Dukes Anonymous :)

[FemalesCANTDriv]

---

Members do not see this ad.

FCD is still looking for someone to host, since he was too late to sign up... although you might not want to stay with him, I hear his house smells like iguanas

You know... you can't use my own joke against me. If your apt smells like iguanas, then stop trying to tell everyone that my apt smells like iguanas... honestly! 😛

beepbloop, congrats!!!

 

[diosa428]

You know... you can't use my own joke against me. If your apt smells like iguanas, then stop trying to tell everyone that my apt smells like iguanas... honestly! 😛

beepbloop, congrats!!!

I just want to be like you. Guess I'll have to lose some weight.

 

[FinJim]

anyone...anyone....ANYONE else still not heard? I'm at a loss.😕

 

[nova1983]

I don't know FinJim -- could you call again and explain the situation, i.e. that you still haven't received the decision and that you have received mail that's postmarked after the date they told you they re-sent the letter? Either the letter got lost again (incorrect address?!?) or they didn't send the letter. Seems the latter is unlikely, but Bleepblop's post makes me think that maybe there are a few others who the committee hasn't made a decision on yet.... If I were you I'd call again. Good luck!

 

[beepbloop]

I'm not busting chops here, but I don't know if it was that the ADCOMM simply hadn't decided on a few people. I was told that my interviewer forgot to evaluate me. I would venture that this particular scenario is few and far between. However, if you were lucky enough to interview with an older (we're talking 75+ y/o) distinguished physician, it's a possibility. If that sounds like you, PM me and we'll see if we had the same interviewer. Hope that helps.

 

[nomoreplz]

anyone...anyone....ANYONE else still not heard? I'm at a loss.😕

I've heard absolutely nothing. And they wouldn't tell me anything over the phone, either, just "wait and see." Well, I'm calling again tomorrow because this is ridiculous. I don't see why they can't just tell me. YAR

 

[Jamorama]

yeah me too i haven't heard ANYTHING. i just assumed i was rejected...but since so many people haven't heard...now i'm just puzzled....

 

[FinJim]

I think a decision has been made on my app bc when I talked to a guy on the phone in admissions last Monday, he asked my name and he read off the correct address once he looked me up in the computer. He then said, "I'll put another letter in the mail for you." My brilliant self didn't think to ask him to e-mail it. Gonna be bummed if it's a rejection...but hey, life goes on. Plus, others in this situation are still getting waitlisted. Who knows. Thanks for the help, though!

 

[nova1983]

Hmm, I dunno guys. Not sure if there's anything else to do other than call again. But I really do sympathize with just wanting a decision, be it rejected or waitlisted....

 

[Jamorama]

got the letter today dated march 21....(yeah took long enough). waitlist....

 

[stso]

I was wondering how many people showed up to the Second Look Weekend and how many have definitely decided to attend DukeMed. Also, does anybody know how full the upcoming class is?

 

[callmedonnie]

I was wondering how many people showed up to the Second Look Weekend and how many have definitely decided to attend DukeMed. Also, does anybody know how full the upcoming class is?

from what i heard a ton of ppl have already put down their deposits (many more than in past this early in the process), but obviously that really doesnt mean anything bc you can get that refunded after pulling out.

at second look, i noticed on the first day it was about 50/50 "sure" vs "still deciding." by the sunday brunch, many of the "not sures" turned into "i am definitely coming to duke."

but the jury was still out on plenty of ppl at 2nd look. i just noticed a lot of were convinced by the end of the weekend that duke was their top choice.

 

[SBBunny]

from what i heard a ton of ppl have already put down their deposits (many more than in past this early in the process), but obviously that really doesnt mean anything bc you can get that refunded after pulling out.

at second look, i noticed on the first day it was about 50/50 "sure" vs "still deciding." by the sunday brunch, many of the "not sures" turned into "i am definitely coming to duke."

but the jury was still out on plenty of ppl at 2nd look. i just noticed a lot of were convinced by the end of the weekend that duke was their top choice.

Not looking good for this year's GINORMOUS waitlist... Then again, I imagine that people leave every second look weekend feeling like [X] is their top choice. Oh well

 

[callmedonnie]

Then again, I imagine that people leave every second look weekend feeling like [X] is their top choice.

i do agree with you on this, and a lot of ppl were absolutely housed friday and saturday night

 

[beepbloop]

Hey Guys,
I'm 99.9% certain I'll be at Duke in a few months now due to a few recent developments. As such, I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could help me answer:

1. What's the cell phone service like in Durham? My wife and I currently have T-mobile, but I think I remember the service being pretty terrible when we were there.

2. Where are some cool, historic places to live (i.e. not really new apt. buildings, etc.)? We've looked on Craigslist and so far Trinity Park seems to be the closest to what we're looking for. We also liked Carrboro when we were there, but I was wondering if there was somewhere similar closer to Duke.

