Dukes Anonymous :)

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Thanks for the congratulations! I was able to schedule for 1/22 by phone, but it sounded like that came from a cancellation, so I don't know how many spots they have available earlier, but it might be worth a shot! more good luck to everyone!!!:banana:
 
FemalesCANTDriv said:
OMG... I think I tear just came to my eye.
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I figured you of all people would appreciate another countdown. That definitely made last year's wait much more bearable. Although, it will be near impossible to match the level of enthusiasm you gave last year's thread:bow:.
 
This thread has been quiet....
On a random note: ever since I interviewed I keep running into people wearing Duke clothing or having others randomly mention Duke in conversation. I feel like fate is conspiring to keep Duke on my mind!
 
amers24 said:
This thread has been quiet....
On a random note: ever since I interviewed I keep running into people wearing Duke clothing or having others randomly mention Duke in conversation. I feel like fate is conspiring to keep Duke on my mind!
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feeling the same way...this wait is terrible
 
panther42 said:
I figured you of all people would appreciate another countdown. That definitely made last year's wait much more bearable. Although, it will be near impossible to match the level of enthusiasm you gave last year's thread:bow:.
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Oh stop it... you are gonna make me blush. Honestly, I felt like last year I was just :beat: if you know what I mean. Luckily the horse turned out to benefit from the beating, it got up, and then decided to let me into Duke 😍
 
Please don't think I am crazy, but I am a really picky eater and I absolutely hate condiments of any kind. I went online to select my lunch choice for interview day and realized that every single sandwich option has either mayo, pesto, ranch, or some other kind of dressing. I don't want to be the weird girl scraping the dressing off of her sandwich on interview day, so I am working on picking the least offensive condiment so that I can at least force myself to eat it. My question: I was wondering (really hoping) that maybe the condiments simply come in packets served with the sandwich and not actually on the sandwich? Can anyone who interviewed comment on this?
 
Ha... that's awesome. I'm a compulsive hand washer. The trick is how well you hide it. Luckily for me, it's not that abnormal to wash your hands before a meal (esp when interviewing to be a doctor). Anyhoo... I'm pretty sure the condiments that I had on my sandwiches when I ate with the interviewees were already on the sandwich. If I were you, I would think of a creative way to go about doing this. Honestly, though, I have never heard of anyone not getting into med school cuz they didn't like mustard or mayo. If anything, I think it gives you character. Worst case scenario, the adcom sees you scraping whatever condiment off of your sandwich, denies you admission as a result of how picky an eater you are, you have the best SDN story ever, and you go down in the history books (i.e. immortalized by your sandwich troubles). :laugh: OK... I'm rambling. Sorry I can't be of more assistance. I'm gonna inspect all interviewees from now on to see if they are scraping stuff off of their sandwiches. 😱
 
Yeah the dressings come on the sandwich. Mayo is probably the easiest to scrape off. You eat lunch with the other interviewees and some current students, but generally no one is on the adcom, so you don't have to worry about it. I doubt anyone would care that you don't like mayo. I scrape the cream cheese off my bagels when they put too much on.
 
diosa428 said:
Yeah the dressings come on the sandwich. Mayo is probably the easiest to scrape off. You eat lunch with the other interviewees and some current students, but generally no one is on the adcom, so you don't have to worry about it. I doubt anyone would care that you don't like mayo. I scrape the cream cheese off my bagels when they put too much on.
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... you would. :meanie:
 
j12 said:
Please don't think I am crazy, but I am a really picky eater and I absolutely hate condiments of any kind. I went online to select my lunch choice for interview day and realized that every single sandwich option has either mayo, pesto, ranch, or some other kind of dressing. I don't want to be the weird girl scraping the dressing off of her sandwich on interview day, so I am working on picking the least offensive condiment so that I can at least force myself to eat it. My question: I was wondering (really hoping) that maybe the condiments simply come in packets served with the sandwich and not actually on the sandwich? Can anyone who interviewed comment on this?
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you could always go to the cafeteria's hardees. MMMM, thick burger
 
MrBurns10 said:
Should I be?

Aren't you on one of the last nights before surgery? Shouldn't you be sleeping?
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No, I prefer to sleep during lectures, etc. Today was actually the first day I stayed awake all day long without a nap.
 
MrBurns10 said:
oh the irony...

for those who don't know, diosa recently hit the century mark in weight. Congratulate her!
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Ooooooooohhhhh... burn. :boom: And I am soooooo not anorexically thin... I'm totally swole and what not.
 
