so to anyone who attended, how was second look? and on a side note, embellis I noticed you are in both the duke and vanderbilt med class of 2011 groups? so which is it gonna be?
Hehe, and Case.
😀 WashU, UVA, and Michigan are on the table, too. I don't know... I can't decide! If money were no object, I'd definitely be going to Duke next year, but as it is... we'll see. I'm encouraged by the fact that quite a few people told me they appealed their aid packages and got more money. As it is, I'm about 60-70% sure I'll be in Durham in August. I'm holding onto all of my acceptances for right now; I'll withdraw (from the schools and from the facebook groups) as soon as I make up my mind.
Second Look was fantastic. I don't think I disliked anyone I met (well, except one, but hopefully they won't come). The current students are really fantastic, too. My only complaint was that we had so much to do, and so little time to sleep.
Let's see, what did we do... we had speakers, student panels, meals (lots of barbeque!), met with deans and other students, tours of the med school, campus, and some housing options, and went out on the town every night. They had some really great speakers... honestly, I felt so inspired. I know it sounds corny, but there it is. As for the evenings, it was Durham on Thursday and Friday, and Chapel Hill on Saturday.
To be honest, I'm not really the type to go out every weekend, I don't really drink (or dance), and I'm horribly introverted, so at first I felt kind of uncomfortable. I felt like I was probably too much of a geek to be in their company, not that anyone was at all unfriendly. By Saturday, though, I was feeling better about it, and I ended up having a really good time.
I will add, however, that on at least three separate occasions, other girls commented to me about the lack of cute guys in the prospective class. (Personally, I don't think anyone was profoundly ugly, but I will admit that there weren't very many Beautiful People, either. Which I actually think is kind of nice.) One of the girls suggested encouraging some of the accepted guys to go somewhere else, so we might get cuter guys in off the waitlist.
😉
I think there were about 90 ppl there, Females. And I second Cardiologist - all fun, interesting, friendly. I had the impression that about 20% were sold on Duke going in (like me, sorry), 20% were 80% sure about Duke but still thinking about other options, and the remainder were seriously on the fence. I know a few people decided on Duke by the end of the weekend. Reasons for considering other options, in addition to the quality and fit of the programs, were varied, from $$$ to sig. others to wanting to be in a bigger city. The other schools that most seemed to be considering were UNC, Vandy, Yale, Michigan, and UCSF. I don't think I heard anyone talk about considering Harvard or Hopkins.
There was at least one considering Hopkins... DancingChris. You may remember him from Friday night at Metro 8?
😉 Although, I feel like the type of people I met were not really the type to want to be all gung-ho about Harvard or Hopkins anyway.
I'd say closer to 30% that were sold on it. But still, a bunch of people were considering some really great alternatives. Definitely hope on the waitlist.