2016-2017 Duke University Application Thread

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Maishy said:
They do silent rejections via portal throughout the cycle. The applicants rejected at the end of the cycle are mostly the ones that have already been interviewed. They may have changed the process though.
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ishiningstar said:
From last year's thread there were rejections via portal all along starting from September. But haven't seen any rejection reported here yet this year. Not sure if it hasn't actually started or if people here haven't reported.

Anyone rejected pre II through the portal yet this year ?
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I appreciate the info. Thank you.
 
ddsdreamcatcher said:
Does anyone have some insight or a useful thread on how hard it is to get into Duke as a non-trad? Is it true that with a >518 MCAT and 3.8 sc and cum GPA you're one shoe in despite medicore ECs? I mean ECs are super important too. It's hard to believe because MD applicants are super competitive these days. Any clarification on this would be awesome. I always thought you have to be an almost PERFECT applicant on every level to get into a school like this.
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I have >520 MCAT and >3.9 science and cumulative GPA, decent ECs, and I'm non trad, and no interview from duke

My friend got a 520 on the mcat and had a ~3.9 (slightly lower than 3.9) GPA and is a current med student at duke, but he had better ECs than me. Seems like what gets "one shoe in" is ECs, not scores and grades...(of course, just based on this one example).


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billbillbillbill said:
I have >520 MCAT and >3.9 science and cumulative GPA, decent ECs, and I'm non trad, and no interview from duke

My friend got a 520 on the mcat and had a ~3.9 (slightly lower than 3.9) GPA and is a current med student at duke, but he had better ECs than me. Seems like what gets "one shoe in" is ECs, not scores and grades...(of course, just based on this one example).


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Yeah..that's what I thought too. I figured it couldn't be that predictable. I think that generally, there is no guarantee for a slot in the medical school admissions game. No matter how glorious your app is. What kind of ECs are considered "good"? I have seriously been wondering about that as there are only limited possibilities for people without any medical certifications. (as far as volunteer opportunities with patient contact goes)
 
ddsdreamcatcher said:
Yeah..that's what I thought too. I figured it couldn't be that predictable. I think that generally, there is no guarantee for a slot in the medical school admissions game. No matter how glorious your app is. What kind of ECs are considered "good"? I have seriously been wondering about that as there are only limited possibilities for people without any medical certifications. (as far as volunteer opportunities with patient contact goes)
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The ability to write about your activities goes a LONG way. But, only so far. If you write this amazing thing about volunteering in the hospital, and you have 100 hours or less, it's probably crap. You have to SHOW commitment. Once you show commitment, you convey it in the essay, and vice versa. Beyond the basic amazing ECs like a publication or starting a legitimate, functioning NGO/company, the amount of commitment and the way you write about them make amazing ECs. Then the letters from those in charge of ECs matter for certain ECs like research. If you write about how you led this amazing project, and then the letter says "occasionally helped in lab" you're also screwed. It has to back up what you say. And then, finally, you have to show passion in your interview, and show that it wasn't crap .
 
That sounds about as challenging as I thought it will be. I think it's super hard to do all of that and some by taking all those classes (and of course do well on them!). So I have the utmost respect to all of you who get accepted to Duke!
 
Can someone who has interviewed share the interview day schedule? Are there typically two cycles of MMI?
 
Mcatbot said:
Can someone who has interviewed share the interview day schedule? Are there typically two cycles of MMI?
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Sit down and meet all the other interviewers, talk with a faculty member/financial aid
Two groups of MMI, one interviews while the other group goes on a tour
Not sure what you mean by two cycles
 
OnStrings said:
Sit down and meet all the other interviewers, talk with a faculty member/financial aid
Two groups of MMI, one interviews while the other group goes on a tour
Not sure what you mean by two cycles
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Well, there are two time slots for the MMI, if that's what you want to know? Morning slot will be designated as Session #1 on your portal. Afternoon is Session #2
 
I got an II last night, but then when I go onto the portal, it says there aren't any interview spots available. Has anyone else had this happen? Worrying that they made a mistake 🙁
 
Iag2baDr1day said:
I got an II last night, but then when I go onto the portal, it says there aren't any interview spots available. Has anyone else had this happen? Worrying that they made a mistake 🙁
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I would call them!
 
Iag2baDr1day said:
I got an II last night, but then when I go onto the portal, it says there aren't any interview spots available. Has anyone else had this happen? Worrying that they made a mistake 🙁
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Exact same thing just happened to me! Got invited to interview this afternoon, no spots to interview. I called and the woman said just check back in a few days because they open up more spots periodically.
 
KPstudent said:
Exact same thing just happened to me! Got invited to interview this afternoon, no spots to interview. I called and the woman said just check back in a few days because they open up more spots periodically.
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Iag2baDr1day said:
I got an II last night, but then when I go onto the portal, it says there aren't any interview spots available. Has anyone else had this happen? Worrying that they made a mistake 🙁
Click to expand...

That's really odd that they would send out II's before they open up more spots.. Nonetheless, congrats to both of you!!

When were y'all complete/stats?


