Duke acceptances?

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Hey all --

I was just wondering if anyone who interviewed at Duke has received an acceptance yet. I know today is the first day acceptances can go out, so if anyone hears from them, I'd appreciate it if you'd drop us a line. Thanks, and good luck to everyone.

P.S. I can't believe they lost at home last night by 11!
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I interviewed at Duke recently and the people in the admissions office said that they are running behind and acceptances won't go out until early next week--thought you'd want to know.
 


Does anyone know how many applicants are interviewed and about what percent are accepted? Is it common to have a regional interview?
 
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Flowergirl -- Thanks for the Duke update. I guess I won't be rushing home to check the mailbox for a while.

Keith -- According to the MSAR info for the 1999-2000 entering class, Duke received 5,665 applications, interviewed 1,240, and ended up with a class of 100. Obviously, they admit more than a 100 people because some people decline the offer. I've read elsewhere that schools tend to accept about twice the number of people that they expect to enroll. As for regional interviews, I'm not sure exactly how common they are. But I do know that the guy who hosted me during my visit to Duke (who went to my undergrad school) did a regional interview and was accepted. But most people recommend going to campus to interview because it's the best chance for you to get a feel for the school. For me, my visit was very impressive, and I don't think I could have received anywhere near as much info from a regional representative. Hope this helps.
 
Just an update -- I called the Duke Admissions Office this morning, and they said they were indeed behind, and they hoped to get letters sent out on March 9th. So we can stop holding our breaths.
 
Lordy, lordy, lordy, they are behind. But thanks, everyone, for the concrete information. Now I can postpone my anxiety attack for another week and a half. Merci!
 
So they send out letters? I thought I heard somewhere that they called you if you were accepted. Does anyone know?

Also, if they are waiting until next week, does that mean that there will only be one batch of acceptances instead of two?
 
Scully, when I called the admissions office, they mentioned letters -- they said nothing about phone calls. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't call, but I think the logistics would be problematic -- they would have to make a hundred-ish phone calls in a short period of time. Phone call acceptances are more practical for schools with rolling admissions that don't have to deal with notifying everybody at once.

I'm just speculating, though. I don't really know anything about Duke's methods.
 
Update for anyone who applied to Duke...My girlfriend and I just got our acceptance letters today...We were soooo happy (this is our first mutual acceptance). The letter is dated Mar. 2, so I'm not sure how behind they really are. Hopefully, you will be receiving good news any day now.

To all those couples out there applying together, I just want to say hang in there. Strange things happen when you least expect it.
 
WOW!!! Congrats DXN!!! I am really happy for you and your girlfriend. Duke is a FANTASTIC school - I am sure you will both be very happy there.

Congratulations!
 
Thinking about getting accepted/rejected at Duke reminded me that I have not touched their financial aid stuff. So I went to look for it - and can't find anything! Should I have received some info during my interview? I am pretty sure they didn't mail me anything. Thanks!
 
YES I remember! I had to watch it all alone with the dean - I was the only one interviewing that day! Thankfully she was VERY nice ....
 
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dxn, do you mind if I ask when you interviewed? and was it in Durham?

-Thanks
 
dxn -- Congrats on your (and your spouse's) acceptance to Duke! And I thought it was hard enough trying to coordinate getting just myself accepted. Now that we know at least some acceptance letters have gone out, I guess I'll be making the anxious run to the mailbox for the next few days. Thanks a lot for the update.
 
AHHH, so many Duke fans, where are my Chapel Hill supports! *sigh*

------------------
~Pegasus~
 
I interviewed at Duke last Friday, 3/2. They sent out a sheaf of letters that day as people are finding out. They said for our group, we would be receiving yea/nays in about two weeks from our interview date, ie ~3/16.

-OD
 
Hey Oceandust - I interviewed there on Thursday (3/1). I was wondered if they mentioned how many "offers" they are holding for people like us who interviewed after they already made decisions for one group? Do you have any idea?
 
I think they said they would be filling about half the slots in the first batch, the other in two weeks.

--> OD
 
Thanks everyone for the congratulations. It's such a nice feeling to have this one mutual acceptance under our belts. I was feeling a little worried just a week ago, but now things are looking up.

Chimera: My girlfriend and I had our interviews in late January (20 something.. don't remember the exact date). We drove down to Duke for them. I didn't know that they also offered regionals...?