3. This is a lame question--I'll give you that one before I pose it 😳 Are there any older/artsy districts/parts of Durham? I don't know quite how to describe what I'm looking for except for to give examples. For anyone familiar with Atlanta, I'm thinking about Candler Park/VA Highlands/Emory Area. For anyone familiar with St. Louis (I'm really not, just hearsay), I'm thinking of the Central West End. Somewhere that has boutiques/shops, etc.

4. Do many of the Duke med students buy places, or do people primarily rent? Given question #2, would I even be able to find a place that I like and is affordable to buy?

5. Anyone have an estimate of how many people (typically) in the incoming class are married? Just curious.

6. If we did live in Carrboro, how long would it take to get to Duke in the AM--I'm thinking at least 30 minutes with traffic, right?

I think those are all the questions I have for now. I really, really appreciate all the help, you guys 😀

-beepbloop

 

[stso]

It looks like a lot of people are really sure about going to Duke next year....I wonder if there is going to be any waitlist movement 🙁

 

[diosa428]

Hey Guys,
I'm 99.9% certain I'll be at Duke in a few months now due to a few recent developments. As such, I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could help me answer:

1. What's the cell phone service like in Durham? My wife and I currently have T-mobile, but I think I remember the service being pretty terrible when we were there.

2. Where are some cool, historic places to live (i.e. not really new apt. buildings, etc.)? We've looked on Craigslist and so far Trinity Park seems to be the closest to what we're looking for. We also liked Carrboro when we were there, but I was wondering if there was somewhere similar closer to Duke.

3. This is a lame question--I'll give you that one before I po it 😳 Are there any older/artsy districts/parts of Durham? I don't know quite how to describe what I'm looking for except for to give examples. For anyone familiar with Atlanta, I'm thinking about Candler Park/VA Highlands/Emory Area. For anyone familiar with St. Louis (I'm really not, just hearsay), I'm thinking of the Central West End. Somewhere that has boutiques/shops, etc.

4. Do many of the Duke med students buy places, or do people primarily rent? Given question #2, would I even be able to find a place that I like and is affordable to buy?

5. Anyone have an estimate of how many people (typically) in the incoming class are married? Just curious.

6. If we did live in Carrboro, how long would it take to get to Duke in the AM--I'm thinking at least 30 minutes with traffic, right?

I think those are all the questions I have for now. I really, really appreciate all the help, you guys 😀

-beepbloop

I'll answer what I can...

1. Tmobile has terrible service in Durham, although some people stay with it. I'm not sure why. Verizon probably has the best service, although AT&T and Sprint also seem to be fine. I had to cancel my Tmobile plan once I got here, and they are willing to let you out of your agreement if you can prove that you no longer live in a Tmobile service area (which Durham wasn't, the last time I checked).
2 & 3 - no idea
4. A lot of people rent, but some people do buy (esp MD/PhDs). You can prob get a decent house/townhouse for around $200k. Mr. Burns and pagemmapants own their own homes so you could ask them.
5. Our class had like <5 married when we were incoming, although several more have gotten married/engaged during our first 2 years.
6. Yeah prob at least 30 mins. There is no fast and easy way to get from Carrboro to Duke (same goes for CH). The highways (or whatever they are called) can be pretty congested at prime traveling times.

 

[OMFB]

Hey Guys,
I'm 99.9% certain I'll be at Duke in a few months now due to a few recent developments. As such, I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could help me answer:

1. What's the cell phone service like in Durham? My wife and I currently have T-mobile, but I think I remember the service being pretty terrible when we were there.

2. Where are some cool, historic places to live (i.e. not really new apt. buildings, etc.)? We've looked on Craigslist and so far Trinity Park seems to be the closest to what we're looking for. We also liked Carrboro when we were there, but I was wondering if there was somewhere similar closer to Duke.

3. This is a lame question--I'll give you that one before I pose it 😳 Are there any older/artsy districts/parts of Durham? I don't know quite how to describe what I'm looking for except for to give examples. For anyone familiar with Atlanta, I'm thinking about Candler Park/VA Highlands/Emory Area. For anyone familiar with St. Louis (I'm really not, just hearsay), I'm thinking of the Central West End. Somewhere that has boutiques/shops, etc.

4. Do many of the Duke med students buy places, or do people primarily rent? Given question #2, would I even be able to find a place that I like and is affordable to buy?

5. Anyone have an estimate of how many people (typically) in the incoming class are married? Just curious.

6. If we did live in Carrboro, how long would it take to get to Duke in the AM--I'm thinking at least 30 minutes with traffic, right?

I think those are all the questions I have for now. I really, really appreciate all the help, you guys 😀

-beepbloop

I find that people with Verizon tend to have the best coverage.