FCD, how is the neuro block treating you?
 
yeah...duke is awesome

There has to be more people lurking that are anxious to hear from Duke. The Mayo thread is killing us, that's bogus.
 
hey!! so seeing on this thread that it seemed like the scheduler may not have accurately shown available dates--i called duke to see if i could get an interview earlier than the feb 20 that i currently have scheduled and the lady said that if i have an interview date---i should hold onto it and not try to switch it because they are working on trying to arrange regional interviews now 😵!!! this was just what one lady told me when i called but i will assume that its true...

crazinesss!!!
 
panther42 said:
yeah...duke is awesome

There has to be more people lurking that are anxious to hear from Duke. The Mayo thread is killing us, that's bogus.
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Count me in as a lurker who is anxious to interview at Duke (next week)! I'm sure I'll be a frequent contributor to this thread starting then.
 
wow ... i interviewed yesterday 1/10

sooo impressed ... ive been on the mayo thread for a while but now I have two that i'm crazy over .......

arg ... the next 2 months of waiting are gonna be hard
 
I guess I count as a lurker too...I interviewed late October and am unsuccessfully trying not to think about Duke since I still have about two months left to wait
 
I knew there were more out there.

So to those who already interviewed, did everyone else get a pre-interview pep talk from Mr. Wallace? BigBP, you're in for a treat. I wish I could go listen to that every day, I was just thinking that might be one of the best speeches I've heard.
 
mango677 said:
I guess I count as a lurker too...I interviewed late October and am unsuccessfully trying not to think about Duke since I still have about two months left to wait
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Word.
 
RW is a great orator and just a truly good person. If you get in you also get to hear his "we love you" speech at the brunch during 2nd look. Eat the smoked salmon. Drink the delicious coffee at Parizade. And watch RW tear up and get you all kinds of charged up for the year to come.

🙂 Ah memories.

Sidenote: just because I haven't said it enough for you applicants this year, I have to say, even post-surgery and smack in the middle of clerkship year I know beyond any doubt that I made the right choice for medical school. It simply couldn't be better for me anywhere than it is here (despite the amount that I bitch about things all the time).
 
zomg hahaha, burnsie and diosa, look at our awesome "2 year member" thingies. sweeet.
 
Ahh, pagemmapants, just wait till you hit the glory of 3rd year and the ease of 4th year. "Sub-I" and "ICU" sound hard until you remember they're only 4 weeks each and otherwise you can take all the easy courses you want and coast to the finish. My 3rd and 4th years have required about 16 weeks of hard work plus about 10-12 weeks total studying for step 1 and step 2. One-half year of real work for 2 years of credit... and yet somehow I still feel like I won't graduate as a completely incompetent physician. It's even easier now for me to look back and say that I have never regretted choosing Duke.
 
TO ALL DUKE INTERVIEWEES...

I'm a 4th year. I consider myself pretty good at interviews, so I wasn't stressing the Duke interview day, but I remember falling in love with Duke that day and then realizing that I suddenly had to wait over 2 months to find out. No doubt that is stressful. All I can recommend is to put it out of mind as best you can. Gotta get tired of worrying about it at some point, right? Or hey, use the stress as an excuse to start that exercise program you've been putting off.

Anyways, I can say that both last year and this year, the people interviewing have been pretty phenomenal. I've done some of the interviews and often it is hard to find a way to distinguish the candidates in my interview comments. The interview *definitely* counts... a really strong pair of interviews will really boost you, especially if you make an impression that generates a strong positive comment from the interviewer in their assessment. Poor interviews (just because you thought it was bad doesn't mean that it actually was) can keep out a student with perfect grades, scores, and a long activity list. However, a lot of people do just as well in their interview as the rest of their application would predict so ultimately it doesn't change a whole lot.

Interview advice:
#1 is keep talking. Don't be rude, obviously, but make sure your answers are thorough and thoughtful, even if you choose to pause to think about your answers before speaking. Short, terse answers are horrible for establishing good rapport or for making you seem like you are interested and engaged by the chance to interview. Some interviewers may just be looking for answers, but many of us are hoping to stimulate a good conversation about your thoughts and interests... so give clear responses, but feel free to expand.
#2 is to maintain good eye contact. It is okay to be nervous, but you should make it seem like you are nervous because you really want to be at Duke and not because you are uncomfortable talking to people.
#3 is that when you run out of questions and feel like you need to ask another, be sure to ask the person why they chose to be here. It's an easy question.
#4 is to have a list of at least three reasons why you want to be at the school with which you are interviewing because you will likely be asked for those. Three is a nice round number of things you can present succinctly but with enough detail to suggest that you have sincerely thought about it. More reasons are okay too 🙂
 
TO ALL DUKE INTERVIEWEES...

I'm a 4th year. I consider myself pretty good at interviews, so I wasn't stressing the Duke interview day, but I remember falling in love with Duke that day and then realizing that I suddenly had to wait over 2 months to find out. No doubt that is stressful. All I can recommend is to put it out of mind as best you can. Gotta get tired of worrying about it at some point, right? Or hey, use the stress as an excuse to start that exercise program you've been putting off.

