2014-2015 Duke University Application Thread

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Does the portal make it very clear you have been rejected? Mine has said the same thing for months, that my application is complete and that it is being reviewed at the top~~ just wanted to check that the rejection info isn't in some other tab.
 
Ash2015 said:
Does the portal make it very clear you have been rejected? Mine has said the same thing for months, that my application is complete and that it is being reviewed at the top~~ just wanted to check that the rejection info isn't in some other tab.
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It will if you are rejected. If you don't see it yet, you haven't been rejected.
 
Earl Simmons said:
Do a lot of people still have that same status of "screening"?
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Don't know about a lot of people, @Earl Simmons, but I am stuck in that 0.22-micron filter and have been for months! I guess that I am the human equivalent of an applicant's "safety school." Sigh.
 
Earl Simmons said:
Do a lot of people still have that same status of "screening"?
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Yep, it wouldn't surprise me if Puke silently rejected most of us at the end. That's usually how it goes with this stuff.
 
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^But it wouldn't really make any sense for them to silently reject some people and outright reject others on the portal.
 
xo7 said:
^But it wouldn't really make any sense for them to silently reject some people and outright reject others on the portal.
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Medical school admissions don't make sense, that's the name of the game. They basically reject everyone who isn't interviewed at the end of the cycle that's the silent/delayed rejection.
 
savithramma said:
Yep, it wouldn't surprise me if Puke silently rejected most of us at the end. That's usually how it goes with this stuff.
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Duke will let you know if you get rejected, though you have to check the portal (there's no email). If someone else got rejected before you, it's also likely that they submitted their app before you.
 
II this morning (by call? was very groggy lol), so unbelievably shocked - huge underdog, LM~66 but I did have strong essays I guess 😛 dates left in february. anyone know if I'd be interviewing for the WL at that point?

Edit to add: complete in late August
 
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kjj17 said:
II this morning (by call? was very groggy lol), so unbelievably shocked - huge underdog, LM~66 but I did have strong essays I guess 😛 dates left in february. anyone know if I'd be interviewing for the WL at that point?
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you got the invite by a phone call?
 
kjj17 said:
email and call haha. I was so confused by the call but I guess he wanted to make sure I picked a date soon, cus he said something about maybe needing to add more
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so it was Richard Wallace on the phone?
 
greatjoe4life said:
so it was Richard Wallace on the phone?
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no, no, I admit I was a little too groggy (from lack of sleep, and then delirious from excitement) to catch his name but it was something like Dr. Yi
 
kjj17 said:
II this morning (by call? was very groggy lol), so unbelievably shocked - huge underdog, LM~66 but I did have strong essays I guess 😛 dates left in february. anyone know if I'd be interviewing for the WL at that point?

Edit to add: complete in late August
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Isn't today Sunday? 😵 Congrats though!!!
 
RussianFrolic said:
Isn't today Sunday? 😵 Congrats though!!!
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I know... I am just as perplexed haha

BengaliBrat said:
@kjj17, you must be special indeed! Congratulations!
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oh man I'm just shocked. this is only my 3rd II, the other two are nowhere in the same league (Albany and a state school), I'm totally completely perplexed. very happy but honestly quite confused haha. I think my essays were good, but my life story isn't really incredible in any way... plus I'm aware that my stats are an extreme outlier to their norm. very thankful but still completely surprised haha
^ if you can tell by the incoherence of this response, my brain is still mush from shock
 
kjj17 said:
I know... I am just as perplexed haha


oh man I'm just shocked. this is only my 3rd II, the other two are nowhere in the same league (Albany and a state school), I'm totally completely perplexed. very happy but honestly quite confused haha. I think my essays were good, but my life story isn't really incredible in any way... plus I'm aware that my stats are an extreme outlier to their norm. very thankful but still completely surprised haha
^ if you can tell by the incoherence of this response, my brain is still mush from shock
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Congrats!! My impressions from Duke is that they really look at applicants differently than most other schools. They really read through the secondary essays and really try to get a sense of who you are as a person. I was thoroughly impressed on my interview day!
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
Wait. He spoke at my interview?
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He spoke at mine too but I think a student mentioned that we were lucky to interview early so that we'd get his speech.

Speaking of which, it's an inspirational story, and I'm holding back tears, though I do cynically wonder why that long talk is part of their admissions day. In general, the schools with similar closing-arguments (if you will) are more memorable, which can be important when sought-after applicants are choosing where to matriculate.
 
Like, I guess the story *is* somewhat related to an inspiring doctor he interacted with ("you should be that doctor"), but I really hope Rdubs isn't, even on the smallest level, exploiting his friend's memory to protect Duke's yield.
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
Wait. He spoke at my interview?
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He retired a few weeks ago, so the first half of the applicants this season were the last to hear him speak.
Bovary said:
Like, I guess the story *is* somewhat related to an inspiring doctor he interacted with ("you should be that doctor"), but I really hope Rdubs isn't, even on the smallest level, exploiting his friend's memory to protect Duke's yield.
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I didn't get the vibe that he was trying to sell Duke during that speech so much as trying to remind us why we want to study medicine, and inspiring us to do something with our time because of how precious time is. I felt that Dean Armstrong already sold Duke perfectly with her rousing beginning of the day speech.
 
mostlyharmless1 said:
I didn't get the vibe that he was trying to sell Duke during that speech so much as trying to remind us why we want to study medicine, and inspiring us to do something with our time because of how precious time is. I felt that Dean Armstrong already sold Duke perfectly with her rousing beginning of the day speech.
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Less that he was directly selling Duke, but his speech absolutely implants in our memories, and consequently makes the entire visit and institution more memorable. Ask what I think of NYU and I'll say "I have no effing idea. There was a nice talk by the dean at the beginning, but we all went home after the MMI and brief tour". They lacked closure, and so they're less memorable to me (NYU is). So Duke and RDubs did a great job at staying in our minds and our conversations.
 
