Are the majority of Duke adcoms overly pretentious?

[ihatescience]

Not to start any type of flame war of sorts, I'm just wondering what Duke admissions was like. I recently called and asked them if they contextualize disadvantaged students in light of their GPA/work experiences etc. They said the adcoms wouldn't take notice of disadvantaged status and that doesn't play into admissions.

I also asked how they look at courses taken abroad, for a year or semester, and they said that the admissions committee would likely not pay attention to them.

My question is, do I want to apply to a school that neglects those from a lower socioeconomic background and doesn't look at applicants holistically? Not to say I'd get in, but applying would require much time and effort. Did I just talk to someone having a bad day, or are my concerns legit?

Thanks!

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[Meeher]

Not to start any type of flame war of sorts, I'm just wondering what Duke admissions was like. I recently called and asked them if they contextualize disadvantaged students in light of their GPA/work experiences etc. They said the adcoms wouldn't take notice of disadvantaged status and that doesn't play into admissions.

I also asked how they look at courses taken abroad, for a year or semester, and they said that the admissions committee would likely not pay attention to them.

My question is, do I want to apply to a school that neglects those from a lower socioeconomic background and doesn't look at applicants holistically? Not to say I'd get in, but applying would require much time and effort. Did I just talk to someone having a bad day, or are my concerns legit?

Thanks!

Duke admissions is anything but pretentious. When I was applying (and this may be biased because I went to school there), they seemed very accommodating to everyone. I'm sure they will view your application as holistically as possible. It may be possible, however, that they don't want you to think that just because of your situation, you should get in. I'd apply and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised at their attitude, especially on interview day. They seemed a lot more humble than other top 10 schools I interviewed at, especially Harvard, whose admissions staff I thought was pretty aloof (though the students were awesome!).

 

[carramrod]

Duke admissions is anything but pretentious. When I was applying (and this may be biased because I went to school there), they seemed very accommodating to everyone. I'm sure they will view your application as holistically as possible. It may be possible, however, that they don't want you to think that just because of your situation, you should get in. I'd apply and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised at their attitude, especially on interview day. They seemed a lot more humble than other top 10 schools I interviewed at, especially Harvard, whose admissions staff I thought was pretty aloof (though the students were awesome!).

Gotta agree with this. Having interviewed at several other top schools, I caught none of the 'holier than thou' attitude at Duke. My best guess: you called as a prospective applicant for next season at a time when they're far more concerned with finalizing the current admits and received some answers that came across as short. In addition, they probably didn't want to lead you on or whatever about things in your record that may be beneficial in weighing your application. And worst case, you get to find this all out for yourself if you interview there down the road.

Plus if you interview there, you get a frisbee.

 

[Jacks Mannequin]

Plus if you interview there, you get a frisbee.

Sweet.

*adds Duke to amcas med school list*

 

[Surf Rx]

I like frisbees. I hear their secondary is a beast though...an absolute beast.

 

[Tristy]

I hear their secondary is a beast though...an absolute beast.

I still cringe when I remember filling out that secondary

 

[dakta]

Not to start any type of flame war of sorts, I'm just wondering what Duke admissions was like. I recently called and asked them if they contextualize disadvantaged students in light of their GPA/work experiences etc. They said the adcoms wouldn't take notice of disadvantaged status and that doesn't play into admissions.

I also asked how they look at courses taken abroad, for a year or semester, and they said that the admissions committee would likely not pay attention to them.

My question is, do I want to apply to a school that neglects those from a lower socioeconomic background and doesn't look at applicants holistically? Not to say I'd get in, but applying would require much time and effort. Did I just talk to someone having a bad day, or are my concerns legit?

Thanks!

As a Duke adcom representative, I'll echo that your call may have had unfortunate timing. The office is very busy right now trying to coordinate financial aid and processing all sorts of paperwork for the incoming class. Additionally, they are preparing for the movement that will begin on May 15th after the waitlist movement starts. I can also assure you that when you start talking about many top schools, some schools are thought of as "numbers schools" meaning they may look at GPA, MCAT, etc without paying much attention to the other things. Duke is what I like to call a "numbers - plus" school meaning that we look at those things, but we're VERY interested in WHO the person is... not just whether he/she can score well in classes and on standardized tests.

Along the same lines, study abroad can really be good on interview day as you may have some great experiences to talk about and, depending on your area of study and what you did, you may have some good insight to discuss. Perhaps the person you spoke with was intending to convey that study abraod was not discouraged because I can't think of situations where valid experiences abroad were necessarily harmful.

I like frisbees. I hear their secondary is a beast though...an absolute beast.

Yes, the secondary is the longest I ever filled out in my application process. My advice is start sooner rather than later if you're really interested.

And, I'm sorry to say this, but we're out of frisbees. I don't know if more will be ordered or not.

 

[CTtarheel]

My advice is start sooner rather than later if you're really interested.

HA . . . hard to do that when they decide not to release it until september. Dook really is a great school though, esp. if you're interested in research, their curriculum is really one of a kind (for good or bad).

I could just never bring myself to root for the blue devils . . . or complete that secondary!

 

[Dookter]

My question is, do I want to apply to a school that neglects those from a lower socioeconomic background and doesn't look at applicants holistically? Not to say I'd get in, but applying would require much time and effort. Did I just talk to someone having a bad day, or are my concerns legit?

Thanks!

As a current Duke student, I wouldn't say our admissions process neglects people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. I have no access to the ADCOMs, but I am just judging by our school makeup. Medical schools and higher education in general neglect people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, but Duke seems to do as good of a job as anyone of being inclusive of all people. My guess is that even though all top schools have students of disadvantaged backgrouds, those students did not under-perform in any way when it comes to how they look on paper. So these students would be disadvantaged and high achieving. So the whole package is there...but that's just my hunch.

 

[45408]

I still cringe when I remember filling out that secondary

I cringe when I think about when I thought about filling out that secondary. I said screw it, and moved long.

 

[Dr Durden]

Richard Wallace at Duke is the only admission staff member whose name I can recall after all my interviews this year. He was by far the most friendly and enthusiastic guy I encountered, and he practically has a fan club here on SDN.

Don't let a brusque phone conversation a few days before the national scramble on May 15 (or that dreaded secondary) discourage you from considering Duke this coming year.