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ddsdreamcatcher said:
Yeah..that's what I thought too. I figured it couldn't be that predictable. I think that generally, there is no guarantee for a slot in the medical school admissions game. No matter how glorious your app is. What kind of ECs are considered "good"? I have seriously been wondering about that as there are only limited possibilities for people without any medical certifications. (as far as volunteer opportunities with patient contact goes)
Click to expand...

I just got invited to interview, and my stats are mediocre (515 MCAT 3.65 GPA). However, I did a ton of ECs: lots of research, volunteering, arts, etc and went to Duke for undergrad. I thought it was a TREMENDOUS reach for me, and just figured I'd apply cause I absolutely loved my time undergrad and the city of Durham, and I've had a pretty discouraging process thus far with other schools. So so psyched, and it does seem like they must care about the extracurriculars over just numbers.
 
linsanity17 said:
That's really odd that they would send out II's before they open up more spots.. Nonetheless, congrats to both of you!!

When were y'all complete/stats?


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Duke undergrad, complete end of July. 515 MCAT 3.67 GPA 3.62 Science. but if you see my above post my extracurriculars were strong and I guess since my gpa was from Duke they understand the rigor and why its a bit lower than typical
 
linsanity17 said:
That's really odd that they would send out II's before they open up more spots.. Nonetheless, congrats to both of you!!

When were y'all complete/stats?


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I was complete beginning of August, Lizzy ~70, non-trad.
 
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KPstudent said:
I just got invited to interview, and my stats are mediocre (515 MCAT 3.65 GPA). However, I did a ton of ECs: lots of research, volunteering, arts, etc and went to Duke for undergrad. I thought it was a TREMENDOUS reach for me, and just figured I'd apply cause I absolutely loved my time undergrad and the city of Durham, and I've had a pretty discouraging process thus far with other schools. So so psyched, and it does seem like they must care about the extracurriculars over just numbers.
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Bruh.......your stats are pretty competitive, have some confidence in yourself!


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Does anyone know about what percentage of interviewees are offered an acceptance to Duke?
 
Anyone who was complete late hear back yet?
When does Duke interview until and when are they scheduling for right now?

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Is it true that Duke only reviews letters of recommendation after the interview?
 
Hi all, I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet so if this is repetitive I apologize. For those who have already interviewed, were you allowed to take notes or write anything down when reading MMI prompts? If this is a question that can't be answered for privacy reasons please let me know and I'll delete the post.
 
Grid93 said:
Hi all, I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet so if this is repetitive I apologize. For those who have already interviewed, were you allowed to take notes or write anything down when reading MMI prompts? If this is a question that can't be answered for privacy reasons please let me know and I'll delete the post.
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I'm not sure if we were explicitly told we couldn't take notes or write things down, but no one did so. If you have an interview at Duke, I wouldn't anticipate taking any written notes on the MMI stations. Good luck!!
 
BBQ7 said:
I'm not sure if we were explicitly told we couldn't take notes or write things down, but no one did so. If you have an interview at Duke, I wouldn't anticipate taking any written notes on the MMI stations. Good luck!!
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Thanks!
 
BBQ7 said:
I'm not sure if we were explicitly told we couldn't take notes or write things down, but no one did so. If you have an interview at Duke, I wouldn't anticipate taking any written notes on the MMI stations. Good luck!!
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We were not allowed to carry anything with us (except water) - no notes!
 
How do we send updates to Duke? What email address should I use? Thanks!
 
chocolatelove said:
How do we send updates to Duke? What email address should I use? Thanks!
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[email protected]. but i never got a confirmation email. and every time i tried to call the adcom office it goes to voicemail and it says its closed, even though i would call in the mornings...anyone else have any luck? at this late in the cycle i dont even know if it's worth it to add in an update
 
I also have a question about updates...has Duke mentioned if it should be in the body of the email or as an attachment? Thanks!
 
Does anyone know when the last IIs went out in previous years?
 
Hey all! Just received an II (omg, yay!) and now I'm trying to figure out if I should attend; any advice would be much appreciated.

Here's my dilemma: I'm grateful to already be holding onto more than one acceptance. In fact, I've assumed for a few weeks now that I was silently rejected at Duke (since I was complete way back in August). So in my mind, I had already selected my first choice school. But, now I'm trying to be rational and realize that Duke presents a wonderful opportunity.

Pros:
- I mean, it's DUKE :wideyed:
- I feel like I excel at MMI so hopefully that should be right up my alley
- They have non-rolling admissions and, based on previous years' threads, there were some cases of people interviewing late in the cycle who were accepted
- Get a chance to visit NC, which I've never been to
- Early preclinical experience, like Vanderbilt, which I'd prefer
- If accepted, they're apparently generous with merit scholarships?

Cons:
- Post-interview acceptance rate is apparently ~34% (with 253 accepted out of 750 interviewed); not *great* odds but one of the schools I was accepted had a similar rate so who knows?
- Much prefer another school where I've already been accepted
- While some people may have been accepted after interviewing later in the cycle, I don't know the percent (i.e., maybe more were proportionally accepted who interviewed in September)
- Will need to break out the wallet again 😱

So what do you all think? A part of me is like, 'just do it, why are you overanalyzing'. But the fact that I'll interview right on the tail end of the cycle is what's throwing me. Thanks so much in advance for any thoughts/suggestions and best of luck to all!

