Hi guys! I was thinking that, with the deadline approaching so quickly, we should start a thread for Duke ED applicants (Trinity and Pratt). It’s a super exciting journey that we’re all going through, so I thought we should have a place to share our experiences and ask questions. Feel free to add anything you like (comments, questions, concerns, etc.). Hope to hear from you all! 
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My daughter applied ED to Trinity. She also requested for an interview.
How’s everyone coming along?
My question is if there is an interview, is there any advice on what to prepare? Thanks!
I’m finally finished with my application, so I’m just waiting on the courage to hit submit. ?
I heard the Duke interviews are pretty casual (more like a conversation). They don’t have access to your application, so don’t worry about coming off as repetitive when you talk about what you’ve done. That being said, it’s best to focus on parts of your personality and soft skills that you couldn’t showcase in your application. “Why Duke?” is always something you should prepare for, but, other than that, I feel like kids should just be ready to talk about themselves and Duke itself. It might be a good idea to prepare for typical interview questions, like “What’s your favorite/least favorite class?” or “How would others describe you?” Another important tip is probably preparing genuine questions for your interviewer, meaning you should think of questions that can’t be answered on the website.
I don’t have any first-hand experience, so I may be wrong. Hopefully, someone with experience can comment on this because I’m interested, too.
My daughter’s interview was with a local alum (attorney) and the conversation was very casual. They met at a coffee shop and the interview was about 1 hour. My D discussed her ECs and the things about Duke that she loved and how she would fit in very well with the culture of the campus. She talked about her passion for social action and how Duke’s public policy program would benefit her. She also discussed how she would like to be involved in Duke Engage and loves the D1 school spirit there. Note: that the interviewer did not take notes and could not take any documents from D (e.g. resume) as they are not allowed to accept it.
At the end of the day, I personally do not feel interviews really mean anything other for the student to have another resource to talk with about the college and probably more importantly for alums to stay connected to Duke and hopefully give their time and money to the college in the future.
As a side note, I have a close friend who is an alum at Brown and has been interviewing students for years and he told me that he has met some outstanding kids and has drafted some glowing recommendations for them and not one of his interviewees has been accepted to Brown. So the bottom line is that alum interviews don’t really move the needle much.
Thank you. I agree that it doesn’t move the needle much but I want to make sure it doesn’t end up moving towards the (-) side of it. 
Having said that I did find this link that seems to be written up by Duke Students and there are some very relevant for anyone to prepare for an interview (as it could be nerve racking if it’s your first).
If you google “Duke Students — Nailing the Interview”
Good luck!
My D20 requested an interview last year and as there was none available in our area did not receive one. She was accepted ED. Just another factor to consider that as some applicants aren’t able to have an interview, I’m sure it’s hard to put too much weight on them.
@Darcy123, Thank you for your input. This puts an ease if an interview is not offered and that doesn’t mean whole lot.
Can you share a little about the experience at Duke is like for your daughter? I heard currently Freshmen/Sophomore are there until just before Thanksgiving when the semester is over.
Yes my daughter is on campus. Initially the plan was freshman/sophomores on campus in fall and juniors/seniors on campus in spring, but as many upperclassmen chose to rent apartments for the year, they have determined that they can accommodate any upperclassmen who want to return to campus without requiring the freshman/sophomores to leave the dorms. She has 2 classes in person, rest are zoom. Is tested 2-3 times a week.
Socially she’s felt like it was better than she expected. She’s made friends, set up study groups and spends a lot of time hanging out in the common room. The condensed schedule is definitely starting to wear on her a bit. To finish up before Thanksgiving, there have been no days off. I think they’re talking about adding a few off days in the spring to help out.
I asked if she wanted to make any different choice in the spring and she definitely wasn’t interested in a leave of absence or taking classes remotely from home, so in her mind the tradeoff are worth it.
Just submitted my ED application to Pratt, and my hands are shaking so much right now.
My sister is coming home from Duke next weekend, though, so I have that to relax me.
To those who have already applied: about how long after you submitted your application did you receive your portal login info?
@riverandsasha3 my daughter submitted her application via Common App on 8/24, but did not receive an email confirmation with a link to her portal from Duke until 9/23.
Does anyone else/anyone else’s kid have a LinkedIn profile?
I’m asking because I have a profile, and it says that Duke viewed my profile the day I submitted my application. Do they actually look at what’s on your account? Or is this just a major coincidence?
Does anyone know if I need to send my first quarter grades if my school only does semesters? It is the only thing on my check list that has not been completed.
@stevensmith123 My school also only uses semester grades, but we do get grades for the quarter (they just don’t count towards our GPA or show up on our transcripts). I asked my counselor to send these grades in along with everything else. If your school also provides “report cards” for quarter grades or even progress reports, then I recommend getting your counselor to send those in.
Yikes, I have a 72 due to a grading error and an 88 in my 1st quarter report
@stevensmith123 My daughter asked her counselor to send in the quarter grades and after couple of days, she did and we can see that in the common app and saw that duke downloaded.
Also my daughter will have an interview next week with an alumni. She’s definitely nervous.
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@Darcy123 thank you. this is great to be assured that Duke is doing their part and students are safe on campus. This is something that’s important to me and my daughter.
@stevensmith123 My daughter was another who’s school does not have quarter grades. Her counselor just pulled a progress report to send. He notified teachers before pulling to be sure any grade errors could be corrected.
Hey guys I am also an applicant for Duke’s ED. I am planning to submit my application this week.
I heard that for this year’s application , the interviews will be conducted online through zoom or another app.
If possible, do you know if this is true?
Have a great day and I wish everyone of us get accepted into Duke!
@MightyYan Yes, the interviews will be conducted virtually.
Here is the link to the admissions website with more information about this year. Scroll down and click the “Interviews” tab for more: