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Hmmmm you make a good point. So much strategy to these secondaries on top of just having to write them.
2015-2016 Duke University Application Thread
Started by Ismet
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ha i would do this too but with an already tiny school list of 14 that's probably no good idea 😛
these guys aren't rolling admissions amirite?
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yuppers
They aren't? How does that work then?
They don't release any decisions until after all interviews are complete.
Everyone finds out on one day in early March
lol i haven't started this secondary, but have been sitting on it as i do other secondaries that are much shorter. meh.
received 7/2 btw. D:
You can do it, @catnipchips !!
same boat! I'm trying to get through a few more of my others first..hoping it get to this one by the weekend
My new strategy is to tackle one of their essays a day while working on other apps. Starting tomorrow, of course even though I've also had it since 7/2 😳
i wish i could take a vacation from work this month just to commit to secondaries...but i think i'd also want to strangle myself at the same time o.o
Don't think the optional essays would teach adcoms anything new about me. Covered everything I wanted to in the required prompts. Hoping for the best!
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This no character/word limit thing could be a little dangerous for me... or rather to the ADCOM. Hope they like to read because I have a lot to say! Really though... ballpark figure - how long are y'alls essays?
I tried to keep all essays under a page in word @1.25 spacing as a general rule of thumb. But that was just my personal goal.
I'm personally aiming to stay in the 500-750 word range at most
What if you're missing 3 of the pre-reqs? Namely sociology, psychology, and biochemistry? I plan on taking biochemistry sometime over the next year but don't see how I could fit the others in:
Anyone submitted without payment yet? I'm still waiting for the fee to be waived...
I ended up paying since duke is my number one
I had to email them a second time, to which they responded the day after. I think your email may have gotten lost!
I currently have 3 of the essays at 600 words...thinking of whether to do the optional one ugh. Plus I have to ask for help editing it since I'm very bad at that..this is gonna take a while..sigh
What will challenge you the most in your career as a health care provider when you have to deal with people unlike yourself (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, social background, and other difference)? How do you plan to address these? What resources do you plan to use to address these?
For this prompt, are they asking for what aspect of an individual we're going to have trouble dealing with (eg. I have trouble relating to people who are X), or is it more general (how will you relate to others not like you)?
For this prompt, are they asking for what aspect of an individual we're going to have trouble dealing with (eg. I have trouble relating to people who are X), or is it more general (how will you relate to others not like you)?
I went with a more general approach.
For the "Cellular Biology" requirement, is this referring to the two semesters of biology that is required by every medical school? Or is this an additional biology class taken beyond the the introductory level (even if the introductory included cellular bio)?
Also, is the mathematics course referring to statistics or calculus?
whenever a prereq cites a specific subject like this i assume it means the upper-level course
the “cell bio” stuff in intro (what is an organelle, their function, lol) takes about 20 minutes to get through in the first lecture of any reputable actual cell bio class. nowhere close to being the same
by definition both of these are math, so if it doesn’t say it could be either
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Thanks! I'll list the upper level class.
Nope
SO CLOSE. Finally done with the four essays...do I dare go for an optional essay? How many of you actually wrote an optional?
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No optional...don't do it it's a trap!
But seriously I am not sure what else I would have written after four 500-650 word essays.
Eh I mean the optional prompts asked about pretty different things than the required prompts did. It does suck writing more, but I didn't really see any overlap between the two that would leave me unable to write more.
I might do the harshest feedback one, just because another school I'm applying to requires it. However, it will be VERY short and I'm not sure I'll even end up including it. Duke already is going to know my soul if and when I ever finish this secondary.
Try asking someone at the school. Although, I doubt you would be allowed to matriculate - they're called prerequisites for a reason. For some reason, Duke seems especially keen on having MCAT 2015-related class in their prereqs.
Did anyone see the academic course requirements? Is this for the upcoming cycle or will sociology be required later?
Mine ended up about 400 words. My optional essay was very short, though...they only asked 2 discrete questions in it (community service one) rather than 6 vague, open-ended things, haha!
Glad to be done with this beast. Now onwards and upwards!
Anyone stilllllll sitting on this one? Starting to think I need a support group 
YOU CAN DO IT. We all believe in you!!Anyone stilllllll sitting on this one? Starting to think I need a support group
You are probably the sweetest SDNer this cycle! Thank you 🙂
(psst hope we get our UCSF secondaries soon...!)
YUP. Should be halfway done with it after today. I am so slow at completing these secondaries. This should be the only one I submit past the 2 week mark though.Anyone stilllllll sitting on this one? Starting to think I need a support group
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I feel you! I'm totally dragging my a** across the floor with some of these secondaries. Here's to us 😛
I finally slayed this beast yesterday afternoon. You know what's awesome about finishing the app? Once you do, you realize virtually all the other apps don't even compare in difficulty, so you feel much better about tackling the next one. Just think about it. You finished Duke. The rest don't even compare.
I'm alternating between Duke and Case and a daily basis. Both have way more essays than most other schools.
Million dollar question: STATS?!?!? Hahaha
