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How are people tackling the "Have these events changed your outlook on medicine’s role in society?" part of the COVID-19 essay? This is so vague

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How are people tackling the "Have these events changed your outlook on medicine’s role in society?" part of the COVID-19 essay? This is so vague

You could answer that part of a question in a way similar to NYU’s COVID-19 essay, on how the pandemic has changed your view of the role of the frontline healthcare provider. And then broaden from there.
 
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Ok... so does this mean they don't consider the MCAT at all when selecting people for interview invites??? So MCAT is blinded to the admissions committee? Or does this just mean that if you don't have an MCAT, they will still consider you for an interview. But if you have the MCAT they will look at it still??? Sorry for the silly question. Just a bit confused on if MCAT will be considered. (Because if MCAT is not considered, then I wont be submitting due to weak GPA. I need my MCAT to offset my GPA.)

Hmm... That sentence is badly written. It would be much clear if they wrote: "Applications will be screened this year and considered for interview without the MCAT score." Based on the next sentence, "Applicants must have a MCAT score posted to their application in order to be considered for admissions," that follows the poorly written sentence, I think MCAT still plays the important role in the admission process but I would double check with the adcom whether everyone's MCAT score is blinded in the admission process ... In my opinion, it is highly likely that they will still look at your MCAT score if you have one.
 
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For the critical thinking/research one, is it asking us to describe a time in our research where we had to use our critical thinking skills? Or is it just telling us to describe our research experiences?
 
is anyone planning on basically copy-pasting NYU's COVID essay or would that be bad?
 
is anyone planning on basically copy-pasting NYU's COVID essay or would that be bad?
I'm probably going to do this but with certain modifications. Like NYU is specifically asking about frontline healthcare workers, whereas Duke is talking about medicine and society more broadly. I'm definitely taking a lot from NYU but I'm not going to copy and paste since the questions are not identical.
 
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I feel like this extremely long secondary serves as a screen of its own lmao
 
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Is the first essay basically a normal diversity essay? The wording is somewhat confusing
 
Is the first essay basically a normal diversity essay? The wording is somewhat confusing
I interpreted it differently so I just wrote a new one but am interested on what other people have to say!
 
For the critical thinking/research one, is it asking us to describe a time in our research where we had to use our critical thinking skills? Or is it just telling us to describe our research experiences?
It's poorly written, for sure. Even though I have a lot of research experience, I'm considering using another non-research experience to exemplify critical thinking. Not sure if that looks bad, though, if they mentioned research specifically?
 
i’m using my diversity essay and changing my conclusion to fit more of the prompt.
With this question do you think you can mention an experience that makes you diverse instead of self-identity characteristics they mention (I'm an ORM cis male)? That's what my diversity essay was on
 
With this question do you think you can mention an experience that makes you diverse instead of self-identity characteristics they mention (I'm an ORM cis male)? That's what my diversity essay was on
This is what I did (for this and other diversity essays). This one also specifies a WIDE range of definitions of self-identity, so if you experience contributes to your self-identity then it should be fair game.
 
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With this question do you think you can mention an experience that makes you diverse instead of self-identity characteristics they mention (I'm an ORM cis male)? That's what my diversity essay was on

As am I. I talked about the expectations associated with being a South Asian male with two parent-physicians and how I spent most of my life running from medicine, only to work my way back to it after my own experience with illness.
 
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Spent so much time prewriting just for them to add 2 new prompts and reduce the word counts sigh
 
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Spent so much time prewriting just for them to add 2 new prompts and reduce the word counts sigh

Well, you’re ahead of me. I’ve still got to write seven essays essentially from scratch.
 
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So I tried to submit my secondary, which prompted me to pay their $100 fee. But as soon as I clicked pay, the application portal crashed. I paid the fee, and they sent me the order confirmation, yet it still prompting me to pay the application fee before i can submit it. I already emailed, but does Anybody else have this issue too? I was using chrome, so try Firefox or Edge for those who are worried this might happen to you too.
 
Wait is the consensus that an intro bio class will not work for the cellular biology pre req?
 
For the advocacy essay question, is it okay if my advocacy didn't really amount to anything? Like I was in a position where I suggested certain changes to the school but nothing really came of it in the end lol
 
So I tried to submit my secondary, which prompted me to pay their $100 fee. But as soon as I clicked pay, the application portal crashed. I paid the fee, and they sent me the order confirmation, yet it still prompting me to pay the application fee before i can submit it. I already emailed, but does Anybody else have this issue too? I was using chrome, so try Firefox or Edge for those who are worried this might happen to you too.
This happened to me too. I emailed them and they said they'll let me know after they look at it tomorrow.
 
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For the race essay are you guys writing it using a personal anecdote or writing about it from a fact-based standpoint?
 
are people able to answer the diversity question without feeling like they are repeating something already mentioned? I feel like I've taken parts of it for each of those 7 essays already
 
How are you guys answering the research critical thinking prompt? I feel like as a research assistant, I didn't do as much of the critical thinking lol
 
This happened to me too. I emailed them and they said they'll let me know after they look at it tomorrow.
I think it’s possible that you already submitted and then paid the application fee, but they just haven’t processed the fee yet, so it’s still prompting you to pay the fee. Because when you lock-in your application, there’s a blue button called “submit application” you need to click before it directs you to the application fee page. I think they should’ve been more clear about this. Hope to hear back from them to confirm this.
 