Bovary said:
Less that he was directly selling Duke, but his speech absolutely implants in our memories, and consequently makes the entire visit and institution more memorable. Ask what I think of NYU and I'll say "I have no effing idea. There was a nice talk by the dean at the beginning, but we all went home after the MMI and brief tour". They lacked closure, and so they're less memorable to me (NYU is). So Duke and RDubs did a great job at staying in our minds and our conversations.
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I don't think there's anything wrong whatsoever with making the visit to Duke memorable. That way, even if I don't end up attending Duke, I will still feel like I was able to gain something from my visit. But also, his speech has made no impact on how much I want to attend Duke since I'm more focused on the features that will continually affect me over the four years than one memorable afternoon.
 
I think the effect is wholly subconscious; of course, you won't consciously weigh that speech when choosing where to matriculate, but I want to focus on the subconscious mnemonic anchoring effects of a charismatic speech.

OK, to relate this to our favorite podcast, Serial:
Is it suspicious that Adnan can hardly remember anything about that day?

It isn't if we trust him that the day was like any other. Unremarkable, so unmemorable.

Conversely, we'll remember details of all kinds when those details are anchored by an emotional event.
At Duke, Rdubs's closing speech is the anchoring emotional event that confers long-term memory on the other details of the day. Those are the very details (e.g. the community feel at the school, stories you heard about 3rd yr opportunities, new buildings, etc) that you might forget at other schools months later, but you'll remember about Duke.
 
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Bovary said:
I think the effect is wholly subconscious; of course, you won't consciously weigh that speech when choosing where to matriculate, but I want to focus on the subconscious mnemonic anchoring effects of a charismatic speech.

OK, to relate this to our favorite podcast, Serial:
Is it suspicious that Adnan can hardly remember anything about that day?

It isn't if we trust him that the day was like any other. Unremarkable, so unmemorable.

Conversely, we'll remember details of all kinds when those details are anchored by an emotional event.
At Duke, Rdubs's closing speech is the anchoring emotional event that confers long-term memory on the other details of the day. Those are the very details (e.g. the community feel at the school, stories you heard about 3rd yr opportunities, new buildings, etc) that you might forget at other schools months later, but you'll remember about Duke.
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Oh no you did not just link the two things I do to pass the time together (SDN & Serial). And to your point, my interview day at Duke stands out most even after interviewing at other schools.
 
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Bovary said:
Less that he was directly selling Duke, but his speech absolutely implants in our memories, and consequently makes the entire visit and institution more memorable. Ask what I think of NYU and I'll say "I have no effing idea. There was a nice talk by the dean at the beginning, but we all went home after the MMI and brief tour". They lacked closure, and so they're less memorable to me (NYU is). So Duke and RDubs did a great job at staying in our minds and our conversations.
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That speech has so much staying power that my cab driver knew the general outline of it.
 
kjj17 said:
II this morning (by call? was very groggy lol), so unbelievably shocked - huge underdog, LM~66 but I did have strong essays I guess 😛 dates left in february. anyone know if I'd be interviewing for the WL at that point?

Edit to add: complete in late August
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No waitlist-only interviews at Duke! We are a non-rolling school with all decisions released at the end of the interview season.

Congratulations on your interview!
 
Also, yes, R Dubz has retired. He is greatly missed but he says he will still occasionally drop by the school so if you attend Duke you are bound to meet him if you want to.
 
Interviewing this Thursday. Any last minute tips folks?
 
sorry if asked already, but do the raters read your app beforehand or is it blind?
 
kjj17 said:
sorry if asked already, but do the raters read your app beforehand or is it blind?
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I don't know, but it doesn't matter because you and the raters are not discussing your application. You're discussing external scenarios and hypotheticals.
 
js20145 said:
Been complete since 8/25 and still no word yet. Anyone with a similar wait?
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Cubsfan15 said:
Complete in August too and nothing so far.
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Duke does send out rejections as they go along, but for some reason they only do this by the handful. The majority of rejections come later, at the end of December or through the New Year. Also, those who are rejected early don't seem to necessarily represent the worst of the stack (at least based on numbers and even ECs), so don't feel bad if you or someone you know was one of those to get a swift cut. It might've just been clear to the adcom reviewers that those students, while strong in their own right, were likely not the best fit for Duke.
 
StayCoolIceCube said:
Duke does send out rejections as they go along, but for some reason they only do this by the handful. The majority of rejections come later, at the end of December or through the New Year. Also, those who are rejected early don't seem to necessarily represent the worst of the stack (at least based on numbers and even ECs), so don't feel bad if you or someone you know was one of those to get a swift cut. It might've just been clear to the adcom reviewers that those students, while strong in their own right, were likely not the best fit for Duke.
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Appreciate the response. Thanks.
 
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