Christiangirl: We too are anxiously awaiting UPenn and Cornell. In comparison to Duke, I'd have to say that both rate higher. But that's probably because our interview day didn't go as well as we would have liked. My gf and I ended up with the same faculty and student interviewers. The faculty member was late, tired, and seemingly depressed about something. The interview was probably one of my worst ones. I just didn't connect on any level with him. My tour guide also failed to show up, so the admissions woman paged another student to show me around, but by the time she showed up there was only time for a 15 minute tour. Needless to say, I wasn't very impressed with the organization, but I guess these things do happen and it seems that my first interview didn't put a black mark on my app.

We were both thouroughly impressed with Cornell when we were there for our interviews at the end of Jan. I remember seeing that you were there too around that time. What day? Cornell interviews were easily both of my best ones, so the school's got a lot of first-impression pull to it.
UPenn was also a great place that I'd love to attend. The students were the happiest of all schools I've been to and I totally clicked with my student hosts and their friends i hung out with that night before my interviews. There are also several other schools that we're really hoping to hear back from. Ideally we'll have some tough choices to make come may/june (I'm still on some waitlists at other top-choice schools). There are so many fabulous schools, and I love several of them for different reasons. I think if it comes down to the end and we do have several acceptances our decisions will hinge on second look weekends. If not, I think that Duke would be a wonderful place to learn medicine.

[This message has been edited by dxn (edited 03-06-2001).]
 
DXN-

have you heard anything about when duke's 2nd look wkd is?
 
There I was happily postponing my anxiety attack until this time next week...Now I find out that some letters have already been sent out. And I'll drive myself crazy for the rest of the day as I wait for the mail to arrive (sound familiar, anyone?)

And why is it so hard to be optimistic, or even neutral,as I wait? Why am I so filled with trepidation? This process of applying to medical school has just destroyed my equilibrium and sense of perspective. Mercifully, this is the last decision letter I'm waiting for...

Oh yeah, CONGRATULATIONS, dxn and girlfriend. That's wonderful news!

Oceandust: to clarify, when they told you that you'd find out "yea/nay" in mid-March, did they actually specify that acceptances AND post-interview rejections go out at the same time? How about waitlist letters? I read something somewhere that implied that acceptances get sent out first; rejectees and waitlistees get notified sometime later in the process. Just trying to figure out whether no letter = no acceptance or merely indicates that I have to wait until mid-March for the the second batch.

[This message has been edited by omores (edited 03-06-2001).]
 
Omores --

I think you and I are leading parallel lives! It seems like I'm in the exact same situation that you are. I had convinced myself not to anxiously await the mailman's arrival until next week, but it appears since letters have started to go out, I'll be making repeated trips to the mailbox. And, like you, I don't know what an empty mailbox means at this point. But this thread has really helped me get some good info. Thanks everyone.
 
Omores,

Sorry to cause confusion. i can honestly say on Friday they sent large manila, 9 x 13 envelopes that appeared to be acceptances. What I referred to as having two rounds, spaced about two weeks, refer to acceptances, I think.

I am not completely certain on this. Feel free to call admissions, and clarify for all of us eagerly waiting.

--> OD
 
It's nice to have company. I just e-mailed Duke to ask them whether rejecto and waitlist letters go out at the same time as acceptances, and when the next set of letters will be mailed. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back.

Happy waiting.

[This message has been edited by omores (edited 03-06-2001).]
 
Hi dxn. I interviewed at Cornell on 1/23. When did you interview? It was actually my second interview and like you it WAS definitely one of my top 2 interview experiences. I must say I didn't quite get a good feel from the other interviewees, but I think we were all tense and there wasn't really a "time" where we could all be "ourselves" and not be so formal like a lot of other schools. One of the things that I liked about Cornell was the ability to do research internationally (and even better yet have them pay for it!!
smile.gif
) whereas I found out during my Duke interview is extremely difficult to convince faculty it is worthwhile to be anywhere but Duke for the four years. However, I do like Duke's program as well and the ability to have that third year to explore your research/community service interests. But one thing that made me anxious was that I heard different things about are the board scores? Does anyone know anything about that? In the guidebook, it says 90% score above the 90th percentile, but when we saw the sheet it seemed like a long range (and I think many students were not in the 90th percentile, but I don't know how to interpret the scores) and the tour guide blew it off saying that Duke's major focus is not to teach you how to do well on the boards (explaining the range) and then went on to say that they have no course in embryology, which is part of the boards. But she said that everyone just buys this review book and is fine. Does anyone else know anything about how the students perform on the boards? But I loved the 1st years and my fellow interviewees that day. Everyone was super. By the way, I had a weird Duke interview experience. Did you remember who you had? Was he an MD/PhD?