Anyways, I can say that both last year and this year, the people interviewing have been pretty phenomenal. I've done some of the interviews and often it is hard to find a way to distinguish the candidates in my interview comments. The interview *definitely* counts... a really strong pair of interviews will really boost you, especially if you make an impression that generates a strong positive comment from the interviewer in their assessment. Poor interviews (just because you thought it was bad doesn't mean that it actually was) can keep out a student with perfect grades, scores, and a long activity list. However, a lot of people do just as well in their interview as the rest of their application would predict so ultimately it doesn't change a whole lot.

Interview advice:
#1 is keep talking. Don't be rude, obviously, but make sure your answers are thorough and thoughtful, even if you choose to pause to think about your answers before speaking. Short, terse answers are horrible for establishing good rapport or for making you seem like you are interested and engaged by the chance to interview. Some interviewers may just be looking for answers, but many of us are hoping to stimulate a good conversation about your thoughts and interests... so give clear responses, but feel free to expand.
#2 is to maintain good eye contact. It is okay to be nervous, but you should make it seem like you are nervous because you really want to be at Duke and not because you are uncomfortable talking to people.
#3 is that when you run out of questions and feel like you need to ask another, be sure to ask the person why they chose to be here. It's an easy question.
#4 is to have a list of at least three reasons why you want to be at the school with which you are interviewing because you will likely be asked for those. Three is a nice round number of things you can present succinctly but with enough detail to suggest that you have sincerely thought about it. More reasons are okay too 🙂
 
thanks nevercold! can you also verify how the admissions decisions are made at duke? is everything in your application really on a 5 point scale and then a ranked list produced?
 
I'll admit that I've been lurking too. I interviewed in December during the first years' exam week. Nobody seemed too stressed out and everyone was so friendly! March seems really far away...
 
it said on the website that notifications can begin feb 28....maybe we'll get lucky this year and they'll spare us a few days of anxiety
 
Jamorama said:
thanks nevercold! can you also verify how the admissions decisions are made at duke? is everything in your application really on a 5 point scale and then a ranked list produced?
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I'm not really allowed to provide any detail that isn't given to you or wouldn't be given to you by the admissions staff. I can tell you that applications are scored before interviews are given. Most interviews are issued based on this. Then, after interviews, your evaluations on the interviews help the admissions committee to determine their opinion of you in the context of the rest of the application. Numerical scores are used in the process, but are not completely absolute in determining your fate!
 
Niiiiice, the Duke thread is booming! Thanks for all the great insight, Nevercold.
 
pagemmapants said:
RW is a great orator and just a truly good person. If you get in you also get to hear his "we love you" speech at the brunch during 2nd look. Eat the smoked salmon. Drink the delicious coffee at Parizade. And watch RW tear up and get you all kinds of charged up for the year to come.

🙂 Ah memories.

Sidenote: just because I haven't said it enough for you applicants this year, I have to say, even post-surgery and smack in the middle of clerkship year I know beyond any doubt that I made the right choice for medical school. It simply couldn't be better for me anywhere than it is here (despite the amount that I bitch about things all the time).
Click to expand...

I hope I get to hear the 'we love you' speech. If I don't get in, can I come listen anyway?
 
I think I will have to go infiltrate the speech just because I love RW that much.
 
haha panther said thick burger

Nevercold, I'm curious since you've probably done some residency interviews already...do you think the fact that you went to Duke help?
 
yeah, I'm curious about that too. We've been told anecdotally that the Duke name is one set VIP card that we all have. I have to wonder how much truth there is to that. . .
 
Don't forget about R-dub's orientation oration. For that, he'll stand on a cafeteria table and get close to shedding a few tears.
 
MrBurns10 said:
Nevercold, I'm curious since you've probably done some residency interviews already...do you think the fact that you went to Duke help?
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The Duke name helps if you put yourself in position to let it help you. I can explain this pretty simply:

1. Duke medical students by and large come out ready to be good interns. Because of this, a lot of residency programs feel pretty good about selecting a Duke student because they feel sure of that basic level of preparedness. This is true of other top-notch institutions as well. But I've definitely had faculty or program directors comment on occasion that I am from Duke.

2. A lot of great physicians pass through Duke at some point from med school through years as attendings. As a result, other places may be familiar with these people or have good relationships with Duke that add an extra respect to letters of recommendation from Duke faculty or to your training overall. The former is definitely a comment I have gotten in regards to a letter of recommendation or two.

3. The opportunities and education at Duke are great. We do well on the boards and we learn how to love medicine. Plus we get strong research experience or second degrees that add to the resume.

So to answer your question: Yes, being from Duke helps in the residency application process. But of course you also have to work hard and still earn the grades or the board scores. (That being said, no one has asked me about my big fat "PASS" in surgery 🙂 )
 
So did any of you current dukies find time to do the basketball campout this year? Isn't there always a test on the following Monday? If I end up at Duke, my goal is to make it to at least one UNC/Duke contest.
 
We didn't have a test directly after campout this year, so it was fine.

Nevercold, are you who I think you are??? A 4th year going into surgery who has been on the adcom before... I think I know.
 
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