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Hello everyone! I'm a current MS2 at Duke and just wanted to offer myself as a resource to you all during the application cycle. I'm not too sure how things will be running amidst the whole pandemic so I won't be able to offer much insight there, but if you have questions about student life, the curriculum, minority groups, etc., feel free to ask!

Good luck to everyone and I hope to be able to meet you soon!
 
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Hello everyone! I'm a current MS2 at Duke and just wanted to offer myself as a resource to you all during the application cycle. I'm not too sure how things will be running amidst the whole pandemic so I won't be able to offer much insight there, but if you have questions about student life, the curriculum, minority groups, etc., feel free to ask!

Good luck to everyone and I hope to be able to meet you soon!
Hey, thank you! So, how's student life lol. Do you enjoy it there? What do students do for fun?
 
For the advocacy question, how different of a background should the person/people we are using as an example have? I talked about helping another student at my university (who I didn't know) with depression but I'm not sure if that would be too similar of a background.
 
What I'm struggling most with is the balance between directly answering their questions, which seem often to demand thoughtful, almost academic responses, and incorporating discussion of my own skills, experiences and aspirations.
 
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Anyone marked complete? They said they haven’t received my LoRs even though amcas sent them 3 days ago
 
Anyone marked complete? They said they haven’t received my LoRs even though amcas sent them 3 days ago
Mine says "Application Screening - Your supplemental application has been completed. Your application is now being reviewed by a set of independent screeners on our admissions committee."

Submitted yesterday, verified 7/15
 
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Mine says "Application Screening - Your supplemental application has been completed. Your application is now being reviewed by a set of independent screeners on our admissions committee."

Submitted yesterday, verified 7/15
+1
 
Do you know how long it takes them to receive LoRs? I added duke on amcas 2 days ago but received the secondary immediately
 
So I tried to submit my secondary, which prompted me to pay their $100 fee. But as soon as I clicked pay, the application portal crashed. I paid the fee, and they sent me the order confirmation, yet it still prompting me to pay the application fee before i can submit it. I already emailed, but does Anybody else have this issue too? I was using chrome, so try Firefox or Edge for those who are worried this might happen to you too.
When I clicked pay, I got an error message. Is that what happened to you, too? Did you figure out how to resolve this?
 
When I clicked pay, I got an error message. Is that what happened to you, too? Did you figure out how to resolve this?
No, still haven’t heard back from them yet. I think it takes a few more days to process the fee, it perhaps goes away. Regardless, I’m waiting to hear confirmation from them.
 
How are you approaching this "anything else" prompt? Are you using it to say "why Duke" or are you putting your gap year plans if you have any?
 
How are you approaching this "anything else" prompt? Are you using it to say "why Duke" or are you putting your gap year plans if you have any?
I was planning on using it as a gap year essay
 
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Did anyone use an edu email and have received it? Mine is not in my spam
 
It's poorly written, for sure. Even though I have a lot of research experience, I'm considering using another non-research experience to exemplify critical thinking. Not sure if that looks bad, though, if they mentioned research specifically?

I'm having the same issue... but the prompt does say that we can use a non research experience too so I'm conflicted
 
I'm having the same issue... but the prompt does say that we can use a non research experience too so I'm conflicted
I'm doing non-research, despite having a lot of research, because I feel like I can make a more interesting and compelling essay that way.
 
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For their COVID-19 prompt, I started writing about the role of the federal government vs. state governments in creating/enforcing COVID related policies (i.e. mask wearing rules, closing businesses, etc.) Would something like this be too political to submit?
 
I also ran into the payment issue and emailed them :( sigh
I know a lot of people had issues, including me. For me, I emailed them and then it got fixed the next day. Maybe they have to go around and fix it for everyone because their original issue isn't fixed yet? I don't know, I'm guessing
 
Geez some of these questions are straight up wicked. What was most humbling exp for me? The MCAT....
How did it teach me to interact with others? It showed me that there are 523+ savages with higher LizzyM scores and I'm not a hotshot.

On a serious note, what did y'all talk about? I feel like going the academic route may be a slight copout and is less introspective.
 
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For their COVID-19 prompt, I started writing about the role of the federal government vs. state governments in creating/enforcing COVID related policies (i.e. mask wearing rules, closing businesses, etc.) Would something like this be too political to submit?
I would try to focus more on your personal experiences. Anyone can write about the political landscape, but they're looking for how it has impacted your pursuit of medicine specifically. Like any other secondary question, they're trying to get to know who you are, not necessarily what you know. Just my two cents.
 
I would try to focus more on your personal experiences. Anyone can write about the political landscape, but they're looking for how it has impacted your pursuit of medicine specifically. Like any other secondary question, they're trying to get to know who you are, not necessarily what you know. Just my two cents.
I see where you're coming from but it's a bit difficult to reflect on how it has impacted us when we're still going through it. And Qstem also asks outlook on medicine so I think we can get away with broad generalizations than "...it made me want to be a physician...". Furthermore, it was close to a start of a cycle so it really shouldn't have impacted your pursuit that much.
 
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