If you get into Penn and Cornell will you stick on the waitlist for some schools? Does anyone have any advice on what you would do if you end up on a waitlist at a school you really like and get accepted at a school that you like as well (or just a smidge less)?
smile.gif








[This message has been edited by Christiangirl (edited 03-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Christiangirl (edited 03-06-2001).]
 
dxn,

I noticed that your girlfriend has gotten into harvard as well. Would she pick Duke over Harvard so that you can be together? That's devotion!
 
For all those awaiting mail from Duke:

I just spoke to the admissions office this morning, and was told that ALL letters (i.e. acceptos, rejectos and waitlists) should be out within the next two weeks. I think we can extrapolate from other posts (including one on TPR) that the acceptance letters go out first in their nice manilla jackets; the other types go out later. The next batch of acceptos is due to go out March 16.

The Duke adcom just met last night, I was told, and most of the regional interviewees were discussed at this recent meeting. I was a regional, so now I will once again postpone my anxiety attack until two weeks from now.

Good luck all.

[This message has been edited by omores (edited 03-07-2001).]
 
omores- thanks for the information! I am sure that I will continue to check my mailbox with great anticipation, but at least I won't feel so bad if it is empty. I had a regional interview as well. What did you think of yours?

Keep us posted!
 
Omores --

Thanks for the updated info. I'm sure the Duke admissions folks will appreciate us getting the info from this website as opposed to all of us calling their office and bugging them. Best of luck as you continue to wait . . .
 
No problem. Doing things like calling up admissions offices and speculating about how and when they send out decisions gives me a very transient (and totally illusory) sense of control over my destiny.

Scully: I really enjoyed my regional interview, but it could have been awful. Although I had requested an interview in New York City, an hour and a half away from where I live, Duke set me up with an interviewer in a remote part of the state, 8 hours away. This person was an ER doc with a very tight schedule, and he wanted to interview me IN HIS CAR in the parking lot of a diner. No joke. I ended up calling Duke back on another matter, and ended up asking (very diplomatically) whether it would be possible to have an interview in NYC, as I had requested. They were very obliging. Turns out they had lost my original location request.

My interviewer was a great guy, very friendly, and spent a long time telling me about Duke, their educational philosophy, and so on. I actually came away with quite a good sense of the place, even though I was nowhere near it.

How was yours?

[This message has been edited by omores (edited 03-07-2001).]
 
omores-

I thought that my experience was a little odd, but after hearing your story, I guess not! I visited a practicing doctor who was running late and did not have my file. So, he really did not know much about me and didn't ask me much. He was very friendly and enthusiastic about Duke though! I don't know what kind of report he could possibly give to the ADCOM, but oh well! Maybe the interview doesn't count for much (like Stanford
frown.gif
)
 
Just to keep you on edge a while longer....there was a post on TPR saying that a THIRD batch of acceptances goes out in April. This makes sense, because the regional-interview-arranger I spoke with said that, although the committee had met the night before, she still had some regional reports that had just arrived.

This poster was also told that waitlist letters go out in April, which jibes with Duke's own website's claim that a waitlist is created in April.

So why did the Duke admissions office tell me that ALL letters go out in the next two weeks? Confusion reigns. Read Telomerase's post for some sobering news (unless you're a late or regional interviewee). And luck to all.

Scully, it probably wouldn't have made much difference if your interviewer had had your file. From what I can tell (based on my own experience and a few comments on interviewfeedback.com), Duke only sends interviewers your name and numbers -- they don't even include your personal statement. I hadn't realized this at first, and I kept alluding to major events in my life that I had assumed my interviewer was aware of, only to get blank looks in return. It was a very, uh, non-linear interview. So don't fret about yours; it sounds like it was friendly enough, even if it was superficial.

[This message has been edited by omores (edited 03-09-2001).]
 
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