 

[SBBunny]

It looks like a lot of people are really sure about going to Duke next year....I wonder if there is going to be any waitlist movement 🙁

Well, if people weren't sure about Duke, they wouldn't be posting here, would they? Nobody's going to post saying "Hey, I wasn't impressed at Duke's second look, so I'm going to [xxx]." Let's all hope for the best

 

[nevercold]

Hey Guys,
I'm 99.9% certain I'll be at Duke in a few months now due to a few recent developments. As such, I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could help me answer:

[intervening stuff]

I think those are all the questions I have for now. I really, really appreciate all the help, you guys 😀

-beepbloop

1. I don't know about T-Mobile. I currently have Verizon and despite the fact that they are evil, I get pretty solid cell phone reception most places except inside some garages and basements of course.

2. Downtown Durham/Tobacco District. There are some warehouses that have been renovated into pretty nice apartments. There are a few other apartment stops in the more business/financial part of Durham that are nice and close enough.

3. Downtown/Tobacco District is on this 10-year renovation plan and it is already quite improved with more plans on the way. Some info here: http://www.downtowndurham.com/
Raleigh has a great arts/music scene to investigate as well.

4. Both. Most MD/PhDs buy. You can still find townhomes for $100-150k and single family homes for $120-200k. $120k mortgage at current rates (~6%) is $720/month. Some people buy with the specific intent to rent a room to one or more other students to make up the cost of the mortgage payment. Apartments range from $500-$700 for a 1BR/1BA and $700-$1000 for a 2BR. "Market rents" are much higher than what you should pay and you should negotiate something lower.

5. In my class there were about 5 people married. Another 5 got married by the end of the first year. Now we have about 20 or so people that are married or planning to get married soon.

6. Do not live in Carrboro unless you have an awesome reason. Your second year, you will have Surgery and have to get in at like 5 or 5:30 am to preround. On that and other rotations you may have call into the late evening or even overnight (Obstetrics in 2nd year, Sub-internships in 4th year). You do not want the extra drive if you can avoid it. With all the lights, Carrboro will mean a 20 minute drive at best and a 35-40 minute drive at worst. There is *a lot* available that ranges from 5-15 minutes driving.

 

[Chaz Michaels]

Hi, Is email a reasonable way to contact RW?

THanks

 

[stso]

I think email is a reasonable way to contact RW. He has replied once to my emails, but his replies are rare since he is really busy.

As an aside, since it is few days after second look, I guess that accepted people should have started to make a decision upon attending DukeMed...does anybody know how many people have already matriculated into the entering class?

 

[SBBunny]

I think email is a reasonable way to contact RW. He has replied once to my emails, but his replies are rare since he is really busy.

As an aside, since it is few days after second look, I guess that accepted people should have started to make a decision upon attending DukeMed...does anybody know how many people have already matriculated into the entering class?

I don't think that there's any way of telling how many people have 100% decided on Duke- lots of people could have been accepted, put down the deposit (refundable before May 15th, no?), and still be deciding between Duke and some other school(s).

Oh yeah- I sent my LOI via snail mail. Is that still okay? I didn't get any response yet, but it hasn't been that long since I sent it.

 

[nova1983]

I agree with SBBunny--besides, I'm really not sure there's any point speculating how full the class is or how many people will be taken off the waitlist. Even the AdCom won't know for a few more weeks! All any of us can do is send in some additional info and then cross our fingers and wait another month, hoping for the slight chance of getting lucky.... Easier said than done, I know!

 

[pagemmapants]

ninjas

 

[diosa428]

ninjas

piiiirates? Speaking of, where's Burns? She promised me a party.

 

[cmc5784]

i just have a couple of questions, and am looking for a bit of input...

so, i'm working on finishing up my LOI, and planning on sending it via email to RW. Do you guys who have done this have any thoughts as to the best date range to get it there? I was aiming for very late april/very early may. Good?

also, is it too much to say that if i get into Duke i will definitely go? i know there's a difference between interest/intent...and while interest is all fine and good, if i get into Duke i will 100% go. For so many reasons.

thanks!

 

[diosa428]

i just have a couple of questions, and am looking for a bit of input...

so, i'm working on finishing up my LOI, and planning on sending it via email to RW. Do you guys who have done this have any thoughts as to the best date range to get it there? I was aiming for very late april/very early may. Good?

also, is it too much to say that if i get into Duke i will definitely go? i know there's a difference between interest/intent...and while interest is all fine and good, if i get into Duke i will 100% go. For so many reasons.

thanks!

#1 - yeah I'd send it in late april so they have it in may whenever they start finalizing decisions.
#2 - yeah you can say that. I did.

 

[Jessie12]

so letters of intent should be addressed to RW..not Brenda Armstrong?

 

[SBBunny]

so letters of intent should be addressed to RW..not Brenda Armstrong?

