BRS Physiology vs. Costanza Physiology
- Netter's Anatomy Atlas vs. Gray's Anatomy for Students

- Pathoma --> is this useful during first year (specifically the second semester). Would it be worth getting it first year and holding a subscription through the middle of third year and Step 1 time? Or would it make sense to get a short subscription for first year and then renew for a few months during board review time?

- Firecracker --> any thoughts on this during first year and beyond? Similar to Pathoma, would it make sense to get a subscription for M1 and keep it through M2 and into Step 1?

- Any other useful books for other sections of the curriculum that I haven't mentioned?

Thanks!!!
 
Accepted way back in March, definitely matriculating. Wanted to hear current students' thoughts on the following:

What type of board review books did you use during first year? What are your thoughts on the following:

- BRS Physiology vs. Costanza Physiology
- Netter's Anatomy Atlas vs. Gray's Anatomy for Students

- Pathoma --> is this useful during first year (specifically the second semester). Would it be worth getting it first year and holding a subscription through the middle of third year and Step 1 time? Or would it make sense to get a short subscription for first year and then renew for a few months during board review time?

- Firecracker --> any thoughts on this during first year and beyond? Similar to Pathoma, would it make sense to get a subscription for M1 and keep it through M2 and into Step 1?

- Any other useful books for other sections of the curriculum that I haven't mentioned?

Thanks!!!

There is great info for this on the duke med wiki page on the davison council website.

Here is what most people use, (To be brief):

BOTH BRS and Costanzo.
Anatomy atlases go based on individual preference. I'm a Netter's man. Thieme is also really good. Gray's is good for reading content. Don't buy it if you're just looking for image references.
Pathoma is ABSOLUTELY Necessary.
Not familiar with Firecracker but it looks similar to Anki which is free. Previous year's classes have made and share decks with new students, they will have you covered.

These are all great resources but I will STRONGLY encourage you to enjoy your time before school starts and not buy these things or start studying. There is plenty of time to be buried in medical school resources. Take Rdubs' advice and use the money you were thinking about blowing on books for your summer to take a trip and drink things with umbrella's in them. Have a great summer! We're really looking forward to seeing you all in August!
 
Does anybody know if there is going to be any more waitlist movement? I know a few people here decided to decline their spots on the waitlist and I can't imagine they would give more wait list acceptances than there are leftover spots in the class. Maybe I'm just being too optimistic?
 
people who were accepted off the waitlist on the 16th.. how long did they give you to make a decision? Wondering if there are even any more spots left?
 
people who were accepted off the waitlist on the 16th.. how long did they give you to make a decision? Wondering if there are even any more spots left?

My official letter asked for a response before June 9th, so it could be plausible that more people are still making up their minds!
 
Sort of random, but in case anyone is interested Duke does give deferrals for one year. They didn't even need a reason, Richard Wallace approved it for me without question. It was hard for me to find information on deferrals while applying, so if anyone in the future is wondering whether or not Duke defers, here's your answer!
 
Anyone else just get the email about laptop + tablet choices? What are your thoughts on each of the options? I am kind of leaning towards the Lenovo for the laptop, but am not sure about the Dell Tablet.
 
I didn't get the email 🙁, but we get a laptop and a tablet?
 
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First sdn post! Incoming M1 here just checking to make sure I haven't missed any emails since I just realized we already got our duke emails :/ oops.

Is this all we're supposed to do so far?
Deposit
Final Transcript
Fin Aid things
Computer order
Immunization form and TB questionnaire
Register for classes
Online trainings
Direct deposit form

Am I missing anything?
 
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