P.S. For those interested, the interview dates available when I logged in earlier were 1/26, 1/30, 2/3, and 2/6. The email indicated that interviews will "tentatively" be done by 2/10.
 
shine with me said:
Hey all! Just received an II (omg, yay!) and now I'm trying to figure out if I should attend; any advice would be much appreciated.

Here's my dilemma: I'm grateful to already be holding onto more than one acceptance. In fact, I've assumed for a few weeks now that I was silently rejected at Duke (since I was complete way back in August). So in my mind, I had already selected my first choice school. But, now I'm trying to be rational and realize that Duke presents a wonderful opportunity.

Pros:
- I mean, it's DUKE :wideyed:
- I feel like I excel at MMI so hopefully that should be right up my alley
- They have non-rolling admissions and, based on previous years' threads, there were some cases of people interviewing late in the cycle who were accepted
- Get a chance to visit NC, which I've never been to
- Early preclinical experience, like Vanderbilt, which I'd prefer
- If accepted, they're apparently generous with merit scholarships?

Cons:
- Post-interview acceptance rate is apparently ~34% (with 253 accepted out of 750 interviewed); not *great* odds but one of the schools I was accepted had a similar rate so who knows?
- Much prefer another school where I've already been accepted
- While some people may have been accepted after interviewing later in the cycle, I don't know the percent (i.e., maybe more were proportionally accepted who interviewed in September)
- Will need to break out the wallet again 😱

So what do you all think? A part of me is like, 'just do it, why are you overanalyzing'. But the fact that I'll interview right on the tail end of the cycle is what's throwing me. Thanks so much in advance for any thoughts/suggestions and best of luck to all!

P.S. For those interested, the interview dates available when I logged in earlier were 1/26, 1/30, 2/3, and 2/6. The email indicated that interviews will "tentatively" be done by 2/10.
Click to expand...

I think the fact that you much prefer another school that you've already been accepted to is the only thing here that matters! I turned down an interview for the same reason


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shine with me said:
Hey all! Just received an II (omg, yay!) and now I'm trying to figure out if I should attend; any advice would be much appreciated.

Here's my dilemma: I'm grateful to already be holding onto more than one acceptance. In fact, I've assumed for a few weeks now that I was silently rejected at Duke (since I was complete way back in August). So in my mind, I had already selected my first choice school. But, now I'm trying to be rational and realize that Duke presents a wonderful opportunity.

Pros:
- I mean, it's DUKE :wideyed:
- I feel like I excel at MMI so hopefully that should be right up my alley
- They have non-rolling admissions and, based on previous years' threads, there were some cases of people interviewing late in the cycle who were accepted
- Get a chance to visit NC, which I've never been to
- Early preclinical experience, like Vanderbilt, which I'd prefer
- If accepted, they're apparently generous with merit scholarships?

Cons:
- Post-interview acceptance rate is apparently ~34% (with 253 accepted out of 750 interviewed); not *great* odds but one of the schools I was accepted had a similar rate so who knows?
- Much prefer another school where I've already been accepted
- While some people may have been accepted after interviewing later in the cycle, I don't know the percent (i.e., maybe more were proportionally accepted who interviewed in September)
- Will need to break out the wallet again 😱

So what do you all think? A part of me is like, 'just do it, why are you overanalyzing'. But the fact that I'll interview right on the tail end of the cycle is what's throwing me. Thanks so much in advance for any thoughts/suggestions and best of luck to all!

P.S. For those interested, the interview dates available when I logged in earlier were 1/26, 1/30, 2/3, and 2/6. The email indicated that interviews will "tentatively" be done by 2/10.
Click to expand...
If you have the money, I would go. I almost canceled one of my most recent interviews because I was physically and financially drained from the traveling and stress of the interview season, and I already had a few acceptances at places I was more than happy to attend. I am SO GRATEFUL that I put on my big girl panties and went because I couldn't have known how perfect it was for me or how much I really wanted to attend - more than any other place I had visited - until I actually went. And the following week I got offered a spot in the class. It all becomes surreal when I reflect on the fact that I nearly canceled it. So I say if you can afford it, go!
 
gms11235 said:
I think the fact that you much prefer another school that you've already been accepted to is the only thing here that matters! I turned down an interview for the same reason
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I'll give the above sentiment another bump because I greatly agree.

As far as your concerns about interviewing late in the cycle lowering your chances of acceptance. Duke operates on a non-rolling admissions model because they want to be able to evaluate everyone interviewed on a level playing field. It would be essentially pointless for them to have this model if they were already assigning seats in the class to those who interviewed earlier. If you bothered to fill out the secondary here, then you know that Duke tends to do things a little differently.

From what I understand their admissions committee meets and every applicant is assigned a score based off of everything in their file. At the end of the season they look at everyone's scores and make their decision based off of where everyone falls in order of their scores. In short, there is still ample opportunity to earn a high score and find yourself within their acceptance group.
 
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