I addressed mine to Dr. Armstrong... I think that's okay...

 

[diosa428]

so letters of intent should be addressed to RW..not Brenda Armstrong?

Either is fine. Some people interact more with RW on interview day and send one to him since they know him. Some people interact more with Dr. Armstrong. If you didn't really talk to either, go ahead and send it to whoever you'd prefer.

 

[SBBunny]

So, my laptop is on it's last legs. It randomly shuts itself down (it'll stay on for several minutes, then die... sometimes I have to try a bunch of times before the power button will turn the computer back on). Slight movement seems to result in sudden shutdown. I'm waitlisted and... honestly, I know that chances are really slim that I'll end up at Duke. I understand that Duke requires that students buy a certain kind of laptop (the computer is included in the financial aid package). Is this right? What's the deal with getting a computer at Duke? I'd ideally want to wait until I'm enrolled in med school so that I can get a student discount on my next laptop (if I had my preferences, I'd buy a MacBook- my Windows laptops have been really awful)


...the computer has been behaving for almost twenty minutes now! Maybe it'll last another 2.5 months?

 

[GuardianAngel]

Your student "discount" at Duke will get you a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 for ~$2500. The only discount you're going to get by waiting is that you won't have to buy two laptops. As far as I know, there's no getting out of buying the laptop from Duke.

 

[SBBunny]

Your student "discount" at Duke will get you a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 for ~$2500. The only discount you're going to get by waiting is that you won't have to buy two laptops. As far as I know, there's no getting out of buying the laptop from Duke.

Yeah, that's what I thought... Not having to buy two laptops does save a lot of money, though. I'll rough it out with this computer until I know where I'll be (it hasn't shut down for a while now!)

 

[MrBurns10]

piiiirates? Speaking of, where's Burns? She promised me a party.

I'm here, haven't been on this forum in, like, 5 days! Perhaps a party this summer, maybe one next year (which clearly you'd come down for). We'll see.

Have fun at Spring Fling tonight...Matt isn't exactly disappointed we're out of town, though I'm sure he'd love to see an intoxicated diosa.

 

[SAS1284]

I was put on the waitlist and really want to go to Duke ie my top choice. I was wondering if anybody knew how Duke takes kids of the unranked waitlist. Also, I have already written a letter of interest...is there anything else I can do?

 

[diosa428]

Matt isn't exactly disappointed we're out of town, though I'm sure he'd love to see an intoxicated diosa.

Tell him he missed quite the show. Although not quite as good as last year (not that I really could have topped that without dying of alcohol poisoning).

 

[Jamorama]

so LOIs can be sent via email to mr wallace?

 

[stso]

Yes, send LOIs to RW. To all of those who got of the waitlist in previous years: did you send multiple LOIs or just one?

23 days to go!! Here's hoping for good news

 

[Jessie12]

I'm also wondering the same thing - multiple LOIs or one.. ?

 

[nomoreplz]

Duke is all "oh okay nomoreplz we will send you your decision in an email now. on april 21."

Duke, I am sorry to say it, but that is poor form.

 

[nova1983]

Shoot, sorry nomorereplz, that sucks. What was the result in the end? And have you finally heard, FinJim?

Only 3 weeks to go....

 

[nova1983]

19 days to go!

Compared to last year's thread, this is like watching paint dry! FCD, we need your rampant enthusiasm here!

 

[SBBunny]

I concur. C'mon, Duke enthusiasm!

Only one year of basic science classes? HELL YEAH!
Early clinical rotations and lots of electives? HELL YEAH!
A full year to do research? HELL YEAH!
World-class medical institution? HELL YEAH!
Awesome students? HELL YEAH!
Supportive community? HELL YEAH!
Lovely campus? HELL YEAH!
Pleasant weather and affordable living? HELL YEAH!
Unquestionable right to use words like "y'all"? HELL YEAH, Y'ALL!

 

[nova1983]

Love it, SBBunny, awesome.

Given that it snowed the other day here, I give an extra loud HELL YEAH for the good weather!

 

[nova1983]

Anybody out there? Anyone? I don't know how to deal with my anxiety other than to commiserate on SDN. Can't wait for the next 2+ weeks to be over--anyone with me?

16 days to go!

 

[stso]

Let's go Duke!!

 

[SBBunny]

Anybody out there? Anyone? I don't know how to deal with my anxiety other than to commiserate on SDN. Can't wait for the next 2+ weeks to be over--anyone with me?

16 days to go!

HELL YEAH 😀

 

[SBBunny]

BUMP- two weeks! Hope for the best

 

[Chaz Michaels]

I know the letter says we are not ranked but, doesn't there have to be some sort of score?

Do you think they already know who they are going to offer spots to when they go to the waitlist? or are the top waitlist spots still up for grabs?